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Dougherty's Paddler:
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Materials
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Hook: Size 8 Tiemco TMC 105 or similar
Thread:
Color-matching thread
Eyes: Dumbbell
eyes, yellow with black pupil preferred
Body: Black
chenille or rabbit dubbing
Tail: Orange
rabbit zonker strip
Flash: Several
strands of gold Krystal Flash
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Buy materials now
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The original
paddler is tied with black and orange,
however a multitude of colors may be
substituted to match local bait variations
or artistic flare.
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History
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Sometimes old
patterns are still the best. I developed
this pattern in the mid to late 80's.
Regardless of time, this pattern possesses
key features that still make it productive
today. Originally, yellow plastic beaded
sewing pins were used as eyes prior to the
development of Clouser-style dumbbell eyes.
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What makes this fly a successful pattern?
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1. The name Paddler comes from the emitted motion
provided by the tail. Upon retrieve, the
rabbit tail wiggles or "paddles" up and down
much like a beaver tail.
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2. The krystal
flash is not constrained by other materials,
i.e. bucktail or synthetics and thus is free
to move and flash illustriously.
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3. The black
head provides a sharp contrast to the yellow
eyes, making the eye a bull's eye to feeding
fish.
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4. The bright
orange tail increases visual acuity while
tracking the fly through the water. This in
turn generates higher hook-up percentages by
allowing the fishermen to watch the fly and
anticipate strikes.
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Dougherty's
Paddler has caught panfish and slews of
smallies from both the Conodoguinet Creek
and Susquehanna River. It's always a good
idea to add a few of these simple to tie
flies to your fly box.
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