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3. Hendrickson Pattern

Hey guys...new to the board so HI. I am going to be fishing the West Branch Delaware, Beaverkill, Willowemoc and the Esopus last week of April and was wondering if anybody had some good Hendrickson patterns to share?

A favorite of some guides there is an emerger pattern tied on a scud hook. I'll probably be substituting Gamakatsu C15BV.

http://www.gamakatsu.com/new_products/new_c15bv.htm

Here's my basic recipe:

Tie in a dark brown antron or z-lon shuck down the bend of the hook, leaving enough point and shank to hold the fish. Dub a slim abdomen of Caucci/Nastasi Hendrickson Dubbing--Red Brown for male, Pinkish Cream/Tan for females:

http://www.thedelawareriverclub.com/flyshop/spectrumized-dubbing-p-51.html?osCsid=e349b3f72e567eabc405f67ca64d4314

(or use your favorite Hendrickson dubbing)

Leave the thorax area undubbed and tie in a wing of snowshoe foot hair. I prefer the denser fine fur from the center of the foot, not the longer guard hairs. There are many ways to tie in the wing. You can do it downwing style, like a caddis wing, but I prefer to tie it in in the center of a bunch of hair, then post around the bottom to pull the wing up into a clump. Although this is a picture of a CDC midge emerger, the following gives an idea of the wing's shape.

http://www.danica.com/flytier/rbeechinor/cdc_puff_emerger.htm

See the Slate Drake and the Tiny Blue Winged Olive below for mayflies tied like this (also with CDC--the snowshoe wing can be a bit smaller)

http://www.thedelawareriverclub.com/flyshop/flies-c-3.html

Finally, X wrap dubbing under and around the hook shank at the wing to make a thorax bulge and tie off.

There are many other good patterns. Thorax ties also work, as do Comparaduns. Best of luck.

Those fish can be fairly picky about their Hendricksons, so I would carry a variety of patterns to try until you find one that gives you a lot of confidence. It seemed helpful to have a strong wing profile, and make sure you've got flies that land and ride upright on the water.

So far I have Some tied some deer hair and CDC comparaduns with biot bodies and spinners as well....some with an egg sac and some without. From my understanding there isn't a differation between male and female during the spinner fall. So I used the hendrickson pink for the comparaduns.

Thanks for the emrger pattern...I tie a similar sulphur emerger pattern on a curved hook.