| The Lehigh Unusual
This pattern is versatile enough to cover all of the Lehigh River's mayfly hatches, simply by varying the size and material colors, and realistic enough to fool trout in any stream including more challenging waters like the Upper Delaware, Letort Spring Run, and the Little Lehigh. A simple pattern, the Lehigh Unusual pulls triple duty as an emerger, dun, and spinner. The flush floating qualities of the fly combined with the look of a distressed insect and the sparse profile of a natural insect create an excellent pattern that trout just can resist. The pattern offers excellent floatability even in rough water but can be drowned and fished in the film when needed. A must have pattern in the for anywhere that trout swim. |
|
| Start the thread. Advance the thread about half way down the shank and then back up to a shor distance from the eye of the hook. This will create a less slippery hook shank that will keep the snowshoe hair on top of the hook better. |
|
 |
| Clip off a bunch of snowshoe hair. The amount of hair used depends on where the fly will be used, like hackle the rougher the water the more can be used for better floatation. Keep the butts facing toward the back of the hook and keep the hair on top of the hook just like a comparadun wing. |
|
 |
| Trim the hair in three steps to create a taper and then wrap all of the hair down tight with as few wraps as necessary. |
|
  |
| Tie in a turkey biot at the tail end of the fly, wrap the biot forward, tie it off, and clip the excess. |
|
  |
| Make a couple thread wraps in front of the wing to make it stand up straight. Apply a small amount of dubbing to the thread, just enough to cover up the thread wraps and to build a small bunch of dubbing in front of the head to help it stand up. Whip finish and head cement.
If it seems easy, that's because it is. A simple pattern from the guides fly box that can be tied to imitate any mayfly hatch anywhere in the country. |
|
  |
