Hares Ear Nymph 12/09/2018 Photo Album

The beadhead hares ear nymph continued to be my number one producing fly. The fuzzy classic subsurface pattern produced year round, and it was particularly effective in the March through June time frame. During recent years I landed a fish on nearly every cast for consecutive hours on the South Platte River on the hares ear. The mainstay fly of my box produced everywhere, but for some reason the South Platte River residents were particularly attracted to it.

For a material list and a description of some of my tying deviations from the classic pattern check out my post of 11/05/2010. This description summarizes my interaction with the hares ear quite well, and I have very little to add here, eight years later. It is unusual for me to not tamper with a fly in minor ways, but I hesitate to tinker with overwhelming success.

Nice Close Up

I followed my customary practice and counted all my beadhead hares ear nymphs in my various fly containers, and I tallied sixty-eight. Actually I counted sixty-nine, but I lost one on my last outing of the year in November. With this information in my possession I visited my tying station and cranked out thirty-two additional versions to increase my total to one hundred in preparation for the 2019 season.

My tying method remains consistent with the 11/05/2010 post with only the addition of two intermediate applications of glue. I dab a small amount at the base of the tail to prevent unraveling at that end, and I apply a small amount, after I tie in the wing case strip but before adding dubbing for the thorax. These steps seem to extend the life of the flies, and most of my shrinkage is attributable to branches, rocks and aggressive fish. Unraveling is largely confined to the thread wraps behind the bead, and this is actually a good problem, since most of the time it is attributable to repeated attacks by hungry fish.

Batch and Materials