Category Archives: Michigan

Mark is from Kingsley, Michigan very close to where the Adams dry fly was created. He has been a commercial fly tyer since the 1980s, primarily tying for Streamside Orvis in Traverse City. He learned a lot from another skilled Michigan fly tyer, Kelly Galloup. As you can see from the note pictured above, Mark sent me several of the flies he ties with recipes included. The flies I received from him are superbly tied and look fantastic. I plant to split his information into several posts. First we have Mark’s Isonychia Parachute and Isonychia Spinner.

Isonychia Parachute

Tail: 2 moose body fibers (tied long)
Body: turkey biots dyed mahogany
Post: dun calf body hair
Hackle: grizzly dyed wine color
Thorax: Fly Rite dubbing – dun variant poly dubbing
Thread: claret 6/0
Hook: Orvis 1638 #12

Isonychia Spinner

Tail: 2 moose body fibers (tied long)
Body: turkey biots dyed mahogany
Wings: dun poly yarn
Hackle: cree
Thread: claret 6/0
Hook: Orvis 1638 #12

I’ve always had a fascination with bee patterns.  To that end I created a couple of patterns in years past and fished them with a moderate degree of success.  But they weren’t as productive as I thought they should be.  I finally decided that I should make a science of it; systematically determining the best situations, river conditions and seasons to use bee patterns in.  In other words; study the bee.

Bees are members of the insect order Hymenoptera which defined means; having membranous wings, undergo complete metamorphosis and live in social colonies. Females possess on ovipositor which typically have a stinger.  This order of insects contains bees, wasps, hornets and other similar insects.  For the purpose of this article I will confine my discussion to bees.  To us, the laymen, they are a group of insects that we call ‘pollinators’.  They survive in most all environments including urban, wooded and field settings.  Most of our ‘bee’ encounters are with honeybees and bumblebees.  Both of these insects are observed from early spring until late fall and both, present opportunities for fly pattern designers and fishermen.

Honeybees usually survive the winter living in their hives with the old workers dying out in the late fall of the year.  Bumblebees all die out in the late fall with the exception of the fertilized queen which survives the winter in hibernation.

Over the last two years fishing Michigan waters I’ve determined the circumstances under which I feel bee patterns are best used.  I’ve used multiple patterns, some of my own design, some commercially purchased and still other patterns designed by other tyers.  I have found that it is necessary only to match the approximate size and colorations of those bees found in a specific area of the country.  When I used patterns of bees not found locally my success rate fell dramatically (this should not surprise a fly fisherman).

I found bee patterns to be very successful with browns and rainbows during those ‘hot’ dog days of summer when the temperature was in the high 80s and 90s; especially when there was no wind or breeze.  I’d cast a bee pattern to pocket waters or slow runs with a great deal of success.  Casting the patterns to rapid waters rarely produced fish.  If ‘hoppers’ were present … no contest … they would ignore the bee patterns.  When fishing rivers where ‘hoppers’ were not present the bee patterns worked well.
I also discovered that ‘finicky’ trout would rise to a bee pattern when nothing else would elicit a strike, and I discovered that bee patterns were extremely deadly on brook trout in shallow, slow moving waters.  Deeper waters inhabited by brook trout were not as productive.

I normally do not fish into the late fall.  Once the first of the leaves fall, I hang up my rod.  But I wanted to continue my experiment and test out a theory that bee patterns would once again become popular in late fall, when the bees were starting to die off and the trout were starting to bulk up for the winter.  Starting about the middle of October most of the insect hatches in Michigan are done.  As the cold weather settled in, the bees became more sluggish … flying lower and slower, they were more prone to being blown into the water by the fall breezes.  Once again I found the bee patterns working, especially in the larger sizes.  Again, I had to confine myself to pocket waters and slow runs. Once the fall frost came, the bees were gone and the patterns became ineffective.

After fishing with a couple of dozen assorted bee patterns I finally developed what I feel is a ‘super’ pattern for the bumble bees we see most often in Michigan. I caught more fish (per cast) with this pattern then any of the others I used.

‘Peacock Bumble’
Hook: Mustad #94840   Size: 8-12
Thread: Black, 6/0
Abdomen: Deer Hair, dyed black, spun and clipped, extended beyond the bend of the hook.
Thorax: Deer Hair, dyed yellow, spun and clipped to shape. Not to extend past the bend of the hook.
Head: Peacock Herl

Peacock Bumble

Late summer and fall provide excellent opportunities for ‘Bumbling’ in most every part of this beautiful country.  Whether you pick up some local bee patterns or tie up your own; you’ll now have an excuse to fish a little longer before you hang up your rod for the season.

See you on the water…..

Tom Deschaine
~www.michigandryflies.net~

Ralph Hanna

In my opinion Ralph Hanna is one of the last of the legendary fly tyers from around the Grayling, Michigan area. Ralph has lived in Traverse City for over 50 years, but when Ralph was younger and lived in Grayling, he met his wife to be, who just happened to be the daughter of Lacey Stephan. Lacey was a famous fly fishing guide and river boat builder on the Au Sable River. Ralph said the first thing Lacey Stephan did when he met him was take him down in the basement and teach him how to tie flies. From that point on, Ralph tied flies. Before long, Lacey and other guides were selling Ralph’s flies to their customers. Lacey then took Ralph under his wing and Ralph became a guide himself and became friends with other well known guides like Art Winnie, Jim Wakely, Jack Redhead, and Bernie Fowler. He was such good friends with Art Winnie that Art’s son offered his fly tying materials to Ralph when he passed away. Ralph still has them to this day. His flies became very popular and Ralph easily became a commercial tyer for many of the fly shops in the Northern half of Michigan. He is now over 80 years old and still ties flies for the Stream Side Orvis Shop in Traverse City, the Old Au Sable Fly Shop in Grayling, Jack’s Sport Shop in Kalkaska, and Skips Sport Shop in Grayling. His primary vise is still his old Thompson model A vise. Ralph said he used to tie over 350 dozen flies a year.

Bicolor Walker

His most famous fly is his Bicolor Walker which he created in 1948. He mentions the red yarn wasn’t intentional. It was the color he had at the time and after fishing with the flies he created with it and being successful, the more he used it. The Bicolor Walker best matches the Brown Drake Hatch, but it can be used at any time. In fact, it’s said that Lacey Stephan mainly only used two flies, the Bicolor Walker and his Deer Hair Brown Hackle that most people now call the Lacey Stephan.

Parachute Michigan Hopper

Ralph also took his good friend Art Winnie’s Michigan Hopper and made a parachute version of it. He was the first to tie the Michigan Hopper in a parachute style.

From studying his flies and talking with Ralph I’ve noticed he is such a prolific fly tyer and produces many variations of flies. He doesn’t give a name to all of his creations, but he has to some. One of the things that Ralph likes to do in his flies is use a small clump of deer hair tied trude off the back of the fly. He mentions that it makes the fly float better. The one thing that I noticed in many of his flies is his use of beautiful hen wings that are tied secure and well proportioned.

My information was gathered from talking to Ralph by phone and from Tom Deschaine who has visited Ralph many times and runs the informative website Michigan Dry Flies. Even though Ralph is known by many in the Northern Michigan area and has been included in the Lovells Museum of Fly Fishing History, he deserves a place among the legends. What a terrific tyer and such a nice guy. I have included more flies tied by Mr. Hanna below. I purchased some of these directly from Ralph and I also bought many when I was in Traverse City and Grayling in the places mentioned already. I’m thrilled I was able to obtain so many. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and remember they are much better than my pictures show.