Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear

Nymph imitating mayflies, caddis and shrimp and scuds, for trout, grayling and panfish. Beginner.

A hare's mask guard-hair tail, a tapered hare's ear abdomen ribbed with gold wire, a mottled turkey wing case and a rough, picked-out thorax.

Materials

Steps

  1. Add weight: lead-free wire Wrap the lead-free wire in touching turns from 62% of the way along the shank to 88% of the way along the shank. Optional: a few turns under the thorax.
  2. Attach thread Attach the thread at 90% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  3. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns.
  4. Tie in: hare's mask guard hairs Tie in the hare's mask guard hairs, leaving the gape sticking out behind. A small bunch on top; bind the butts along the shank.
  5. Tie in: gold wire Tie in the gold wire with a few firm thread turns.
  6. Dub: hare's ear dubbing Twist a thin noodle of hare's ear dubbing onto the thread and wrap it forward to 64% of the way along the shank. A thin noodle, tapering thicker toward the front, over the rear two thirds.
  7. Wind: gold wire Wind the gold wire forward to 64% of the way along the shank in 7 turns. Open turns, the opposite way to the dubbing.
  8. Tie off: gold wire Tie off the gold wire with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  9. Tie in: mottled turkey tail slip Tie in the mottled turkey tail slip with a few firm thread turns. A slip about as wide as the gape, shiny side up, tip back over the abdomen.
  10. Dub: hare's mask dubbing with plenty of guard hair Twist a thin noodle of hare's mask dubbing with plenty of guard hair onto the thread and wrap it forward to 88% of the way along the shank. Rougher fur, with more guard hair; leave an eye length for the head.
  11. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 66% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  12. Dub: hare's mask dubbing with plenty of guard hair Twist a thin noodle of hare's mask dubbing with plenty of guard hair onto the thread and wrap it forward to 88% of the way along the shank. A second layer makes the thorax clearly fatter than the abdomen.
  13. Pull over: mottled turkey tail slip Pull the mottled turkey tail slip forward over the top of the body and tie it down at 88% of the way along the shank. Trim the excess. Four or five firm turns behind the eye.
  14. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. Pick out the thorax fur at the sides and underneath for legs.

History

Hare's ear fur was in flies by Cotton's time, and Samuel Taylor gave a fly called the Hare's Ear in 1800; Halford listed a dry Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear in 1886, and Skues fished the wet one as a nymph. As late as 1935 Preston Jennings was using a trimmed wet fly as a nymph; Jim Quick, in 1957, is the first author Tom Travis found listing the Hare's Ear as a nymph pattern. Nobody is recorded as the inventor of the nymph as tied today, with a tail, a wing case and a picked-out thorax. By 1986 Randall Kaufmann called it the most popular nymph in the world.

Fishing it

A searching nymph that suggests many things and copies none. In streams, get it down near the bottom, adding shot and an indicator when the water calls for it; on stillwater, bring it back slowly. Once wet, the rough fur looks like kicking legs, and it passes for mayfly nymphs, caddis larvae and scuds and, tied big, for stoneflies.

Sources