I reached out to my friend, John Bonasera to see if he knew any original fly patterns developed by the late, great Dave Brandt. There are two he mentioned, The Minonipi Wulff and the Extended Body Coffin Fly. I have included what John wrote back to me about these two flies of Dave’s and I also included a video of Dave showing how to tie the Extended Body Coffin fly, which is a really neat little pattern in my opinion.
The Minonipi Wulff
Written by John Bonasera
The Minonipi Wulff
“This is Dave’s fly, created by him when he worked as a guide at Coopers Minipi Lodge in Labrador. The Labrador area is world famous for its giant and healthy brook trout, and since many of the waterways there are shallow, dry flies are a popular method of fishing for them.
Dave started going up there around 1981, you can only access it by floatplane, as it’s as rugged and inaccessible as any place in North America.
You may know Lee Wulff was already a frequent traveler to the area, and Dave fished with him often. This friendship likely factors into why Dave was an instructor at the Wulff School of Fly casting for almost 30 years.”
Extended Body Coffin Fly
Extended Body Coffin Fly
“Another fly he is known for, but I’m not positive it is actually “his” fly, the extended body coffin fly.
On a #12 -94843 4X short hook, the body is poly melted with a lighter at the butt, with teal wings and white badger hackle.”
Here is a video from Dirk’s Outdoors showing Dave tying the Extended Body Coffin Fly.
