The RS2 is a tiny nymph developed by a gentleman name Rim Chung in Colorado. Orignally this fly was developed to fool the selective trout on the South Platte River in Cheesman Canyon and Deckers. I’ve been tying RS2’s since I first heard of them and read about them when I moved to Colorado in the early 90’s.

The original pattern uses muskrat guard hairs for the tail, muskrat fur for the body and then a tuft of the fluffy marabou style feather that is found at the base of partridge and pheasant feathers. I’ve modified it a bit by adding a tiny silver colored bead behind the eye, and I substituted brown fibers from a hackle or pheasant feather for the tail. I no longer have the patience to pick through a muskrat patch and pluck tiny brown guard hairs. I’ve caught a lot of fish, so I don’t think the fish discern any differences.

I nearly always tie on a RS2 when I spot tiny mayflies in the air. The primary mayfly that seems to result in RS2 success is the baetis, also referred to as blue wing olives. These mayflies are very small and typically range between size 18 and 24. I use size 20 and 22 RS2’s the most to imitate the nymphs of these mayflies.

Beadhead RS2 in the Vise

Most of the best blue wing olive hatches occur in Colorado in the spring and fall. The spring hatches tend to be slightly larger than the fall hatches. I added the beadhead to my RS2’s so I could fish them as a dropper below a large indicator fly such as a Chernobyl ant or Letort hopper. This works sometimes, but more often I’ve discovered that working a RS2 deeper with a strike indicator, split shot and another larger nymph as the top fly produces more fish. I’m guessing that the nymphs emerge in deeper runs and swim rapidly from the bottom of the stream to the top, and the action of the swinging and lifted nymphs with the split shot comes closer to imitating the emergence.

In 2010 I was fishing on a Thursday on the Frying Pan River in September, when a blue winged olive hatch occurred at the tail end of green drake and pale morning dun activity. I added an RS2 to my PMD imitation and caught a few fish, but I felt like I should be attracting more attention given the intensity of the hatch. When I returned to the stream the next day, I decided to go deep with a beadhead hares ear and RS2 using a strike indicator and split shot. I experienced much more success using this technique and even maintained this approach as I spotted fish rising to take surface flies.  Trout love to hammer the RS2 at the end of the drift when the line begins to swing across current and lifts the nymphs toward the surface. This day on the Frying Pan River probably represents my most successful RS2 day in 2010.

The beadhead hares ear nymph is my go to fly. Nine times out of ten, this is the first fly I attach to my line when I approach moving water. The bead and gold rib give it attracting flash, and the unruly guard hairs of the hares mask provide an all around buggy look. This fly seems to produce when caddis are active, but also is effective before and during mayfly hatches.

My friend Dave Gaboury calls the hares ear that I tie Dave’s Hares Ear. Dave is convinced my fly produces more fish because I tie it on a curved scud hook which gives it a more natural appearance. I don’t know if Dave’s theory is right or not, but I can vouch for its effectiveness.

A Brand New Beadhead Hares Ear Nymph

My other variation on the traditional hares ear pattern is the substitution of Tyvex material for a quill section for the wing case. I use old bibs from road races I entered and color the bib black with a permanent magic marker. Another good source of this material is Fedex mailing envelopes. This stuff is indestructible and the first place the fly breaks down are the thread wraps right behind the bead. If the thread unravels, I remove it from my fly patch and toss in a cylindrical canister then refurbish the flies for the next season.

Hares Ears Needing Rehab

After Refurbishment

If you read my fishing blogs on this site, you will probably notice that I fish this fly on every outing. During the first half of the season I tend to pair it with a yellow Letort Hopper, and then later in the season I drop it off of a Chernobyl ant. In rare occassions when the water is too deep for the dry/dropper, I fish the beadhead hares ear as the top fly on a two fly nymphing rig with a smaller fly like a pheasant tail or beadhead baetis as the point fly.

Still in the Vice

I entered the 2010 season with 30 beadhead hares ear nymphs in inventory in addition to the ones that remained in my fly patch from the previous season. By the end of September I had completely depleted my inventory and worked from the ones that remained in my fly patch for my last few outings. In order to build a larger cushion, I began my winter production fly tying yesterday and produced 19 beadhead hares ear nymphs. The first six were rehabs. I plan to enter 2011 with 50 in my bulk inventory box.

Time: 9:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: NIghthawk

May 18 was a nice day, with a high around 75 degrees. Rain and clouds arrived in the late afternoon. I landed ten trout in total on the day. The first brown came from below a small island below Osprey on a tan San Juan worm. Next a rainbow arrived in my net from a San Juan worm just below where the brown was caught. Two rainbows fell for a San Juan worm below rocks in current seams half way down to the first pullout. After lunch I landed a large rainbow on an orange scud by the high bank below long island, and then the orange scud yielded two browns in the run below long island. Toward the end of the day I duped three beautiful browns on a light pink San Juan worm in the current seam below island two directly across from Nighthawk Hill road.

Fish Landed: 10