Fly Focus: The KlinkHanson

Every so often I am going to write one of these Fly Focus posts, in which I focus on a fly pattern that I invented, or that somebody else invented, or that I have for sale here on the ol' blog, or that I just really think is cool for no other reason than that it is. The first fly I am going to focus on is the KlinkHanson.

Size 18 BWO KlinkHanson

I invented the KlinkHanson probably 15 years ago or so. I wanted a fly that would imitate an emerging mayfly, that was durable, that was fairly easy to tie, and that did what I wanted it to on the water. I think the fly I came up with is all of those things, plus it's a great fish catcher!

I am not an aquatic entomologist by any means, but I have seen enough mayflies emerging to know what they look like. From what I have witnessed, they have a tendency to take some time at the water's surface as they struggle to emerge from their nymphal husks. A lot of them seem to be half in the water and half out of the water for a while as they are struggling. The KlinkHanson imitates that by having a back half that looks like the nymphal body, and a front half that looks like a winged adult sitting on top of the water.

I really wanted the back nymph half of the body to hang below the surface, so I tried a few different things, but the best option I found was to use copper wire for the ribbing. The copper wire adds just enough weight to get the back half to penetrate the surface, but not so much that it drags the fly under water. No matter what species of mayfly I am imitating, I use pheasant tail fibers for the abdomen, which are some of the best nymph making materials I have ever used.

That same copper wire helps to make the fly pretty durable too. Pheasant tail fibers can get pretty chewed up, but the wire helps keep things in place.

The front half of the fly is what imitates the emerging adult mayfly, so I change the colors up to match whatever hatch I am fishing. For a Blue Winged Olive hatch I use a size 18 KlinkHanson with olive dubbing and dark dun hackle. For a sulphur hatch I tie it on a size 14 or 16 hook, and use pale yellow or green dubbing and a ginger hackle. I have had great success here in the Upper Midwest with a Hendrickson colored KlinkHanson, which is a size 14 with dark pink dubbing and medium dun hackle. You can tie it in whatever color scheme fits the bill.

Size 16 Adams KlinkHanson

Some of you might not think that tying a parachute fly hits the criteria of being fairly easy to tie. I would have agreed with you at one point, but over the years I have tied several thousands of parachute flies, and I developed a technique that makes it pretty straighforward for me. I wrote an article for Fly Tyer magazine a couple of years ago about my parachute technique, and if you want to watch, here it is in video form:

If you don't feel like tying your own KlinkHansons, there are two ways to buy some. First is to stop by at Lund's Fly Shop in River Falls, Wisconsin. They carry them in two colors, a size 18 BWO and a size 16 in an Adams color scheme. If you are not near Lund's, you can always buy them here on the ol' blog, along with several other patterns I tie. Click on my Store Page to check it out.

I hope you enjoyed this first installment of Fly Focus. Look for the next Fly Focus right here in the next couple of weeks!