PARA2. The Adams Parachute Dry Fly

THE ADAM'S PATTERN
One of the most popular North America original dry flies is the Adams. In the early 1920's, fly fishermen on the Boardman River in northern lower Michigan were having problems. The Michigan grayling was gone. Rainbows had been stocked to provide fishing after the demise of the grayling but they were getting scarce and brook trout had been wiped out by over-fishing and habitat destruction. There was a newly stocked European trout that produced some good fishing, but it was creating a few headaches among fly fishermen. They found it so finicky that it was a source of frustration. That new fish was the brown trout. Because anglers and fly tiers were trying to find a fly the brown would take more readily, a new pattern was born. In 1922, Leonard Hallady created the first Adams dry fly near his home on the banks of Mayfield pond. He named it in honor of his good friend, Judge Charles F. Adams, another enthusiastic angler who loved to fish for brook and brown trout in the nearby Boardman River. The Adams combines brown and grizzly hackle; many trout anglers claim it is the best fly ever made. Some, in fact, declare that if they had to use only one fly for all of their trout fishing, it would be the Adams. It not only pleased the browns but shortly found wide acclaim across the country and world-wide.

Because of the Adams' success, there have been many, many variations on the original pattern, including an Adam's Irresistible, Adam's midge, Adams Thorax, Golden Adams, Swedish Adams, Down Wing Adams, Poly Adams, Lady Adams, Teal Wing Adams, Blue-wing Adams, Western Adams, and more. The original has also been tied spent-wing style. We stock the Parachute Adams because of comments like this from our customers: "Adams parachute is a *must* have in the fly box here in the mountains of Northern Carolina, USA. It imitates a wide range of mayflies and is arguably the most productive fly one can have tethered to one's tippet. If I don't see an obvious hatch, I'll start with a Royal Wulff. Those white wings are easy to see and it's as good an attractor as any, in my experience. After that, it's the parachute Adams. I usually fish the parachute style with a body dubbed a bit rougher than classic - not as much as a Hare's Ear nymph, but toward that direction. Usually I use 16, since smaller than that seems to be less effective in the mostly pocket water, freestone streams I fish. I use a 12 if I'm prospecting in heavier water as it floats better".:"I use both standard Adams pattern in sizes 14 or16. The standard tie is a good general bug imitation for trout fishing. It can be fished dead drift or moved if needed on the water. The parachute tie has a decent mayfly shape and is a good imitation of darker mayflies on the surface. It seems to bring up even wary native browns as consistently as any pattern I know of."

CUSTOMER COMMENT
Three of us caught a significant number of 18" - 27" beautiful native rainbows on your Parachute Adams hook size 16 & 18 on a private ranch stream near Mt. Lassen, California this past week (mid June). The fly is and has been a consistent producer in numerous situations
Semper Fi,
Dr Richard Curtis, CA, USA

PARACHUTE DRY FLIES
The term parachute fly is given to flies in which the hackle is tied round a projection affixed to the top of the hook shank near the eye so that the hackle lies horizontally across the hook which it covers in the manner of an open umbrella. The weight of the hook underneath the circular hackle balances the fly which falls lightly on the water parachute fashion. Various patterns are tied in the parachute style and a Scottish tackle firm was the first to commercially market these flies a long time ago. It is not certain who invented them but an American called William Brush of Detroit applied for an American patent for the idea in 1931 and it was granted in 1934. The patent related to the projection on the hook and not the fly itself. 

The traditional way of dressing dry flies with upright wings and hackles that make the fly stand high on the water's surface may be very pleasing but it is not necessarily the best design for catching fish in some anglers opinions. The parachute dry fly style of dressing allows the fly to sit well down in or on the surface film, mimicking either an emerging mayfly dun filling its wings, a spent spinner, stillborn, floating nymph or a crippled drowning fly trapped in the surface film. They can be dramatically more effective at getting takes. Some traditionalist will not use them but I find them very effective and easy to cast correctly. I have found them more suited to still water fishing as once a ripple or two has broken over them they become waterlogged.  The softer landing, the delicate presentation is one of this patterns principle benefits. The parachute effect of the hackle slows down the descent. It does not spook the fish as much as a normal dry fly.  They are one of my favorite lake flies. When the trout are rising and taking food with a gentle sipping action these are the flies to use.

When the mayflies have stopped emerging and the surface action has died down. The fishing is not over if you know where to look. Go for a walk down the riverbank and look for bankside eddies, areas of slow slack pockets of water near faster moving water. A lot of mayflies do not successfully emerge during the hatch. They are referred to as cripples or stillborn. Others are flipped over, capsized in choppy water. They seem to collect in these eddies. You will find trout rising to them long after the original hatch has finished. Cast a Parachute into these pockets and let it drift. It is a great way to extend your surface fishing time.