Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear

 Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear

Opening Day. It's cold, it's crowded, but if your Cabin Fever has passed the critical stage, Approved Trout Waters are full of freshly-stocked trout. Whether you stake out a 'honey hole' at the crack of dawn, saunter out in the afternoon once the crowds have thinned, or wait until the Monday After for comparative solitude, you can be confident the fish are there, and they are hungry and naive. Stocked trout are a whole different critter.

They have no idea what they are supposed to eat. Entomology and imitation are irrelevant to them. The key is to drift the fly right into their mouths. That means going deep, since trout born in raceways feel most secure in deep water. Attractors like San Juan Worms and Green Weenies have their day when fished with split shot, but I like using a weighted nymph.

 Back in the days when I was poor enough that trout featured prominently on my Spring menu, my most productive technique was to find a deep run and 'flip-and-plunk' a weighted Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear.

This centuries-old pattern evolves but never goes out of style. Here's my current version:

	Hook: #12 nymph or caddis larva hook
	Thread: Tan
	Ribbing: Flat medium width gold Mylar tinsel
	Dubbing: Hare's mask, natural color
	Weight: Gold beadhead

Debarb your hook. Slide beadhead, small hole first, over the point and into position just behind the hook eye. Place hook in vise. Start your thread behind the beadhead and wind back to the bend of the hook, completely covering the shank. Tie in tinsel and secure it out of the way in a material clip.

Prepare a dubbing loop: Holding your left forefinger about 3 inches from the vise, pass the working thread under your finger and over the hook at the same point you tied in your tinsel. Make two turns of your working thread back over that tie in point, and you will have formed a loop with your finger at the bottom. Pass the working thread behind the loop once, and in front of it once, then wind it forward to push tightly against the beadhead. Let it dangle.

Insert dubbing into the loop a little at a time, spreading it along the loop. Insert a DubIt tool, a crochet hook, an EZ Hook, or Rabbit's Improvised Paperclip-and-Fishing-Weight Dubbing Spinner, hung in the bottom of the loop; Spin the dubbing into a tight, fuzzy spiral. It should look like extremely shaggy chenille. Wind the 'chenille' forward all the way, filling the gap nicely behind the beadhead. Tie it down and trim the excess.

Spiral tinsel forward to the same point, making about 4 turns. Try not to bind down the dubbing too much; Picking it out with a dubbing needle as you go helps. The look we want is "70's Shag". Tie off and trim tinsel.
Whip-finish behind beadhead, or use your largest half-hitch tool to fit over the beadhead and half-hitch behind it. Using a dubbing needle, pick out and fluff the dubbing to be extra-fuzzy.

Tie to tippet, add water, tight lines!

--Rabbit Jensen--