Hendrickson
Description
The Hendrickson is a Catskill classic, tied by Roy Steenrod around 1916 on the Beaverkill and named for his friend and angling companion A.E. Hendrickson. It imitates the male dun of Ephemerella subvaria, a mid-spring mayfly of the eastern United States that hatches when water temperatures hold in the low 50s F, typically from late April through May. The female counterpart, with its rusty-brown quill body, is dressed as the Red Quill or Light Hendrickson; this pattern is the male, with the distinctive pinkish-tan fox-belly body. The dressing given here follows Art Flick's Streamside Guide (1947), the standard Catskill recipe with upright divided wood duck wings and a dun hackle collar.
Materials
- thread: Cream, 8/0 or 70-denier Thread.
- body: Hendrickson Pink Dubbing
- hackle: Medium Dun Dry Fly Hackle
- tail: Medium Dun Hackle Fibers
- hook: Standard Dry Fly Hook
- wing: Woodduck Gold Mallard Flank
Tying Instructions
- 1.
Mount a size 12 or 14 standard dry fly hook in the vise and pinch the barb.
- 2.
Start the cream thread at mid-shank and lay a smooth thread base from there forward to one eye-length behind the eye.
- 3.
Select a wood duck flank feather, even the tips, and measure the wing to one shank length.
- 4.
Tie the wood duck in as a single clump on top of the hook at the one-third point behind the eye, butts pointing back, tips forward over the eye.
- 5.
Lift the clump upright, take several thread wraps tight against its front base to post it, then divide it into two equal bunches and figure-eight to set the wings upright and divided.
- 6.
Wrap the thread back to the bend and tie in a small bunch of medium dun hackle fibers for the tail, length equal to the hook shank.
- 7.
Dub a thin, tapered body of Hendrickson pink dubbing from the bend forward, stopping just behind the wings.
- 8.
Select two medium dun dry fly hackles, strip the bases, and tie them in by the stems just behind the wings, shiny side forward.
- 9.
Wrap the first hackle two to three turns behind the wing, then two to three turns in front, and tie off; repeat with the second hackle, weaving through the first.
- 10.
Trim the hackle tips and stems, build a small tapered head with the thread, whip finish, and apply a drop of head cement.