Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
The behaviors of trout can be infuriating at times. They might refuse your best imitations during a hatch but at the same time inhale some ugly concoction of fur and feather that looks more like a hairball than an insect. You might catch dozens of trout on a bright, sunny, lifeless afternoon, but next day – same time, same place – you get skunked when the weather is wonderfully overcast and mayflies emerge endlessly. Those objects of our attention – the ones with the pea-sized brains – are hard to understand. But who are we to second guess the mind of a trout? The best we can do is experiment with fly patterns and allow trout to tell us what they like. Such is the case with three of the unlikeliest of classic flies” the variants, spiders, and skaters. These flies may not look like any insects you’ve seen, but the angling literature is full of testimonials to their uncanny ability to enrage trout.
Variants, spiders, and skaters are three increasingly extreme fly designs. All are lightly dressed, high floating, wingless, dry flies tied with unusually long hackle. Skaters are the most extreme, consisting of nothing but a hook, thread, and 2+ inch hackle. Spiders have somewhat shorter hackle, and variants have hackle that is a more modest 2 or 3 hook sizes large. Variants have the profile of traditional dries, but their hackle and tail are sufficiently long that the entire hook rides above the water’s surface, with the fly supported only on the tips of its hackle. Variants are sprightly flies that land softly, dance lightly, and respond to every little swirl of current or puff of wind.
Englishman William Baigent (1864-1935) originated the variant style in the late 19th century. He was a dedicated dry fly angler living in the English north at a time when the “dry fly revolution” was in full flower in the south. Baigent’s approach to dry fly design, however, was quite different from the highly imitative methods of the south. Baigent was an amateur entomologist who knew the insects of his home waters very well. But rather than tie excruciatingly exact replicas of captured naturals, Baigent designed his patterns by trial and error to be, at best, rough approximations of the naturals. He didn’t care what the final fly looked like. Baigent began with simple generic imitations, varied their size, profile, components, and colors, and took them fishing. Experiments continued only on those flies that caught the most fish. Baigent’s “survival of the fittest” approach yielded remarkably effective flies. Trout told Baigent what a fly should look like, not some angling author or self-anointed authority. Baigent was one of the earliest impressionistic fly designer, for whom exact imitation was unnecessary. His long hackled flies may seem monstrous to human sensibilities, but trout are much more tolerant. Baigent was once asked what his most famous fly imitates, to which he responded, “It is not tied to represent any fly, it is tied to catch a trout“.
Americans Preston Jennings and Edward Hewitt admired Baigent’s designs. Both were keenly interested in underwater optics and the light patterns of flies riding atop the surface. Baigent corresponded with Hewitt, whose Bivisible and Neversink Skater were likely influenced by Baigent’s ideas. Art Flick, an influential author of the mid-19th century, thought highly of the variant style, and he popularized them in his 1947 book A Streamside Guide To Naturals and Their Imitations. As described by Flick, “There is something about flies tied this way that seems to excite the trout, and often they will come up and smash them when they do not want them.” Flick suggested that an angler could do very well through an entire trout season using only three flies tied in varying sizes: a Dun Variant, Cream Variant, and Grey Fox Variant.
Why do such ill-proportioned flies work so well? Only one expert knows for sure, and that’s the trout. Ask one when you next meet but be sure to phrase the question with oversized hackle.
Copyright 2022, Rusty Dunn
Art Flick’s Grey Fox Variant
A size #10 – #12 Grey Fox Variant is a very popular imitation of eastern Green Drakes.
| Hook: |
Dry fly, #10 – #16 |
| Thread: |
Pearsall’s Gossamer silk, primrose yellow |
| Tail: |
Ginger hackle barbs |
| Body: |
Light ginger or cream hackle quill, stripped |
| Hackle: |
One each of light ginger, dark ginger, and grizzly, oversized by 2-3 hook sizes and wrapped together |
Art Flick’s Grey Fox Variant
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Last Updated: January 27, 2022 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
The behaviors of trout can be infuriating at times. They might refuse your best imitations during a hatch but at the same time inhale some ugly concoction of fur and feather that looks more like a hairball than an insect. You might catch dozens of trout on a bright, sunny, lifeless afternoon, but next day – same time, same place – you get skunked when the weather is wonderfully overcast and mayflies emerge endlessly. Those objects of our attention – the ones with the pea-sized brains – are hard to understand. But who are we to second guess the mind of a trout? The best we can do is experiment with fly patterns and allow trout to tell us what they like. Such is the case with three of the unlikeliest of classic flies” the variants, spiders, and skaters. These flies may not look like any insects you’ve seen, but the angling literature is full of testimonials to their uncanny ability to enrage trout.
Variants, spiders, and skaters are three increasingly extreme fly designs. All are lightly dressed, high floating, wingless, dry flies tied with unusually long hackle. Skaters are the most extreme, consisting of nothing but a hook, thread, and 2+ inch hackle. Spiders have somewhat shorter hackle, and variants have hackle that is a more modest 2 or 3 hook sizes large. Variants have the profile of traditional dries, but their hackle and tail are sufficiently long that the entire hook rides above the water’s surface, with the fly supported only on the tips of its hackle. Variants are sprightly flies that land softly, dance lightly, and respond to every little swirl of current or puff of wind.
Englishman William Baigent (1864-1935) originated the variant style in the late 19th century. He was a dedicated dry fly angler living in the English north at a time when the “dry fly revolution” was in full flower in the south. Baigent’s approach to dry fly design, however, was quite different from the highly imitative methods of the south. Baigent was an amateur entomologist who knew the insects of his home waters very well. But rather than tie excruciatingly exact replicas of captured naturals, Baigent designed his patterns by trial and error to be, at best, rough approximations of the naturals. He didn’t care what the final fly looked like. Baigent began with simple generic imitations, varied their size, profile, components, and colors, and took them fishing. Experiments continued only on those flies that caught the most fish. Baigent’s “survival of the fittest” approach yielded remarkably effective flies. Trout told Baigent what a fly should look like, not some angling author or self-anointed authority. Baigent was one of the earliest impressionistic fly designer, for whom exact imitation was unnecessary. His long hackled flies may seem monstrous to human sensibilities, but trout are much more tolerant. Baigent was once asked what his most famous fly imitates, to which he responded, “It is not tied to represent any fly, it is tied to catch a trout“.
Americans Preston Jennings and Edward Hewitt admired Baigent’s designs. Both were keenly interested in underwater optics and the light patterns of flies riding atop the surface. Baigent corresponded with Hewitt, whose Bivisible and Neversink Skater were likely influenced by Baigent’s ideas. Art Flick, an influential author of the mid-19th century, thought highly of the variant style, and he popularized them in his 1947 book A Streamside Guide To Naturals and Their Imitations. As described by Flick, “There is something about flies tied this way that seems to excite the trout, and often they will come up and smash them when they do not want them.” Flick suggested that an angler could do very well through an entire trout season using only three flies tied in varying sizes: a Dun Variant, Cream Variant, and Grey Fox Variant.
Why do such ill-proportioned flies work so well? Only one expert knows for sure, and that’s the trout. Ask one when you next meet but be sure to phrase the question with oversized hackle.
Copyright 2022, Rusty Dunn
Art Flick’s Grey Fox Variant
A size #10 – #12 Grey Fox Variant is a very popular imitation of eastern Green Drakes.
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Category: Fly Tying, Rusty Dunn Fountains of Youth
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