PARA1. The Blue Dun Parachute Dry Fly

THE BLUE DUN
This pattern has taken many trout for me, particularly early in the season. Blue Insects (Baetis niger, Baetis muticus or Baetis pumilus). Trout have a great liking for this little fly. It is commonly believed that it hatches only on wet, windy days. This is not true as I have seen numerous hatches in calm warm conditions. It is easy to spot as it is the only upwinged fly that has such an overall dark body color. It hatches during the summer with peaks at the beginning and end of summer. It emergers at the surface in open water during the day in irregular, sometimes prolific, hatches. The Blue Dun is not an evening fly. They tend to swarm during the day. Mating and egg laying also often takes place during the day. This fly can be used as a good imitation of the Claret Dun (Leptophlebia Vespertina). They emerge late spring and prefer stillwater or slow flowing streams. The female and male are similar.

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 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.