Hendrickson

[IrishFan]

Hello all,
Anyone have any good Hendrickson light and dark patterns they would like to share?

 

[wbranch]

Sure. They are all productive. All #12 - #14. On some fisheries as the season progresses I have seen them smaller both the males & the females. I go down to a #16. You can see I prefer CDC wings. I have alot of confidence ion this wing style.

 

[wbranch]

Here are a few more that aren't on my PC.
1. Down wing duns
2. Rusty spinner parachute w/white post
3. Various spinners
4. Red Quill soft hackles
5. Hendrickson soft hackles

 

[Jaybird]

Matt just gave you everything you need and the kitchen sink

 

[IrishFan]

Thanks all!! Great looks flies! I appreciate it

 

[wbranch]

Matt just gave you everything you need and the kitchen sink

Years ago I probably wouldn't of shared all these patterns so freely, Many you just won't find in any fly shop. I can still catch my share of trout and want to give back to others as I've aged.

 

[CRB]

Thank you for sharing.
















t

 

[wbranch]

Thank you for sharing.
















t

You are welcome.

 

[IrishFan]

Thanks for sharing WB. Greene Co doesn’t see any Hendricksons lol.

 

[wbranch]

Thanks for sharing WB. Greene Co doesn’t see any Hendricksons lol.

Then why did you ask for patterns??

 

[IrishFan]

Just meaning that I have to travel to fish. I’ve been on Spring Creek a lot, Wv a lot, and the one time I went to Penns it was blown out. I’d like to fish this year for sure.

 

[JeffP]

Sure. They are all productive. All #12 - #14. On some fisheries as the season progresses I have seen them smaller both the males & the females. I go down to a #16. You can see I prefer CDC wings. I have alot of confidence ion this wing style.

Beautiful work! One hatch I have never experienced. One of these years I will get out for one of the earlier season hatches!

 

[TimMurphy]

Hello all,
Anyone have any good Hendrickson light and dark patterns they would like to share?

Dear Irish Fan,

Back when Hendricksons used to reliably appear from mid-April on I used to have great luck with Comparaduns tied with the pinkish #27 Fly Rite dubbing. I had one that a buddy tied for me that caught hundreds of fish on the Delaware, the Beaverkill, the Lehigh, Big Fishing Creek, and anywhere I used it.

Sadly, it fell off my fly patch one day at the Deposit sewer plant back when you could drive to the river and park on the bank right where Oquaga Creek dumped in. I don't think I've even seen a Hendrickson since.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[TimMurphy]

Beautiful work! One hatch I have never experienced. One of these years I will get out for one of the earlier season hatches!

Dear Jeff,

The problem seems to be timing the hatches anymore. Thirty years ago, Hendricksons never appeared before mid-April in the Poconos and the north central region. Now some years the hatch is over before April 1st. It used to be a favorite hatch, but it's been years since I've fished it.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[JeffP]

Dear Jeff,

The problem seems to be timing the hatches anymore. Thirty years ago, Hendricksons never appeared before mid-April in the Poconos and the north central region. Now some years the hatch is over before April 1st. It used to be a favorite hatch, but it's been years since I've fished it.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Ernest Schwiebert has a great account of the Hendrickson hatch in Remembrances of Rivers Past. He talks about New York, Poconos, and upper Michigan. Good stuff!

 

[TimMurphy]

Ernest Schwiebert has some has a great account of the Hendrickson hatch in Remembrances of Rivers Past. He talks about New York, Poconos, and upper Michigan. Good stuff!

Dear Jeff,

The first real Hendrickson hatch I ever experienced was on Tobyhanna Creek. It was the Sunday after opening day in 1987. It was cold and nasty, and it started snowing like crazy. And then the fish started rising. My brother Terry and I caught 50 fish a piece easily, and we had the whole creek to ourselves.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[JeffP]

Dear Jeff,

The first real Hendrickson hatch I ever experienced was on Tobyhanna Creek. It was the Sunday after opening day in 1987. It was cold and nasty, and it started snowing like crazy. And then the fish started rising. My brother Terry and I caught 50 fish a piece easily, and we had the whole creek to ourselves.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Schweibert didn't do quite that well on the Scholarie!

 

[TimMurphy]

Schweibert didn't do quite that well on the Scholarie!

Dear Jeff,

It was literally our AHA moment in our fly-fishing careers. We had caught plenty of fish on caddis or beetles and ants, but this was our first full-blown hatch and I'll never forget it!

We hit it the next weekend on the Lehigh River, and I swore off nymphs forever! ;-)

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[wbranch]

"Now some years the hatch is over before April 1st"

That may be true on some PA trout streams. I have seen good numbers of both sexes on the McCormack Road section of the Yellow Breeches the first week of April.

It just does not appear on any of the Delaware/Catskill rivers until the water temperature is at least 52 degrees for at least three consecutive days.The earliest I have ever seen it on the West Branch was mid April about ten years ago. Two years ago I was still seeing the duns the second week in May and hundreds of rusty spinners up in Deposit the third week in May.

 

[TimMurphy]

"Now some years the hatch is over before April 1st"

That may be true on some PA trout streams. I have seen good numbers of both sexes on the McCormack Road section of the Yellow Breeches the first week of April.

It just does not appear on any of the Delaware/Catskill rivers until the water temperature is at least 52 degrees for at least three consecutive days.The earliest I have ever seen it on the West Branch was mid April about ten years ago. Two years ago I was still seeing the duns the second week in May and hundreds of rusty spinners up in Deposit the third week in May.

Dear West Branch,

I lived for over 10 years in Binghamton, and I never even looked for them on the Delaware branches or the Beaverkill before April 28th. I never missed the hatch and caught most of it.

But I remember one dry low snow year when the hatch was on the Lackawanna in late March and done by April first.

Down here in Central PA I've found that it's pretty common to find the hatch done in early April. I fish Sulphur's starting May 1st, and fish hit them readily.

I grew up like this:

Hendricksons - look for them around April 15th
Grey Fox/March Brown - look for them around May 1st
Sulphur's - look for them around May 15th

I haven't seen that timetable for over 15 year!

Regards,

Tim Murphy