FLYMPH FORUM

Since Hare's Ear flies are popular on the forum right now, here is a vintage example tied by Pete Hidy about forty years ago.
This is one of the six patterns that he published in the Bulletin of the Anglers' Club of New York in Autumn, 1974.

Hook: 14 Veniard long-shank mayfly, UE
Silk: ash
Hackle: medium dun or dark honey dun hen
Body: dark hare's ear spun on ash with Clark block
Rib: (optional) gold wire or tinsel
Tail: dun hen fibers (?)

Lance, that is a lovely fly. Thank you for sharing this! I love these old flies. I need to tie this pattern before long. It is going on my LIST.

Lance,
Thank you for another gorgeous photo of a great pattern from our past. I was looking over the ingredients and I have all of them now incl. some newer (not vintage Mustads) 2x long up eye hooks. This is ironic that most of the receipe would land in my den at about the same time! Inspired? Perhaps! I going to answser the call and give this one a try!
Thanks again Lance for sharing such joys with all of us!
Doug

I have considered the tail length "normal" to be about the length of the shank. Seems like the video and step-by-steps aimed at beginners usually show that as well. Then I see these vintage flies tied with the tails from 1-1/3 to 1-1/2 the shank. Of a long shank hook.

I saw in your other thread where you said that you should have tied the tails longer, with Carl agreeing with you. I thought it looked about right, until I saw Mr. Pete's fly. I guess we all have idiosyncrasies that make the flies our own.

(I just read back thru my ramblings and realized my comments had a somewhat argumentative sound to them. To my ears(eyes) anyway. They weren't meant to be. Part is a bit confused, and the rest is just commenting. Lance, thank you for posting this and the other flies for us. It really is enlightening.)

Kirk

Kirk, I don't think there should be any confusion. Tail length is really going to be a matter of personal style and hatch matching. I think when Lance and I were talking about the tail being a little short that was only in the context of copying one of Pete Hidy's flies. At least for me, it wasn't a comment on how long a tail should be. I don't usually tie my tails as long as this pattern shows, but it on this pattern it sure is pretty.

Doug, Thanks for the enthusiasm. If you tie some up, I'll bet we can find a photographer to record and post it.

Kirk,
You sounded purely inquisitive—even, I imagine, to someone who doesn't already know your congenial, on-line personality as well as we do.
I'd agree with Carl about tails. Dad was not rigid or dogmatic about length of tails, but he did have a rule to use three whisks. He would sometime include a fourth for insurance.

Here are a few flies from his wallet, including dark hare's ears, that show variations in tail and hackle material and length. The fly on the right looks trout-chewed.
In a special plastic box he kept tailing feathers that had the cleanest and longest barbs. Sometimes he would tail a fly from the same bird as the hackle, but if that was not practical, he'd find something else.

Thanks, y'all.
Lance,
The tails on the flies at right and middle-right are more like what I would tie. The whisks on the middle left one are something else! Not just the length, but the thickness. It looks almost like human hair, instead of a feather.

The chewed fly at the right does a good job of showing the body taper, without all those pesky hackle fibers getting in the way.

Kirk

Kirk,
Glad you noticed that weird tail too. That is why I choose this grouping.
The fibers must have been a bit more firm when first tied, but they sure aren't now. Maybe if I steam the fly it will regain its shape.

Thanks for sharing these Lance. It's always a real treat seeing your father's work.

Lance this, and the others from the wallet shown really illustrate a beautiful construction. The pre spun body hits just the right spiky, tapered, mottled effect. Thanks so much for posting these. What a fantastic photograph.

w