Comparaduns 02/16/2025 Photo Album
For the background story on my relationship with the comparadun, read my post of 02/21/2014. I just read it, and it brought back many of the details embedded in the adoption story of this fly. I highly recommend reading it, if you are not familiar with or a proponent of this style of fly.
Nice Fan Wing Size 16 Light Gray Comparadun
During a pale morning dun hatch, these comparaduns are indispensable. I carry them in size sixteen and eighteen and with cinnamon and light gray body colors. My poly light gray dubbing has hints of light yellow in it, and I think this is a key to its effectiveness. I bought the stuff in Pennsylvania at the inception of my fly tying career, but I retain a huge supply, and this alleviates any concerns about running out.
Size 18 Light Gray on a Refurbished Hook
I have experienced many fantastic days of fishing to pale morning hatches, and rarely do these comparaduns let me down. I have hit the PMD hatch on the Colorado River in July, the Yampa River in June, the South Platte River in late June and July, the Arkansas River in July, South Boulder Creek in August through September, and the Frying Pan River during August through October. The cinnamon comparadun shines on the Frying Pan River.
Size 18 Cinnamon ComparadunI usually test the cinnamon version first, and on rare occasions the trout ignore it, so I switch to the light gray body color. Rarely do I find that neither of these flies work. As an aside, the salvation nymph and pheasant tail nymph are also stalwart performers before, during and after PMD hatches, but I usually use the hatch as an opportunity to fish the comparadun dry fly.
Nine New Comparaduns with Associated Materials
As is my practice, I counted my comparaduns, and I concluded that I needed to add three size 18 cinnamon, two size 18 light gray, and four size 16 light gray. Actually, I probably could have skipped tying any, but I wanted to round out my inventory to multiples of five. Why? Don’t ask. It’s just who I am.