Mr. Rapidan Dry Fly
As time goes by, I think I have more faith in the “fishing” than I do in the fly. That is to say, I’m having less faith in the “magic” pattern being the key to more fish, and more in how its used. Its not been an evolution really, I’ve always loved attractor-patterns and had fun trying to make them work everywhere. Fishing to so-called “technical” fish can be fun and quite challenging, but it usually leaves me feeling less than satisfied. (having had success or not) For some reason, I prefer gamefish that behave like gamefish~cautious but opportunistic….
The Mr.Rapidan dry is one pattern that has been included in my slow-growing arsenal of attractor flies and works well more often than not. It was designed by Harry Murray from Virginia (Murray’s Fly Shop) to imitate several of the early season mayflies that hatch in his local streams and rivers. I like this variation for fast water, tied as a parachute with a grey poly yarn wing post and hackle tail for slower water.
Tying The Mr.Rapidan Dry Fly Pattern
Hook:Standard Dry Fly (I prefer #10-#16)
Thread:Brown 8/0
Wing:Yellow Calf tail
Tail:Moose Body (I use moose mane)
Body:Fly-Rite dubbing #34
Hackle:Cree (2 used here for broken water)
Cut a small bunch of yellow calf tail, stack it to alight the tips and tie on to the hook shank approx. 1/3 of the way back from
the eye of the hook.
Cut the butt ends of the hairs at an angle and make several tight thread wraps to secure them.
Lift the bunch of hair up and back and make several thread wraps in front of it to help hold it upright. Separate the bunch into two
equal posts and make several figure-8 wraps to hold them into position. Its a good idea to make 2-4 wraps around the base
of each post, as done here.
tack a small bunch of moose hair and tie in creating a tail. Trip the butt ends off. Dub the body as shown. NOTE: Check out the great blend of colors in the fly-rite dubbing~I like this stuff!
Prepare and tie-in two cree hackles. I lightly dub the area in front of the wings on my flies, this is optional though.
Wind the first hackle forward, tie-off.
Wind the second hackle forward, tie-off. The finished fly.
