The BWO Usual

Tied by Jay Hall

Thread: UTC 70 denier in olive or brown

Hook: TMC103bl in 19 or 21

Tail: brown snowshoe guard hairs

Wing: natural dun snowshoe guard hairs

Abdomen and Thorax: snowshoe underfur mixed with brown and olive cdc to get a color that suits the natural

 
Tying instructions:  Start a thin thread base and tie in the tail.  The tail gets clipped short, just past the hook bend.  Advance the thread 2/3rds to the front and tie in a clump of natural snowshoe guard hairs with the tips extending over the eye.  Pull the wing upright and build up a thread bump in front to keep it upright. (Similar to the way a Comparadun wing goes up)  Take the thread back to the tail.  Dub the color mix onto the thread and wind the abdomen up to the wing and keep going in front to make the thorax.  Whip finish.  The fly should be a fuzzy mess.  Take fine scissors and trim the abdomen a bit to a bit of a back to front taper.  If the wing is too tall (it usually is) just trim it down a little.  That's all there is to it.
Couple of notes:  I usually dub this fly by splitting the thread, to keep it thin, but if you're not comfortable with that method, a dubbing loop will work just fine.  Also the hook I use is best suited for dry's.  It has an extremely fine wire and delicate point.  I found the hard way that letting flies on this hook go deep shortens the life span.  Any contact with rocks or other submerged flotsam will quickly booger the point.  It's barbed version the 102y is tougher and better suited for flies that will submerge and be swung.

 

My entry this year is a pattern that I messed around with this summer.  The root is Fran Betters' Usual.  I have used this Catskill pattern for years in Md. and Pa. with a bit of success.  It is a fuzzy impressionistic fly made entirely of Snowshoe Wabbit.  The name causes a bit of heartburn among folks watching Betters and his cronies catching fish on it.  The question of "what are ya getting them on" is answered with the annoying "oh the usual".  It's a good searching pattern and is very versatile, in that it is at least as effective wet as it is dry.  Waterlogged Snowshoe has a beautiful sheen to it that must drive trout nuts.  Most of the time, when the fly starts to drag at the end of it's drift, I will yank it under and swing it like a wet.  The original calls for natural snowshoe dubbed to red or orange thread which shows through a little.  Mostly in sizes 12-16.
I have played around for a while expanding the colors and sizes a bit.  One thing that frustrated me a bit is the relatively small number of colors that snowshoe is available in.  To combat this I decided to add another favorite material of mine for impressionistic flies.  CDC.  I had good success the summer before last with adding yellow cdc to get close to a Sulphur color.  This past year I tried adding brown and olive to the natural bunny to tie small Blue Wing Olives size 19 & 21.  The results were very encouraging late in Sept. on both the Rush in Wi. and the Whitewater and Trout Run.