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Hare’s Ear Nymph
Gold-Ribbed Hares Ear Nymph
Tying Instructions
1. This is the Hare’s Mask which the dubbing materials are obtained. The darker dubbing on the left is taken from the forehead of the mask. It contains a large number of guard hairs. The lighter dubbing on the right is taken from the cheeks which are lighter in color, fewer guard hairs, and softer in texture.
2. Slide a Gold Bead up the hook and attach the hook to the vise. Mash down the barb. I like to use a small piece of lead-free wire to fill the void of the bead. 9-10 turns will do it, then slide the wire into the void. The wire wraps can determine the thorax region.
3. Secure the wire with thread wraps and wrap a thread foundation down to the bend of the hook.
4. Clip a segment of fur from between the eyes of the Hare’s Mask. Pinching the tips of the fur, pull out the underfur gently until most of it is removed. The tips should be relatively even. Measure the material against the shank. The tail should be about one half the shank length of the hook. Bring the material to the tail tie-in postion and attach the tail using a pinch method, this will keep the tailing material on the top of the hook shank.
5. Clip the butts ends of the tailing material about 3/4 up the hook shank and secure with thread wraps going forward. Attach the oval rib wire to the side of hook shank.
6. Secure the ribbing stopping just short of the tail tie-in position. Apply some thread wax to the thread.
7. Apply the dubbing sparsely to the thread twisting the dubbing around the thread. Some of the fibers need to the shank so that the dubbing is trapped on the first thread wrap.
8. Wrap a tapered abdomen to the 2/3 position of the hook shank.
9. Now, wrap the ribbing forward with some evenly spaced wraps. 4-5 turns is enough and secure the tag end with some thread wraps.
10. Clip a section of dark mottled turkey feather for a wingcase. Attach in front of the abdomen with secure thread wraps up against the abdomen so as not to leave a gap. You do this by wrapping the wingcase material back to the 60% position of the hook shank. This is where the thorax will begin.
11. Create another dubbing loop 3-4 inches and bring the thread to just behind the bead.
12. Wax the loop thread as before. Using the dubbing from the forehead of the mask, you’ll see that it is much coarser and darker. Place the dubbing within the loop evenly. Apply at least 3x the amount of dubbing as used for the abdomen.
13. Twist the loop to trap the hairs into a thick chenille.
14. Wrap the chenille to form the enlarged thorax. Continue to apply the dubbing wraps until you reach the bead of the hook. Then, secure with tight thread wraps.
15. Bring the wingcase over the throax and secure with some thread warps.
16. Apply some UV Fly Finish (Thin) to the wingcase to increase the durability of the fibers.
17. Use a UV lamps to harden the finish. This gives a nice hard coating with reflectivity to the wingcase.
18. Apply some additional dubbing to the thread for a collar by twisting the dubbing around the thread..
19. One or two turns of the dubbed thread create a nice collar to hide the thread. Apply a whip finish and trim off the thread. The finished GRHE.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 3761 #10-16 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Gold Tungsten Bead |
| Weight | 0.015 Leadfree wire |
| Body | Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Tail | Hare's Mask Guard Hairs |
| Thorax | Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Wingcase | Mottled Oak Turkey Feather |
| Ribbing | Uni-French Small Gold Oval Tinsel |
Hare’s Ear Nymph
The Hare’s Ear Nymph is used widely throughout the world having many variations. No one knows with certainty who originally designed the fly but it is believed that Frederic Halford popularized the pattern in
Halford Hare
the late 1880s as a dry fly with upright Duck Quill wings and Brown and Grizzly hackles. The nymph pattern may go back to earlier years of Izaak Walton in 1676 where he describes three patterns tied by Charles Cotton utilizing Hares Ear fur in the 5th edition of Compleat Angler. Although the pattern has a long history, it truly did not become popular until the late 60’s when there was a trend to focus on the use of nymphs in fly fishing.
A Rediscovery of an Old Favorite
Polly Rosborough
Polly Rosborough wrote about his version in 1969 and Joe Brooks discussed the pattern in 1972. In 1986, Randall Kaufmann stated in The Fly Tyer’s Nymph Manual that; “The Hare Ear Nymph is the most popular nymph pattern in the fly fishing world. It can fished anywhere, anytime, with just about any method and the angler will have a reasonable chance of hooking trout.”
A Generic Nymph
The Hare’s Ear Nymph is known as a generic nymph in that it represents many mayfly and caddis nymphs and, therefore, is often used as a searching pattern. Its shaggy appearance resembles many species of nymphs when they shed their skins or shucks as they progress into the next stage of their life. The occasional long hair coming from the body will assist fooling the trout that your fly is alive as the it moves in the water. The more scruffy this fly is, the better it is at catching fish. Many different colors are used but, primarily in the Sierra, we use natural, tan, brown, and olive. It can be fished either weighted or unweighted.
The Hare’s Mask
The Hare’s Mask is the traditional source for the dubbing. The tail is made of guard hairs that are clipped from the area between the eyes of the mask. The underfur is removed by pinching tightly to the guard hairs, keeping them relatively even, and gently pulling away the underfur. The abdomen is made up of hares fur from the cheeks of the mask which is softer and a lighter color than other areas of the mask. This area also tends to have less unruly guard hairs.
The thorax is meant to be shaggy and buggy, so I find the best fur to be located on the forehead of the mask. Often the forehead will have darker hair as well. Both the abdomen and thorax dubbing fur should be blended separately prior to tying the pattern. There are a number of commercial dubbing mixes available but often they use rabbit body fur, not Hare’s mask. Some of these dubbings will also incorporate Antron, Poly, and other materials.
Other Material Variations
The ribbing is often Gold Oval tinsel but, on the smaller sizes, a fine gold wire might work better. This ribbing gives the pattern it’s acronym, GRHE (Gold Ribbed Hares Ear) which you’ll often see posted. Use of a gold bead was a new variation when the beads became available during the 1980’s. Another variation, you will often see is the use of Pheasant Tail fibers, grouse, or hackle fibers for the tail. The GRHE incorporates a wingcase of mottled Turkey but some variations will use Peacock Herl, Pheasant Tail, or Mylar. Turkey can be fragile on this pattern and you will often see an epoxy or cement finish applied upon the wingcase.
Bring on the Legs
Utilizing rubber legs has also been a popular variation to the nymph. The European competition styles will often leave off the bead and leadfree wire weight so that the fly will be the light dropper on a Euro nymphing rig. Some type of hot spot or trigger, like tinsel ribbing, is preferred for these patterns. John Atherton, a prominant fly fisher in the 1930’s and 40’s, added a Kingfisher Blue hackle as a wingcase and this “hot spot” improved the GRHE pattern. He described the pattern in his book, “The Fly and the Fish” (1950).
Presentation
If the fly is greased, it floats and provides an excellent imitation of large, hatching mayflies and caddis fly pupae. The most common method of fishing this popular fly is on a dead drift. The nymph is cast upstream and allowed to drift within the current. This is a most effective short-range technique and takes are usually seen as a splash at the surface. When this fly is immersed, the stiff fibers in the dubbing stand out and imitate the legs of an insect. Fish this lure below the surface with or without a small strike indicator and split-shot to help it sink. The Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear has also proven it’s effectiveness in lakes. Fished very slowly near the bed of the lake, it is particularly attractive to brown trout.
Light or Dark
The Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear nymph (GRHE) is used to represents a wide range of aquatic insect larvae. The pattern is especially good at representing lighter colored species of mayfly and caddis. It is very useful on still water and moving water for targeting numerous species including amongst others: trout, grayling, panfish, and carp. To imitate darker insect larvae, you might do better with a dyed-black, dyed-brown or dyed-olive variation of the fly pattern.
Variations
Hare’s Ear Nymph, Olive
| Hook | TMC 3761 #12-18 |
| Thread | Unithread Olive 6/0 |
| Head | Black Tungsten Bead |
| Weight | 0.015 Leadfree wire |
| Body | Olive Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Tail | Olive Hare's Mask Guard Hairs |
| Thorax | Olive Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Wingcase | Mottled Oak Turkey Feather |
| Ribbing | Uni-French Small Gold Oval Tinsel |
Hare’s Ear Nymph, Rubber Leg
| Hook | TMC 3761 #12-16 |
| Thread | Unithread Tan 6/0 |
| Head | Gold Tungsten Bead |
| Weight | 0.015 Leadfree wire |
| Body | Bleached Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Tail | Bleached Hare's Mask Guard Hairs |
| Thorax | Bleached Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Wingcase | Mottled Oak Turkey Feather and Pearl Tinsel |
| Legs | Ginger Life Flex |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
Emergent Hare’s Ear Nymph
| Hook | TMC 3761 #12-18 |
| Thread | Danville Rusty Brown 6/0 |
| Head | Danville Rusty Brown 6/0 |
| Body | Bleached Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Tail | Mallard Flank dyed Wood Duck |
| Thorax | Bleached Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Wing | Gray Marabou |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
Hare’s Ear Nymph, Black
| Hook | TMC 3761 #12-16 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Body | Black Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Tail | Black Pheasant Tail fibers |
| Thorax | Black Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Wingcase | Black Ostrich Herl |
| Ribbing | Uni-French Small Gold Oval Tinsel |
Hare’s Ear European Variant
| Hook | Hanak 230BL #12-16 |
| Thread | Veevus Black 10/0 |
| Head | Veevus Black 10/0 |
| Body | Hare's Mask Dubbing and Squirrel Dubbing Blend, Bleached |
| Tail | Hare's Mask Guard Hairs |
| Thorax | Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Wingcase | Natural Pheasant Tail coated with Loons UV Fly Finish, Flow |
| Ribbing | Midge Diamond Braid, Olive and Copper Wire |
Atherton Medium
| Hook | TMC 3761 #12-16 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Body | Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Tail | Natural Pheasant Tail fibers |
| Thorax | Hare's Mask Dubbing |
| Wingcase | Natural Brown Partridge Flank fibers |
| Ribbing | Uni-French Small Gold Oval Tinsel |