Fly of the Month 11.10 Parachute Adams
This past weekend after we had finished our evening planning session and as we sat in front of a roaring fire, I turned to Tom Adams and asked him what fly we were doing for this month’s fly of the month. Tom replied that it was the Parachute Adams and I quietly asked why he had chosen that fly. Before Tom had a chance to reply a voice on the other side of the room responded “Because he likes the name!” Not only was it a tough crowd this weekend but I am thankful it wasn’t named the Parachute Wilhelm.
Dry flies tied "parachute-style" have been around for almost 80 years, however, I really can’t tell you when my first introduction to a parachute tied fly occurred. I don’t remember much discussion of them prior to the late eighties; although I do remember a fish I caught about that time on a Parachute Adams. There are those that fish 200 days a year and tell you not only every fish they catch but what fly they were using and what kind of cast they employed to either slip it under a laurel or how many currents it crossed. I can’t do that but there are 5 or 6 fish that I have remembered through the years. One of them was a 9 inch rainbow caught on a Parachute Adams. I had taken my wife and our two children, who were still pretty small at the time, to South Mountain State Park. This was back before Jacobs Fork was Delayed Harvest but I had gone above the Hatchery Supported waters and was trying to hop around some boulders below the falls. There was one pool with a small falls coming into it that pretty much halted my progress upstream. I pretty much had to stand on one boulder, lean on another and cast off of my left shoulder. I threw what was probably a size 14 Parachute Adams up into the deep pool located at the base of some large boulders. I let it set for a moment and was about ready to cast again when the rainbow took it. That rainbow is made even more memorable because I think it was the only fish I caught that day.
The Adams itself is a great fly as Paul Schullery states: “The great thing about the Adam is that it can still pretty much be whatever we want it to be. Charles Adams himself thought it imitated an ant. Biologist-Angler Sid Gordon, writing in 1955, spoke for generations of anglers before and since when he said that if you slanted the wings back a little you could “go any place in the country and have a common-place, staple imitation of the caddis in just this one pattern.” The Adam fills in for everything. At need, I’ve used it as a midge, a PMD, a Hendrickson, and a dozen other things I didn’t know what to call. We all recognize an Adams hatch when we see one.”
Tying the Adams as a parachute pattern, gives it a lower silhouette and makes it a good fly for rougher water. The white wing is easily visible, but it can also be tied with wings in yellow, orange or any fluorescent color giving it even higher visibility. It is certainly fly you want to have in your fly box.
Fly of the Month 11.10 Parachute Adams
Hook: Standard Dry Fly, Tiemco 100 or equivalent, Sizes: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20
Thread: Uni 8/0 Black Tail: Grizzly and Brown rooster, about ten fibers (some recipes call for moose hair)
Body: Muskrat or equivalent dubbing in Adams gray
Hackle: Grizzly and Brown rooster hackle
Wing Post: Turkey flat, poly fiber or parachute post material – white or Hi-Vis colors
Directions:
1. Start thread two or three eye lengths back from the eye and wrap tightly to about one third the distance to the bend. Tie in wing post. Add two or three wraps around the base of the post after securing to strengthen the vertical.
2) Continue the wrap to the bend above the barb and return the wrap to the thorax. Gather several grizzly and brown hackle fibers and “blend” together for the tailing. Tie in.
3) Dub thread with muskrat (remove the guard hairs) or equivalent dubbing and wrap forward from the tail to two eye lengths from the eye. The wraps forward of the post should be very thin.
4) Select a grizzly and a brown hackle, stripping an quarter inch from each. Put the two on top of another and tie in forward of the post leaving the stripped stem as long as possible. This will be wrapped around the wing post to make the hackle.
5) Grasp the bottom feather and wrap two or three turns around the post, starting up and bring each turn down to finish at the base of the post. Hold the feather at an angle and down at the eye and wrap two or three turns to secure. Weaving the thread through the hackle barbs to avoid bunching.
6) Repeat with the top feather.
7) To finish the tie in of the hackle, lift the barbs gently and tie the knot under the lifted section. Cement the head. Some tiers will put a drop at the post to cement the hackle, avoiding slippage.
- Tom Adams, Tim Wilhelm
This past weekend after we had finished our evening planning session and as we sat in front of a roaring fire, I turned to Tom Adams and asked him what fly we were doing for this month’s fly of the month. Tom replied that it was the Parachute Adams and I quietly asked why he had chosen that fly. Before Tom had a chance to reply a voice on the other side of the room responded “Because he likes the name!” Not only was it a tough crowd this weekend but I am thankful it wasn’t named the Parachute Wilhelm.
Dry flies tied "parachute-style" have been around for almost 80 years, however, I really can’t tell you when my first introduction to a parachute tied fly occurred. I don’t remember much discussion of them prior to the late eighties; although I do remember a fish I caught about that time on a Parachute Adams. There are those that fish 200 days a year and tell you not only every fish they catch but what fly they were using and what kind of cast they employed to either slip it under a laurel or how many currents it crossed. I can’t do that but there are 5 or 6 fish that I have remembered through the years. One of them was a 9 inch rainbow caught on a Parachute Adams. I had taken my wife and our two children, who were still pretty small at the time, to South Mountain State Park. This was back before Jacobs Fork was Delayed Harvest but I had gone above the Hatchery Supported waters and was trying to hop around some boulders below the falls. There was one pool with a small falls coming into it that pretty much halted my progress upstream. I pretty much had to stand on one boulder, lean on another and cast off of my left shoulder. I threw what was probably a size 14 Parachute Adams up into the deep pool located at the base of some large boulders. I let it set for a moment and was about ready to cast again when the rainbow took it. That rainbow is made even more memorable because I think it was the only fish I caught that day.
The Adams itself is a great fly as Paul Schullery states: “The great thing about the Adam is that it can still pretty much be whatever we want it to be. Charles Adams himself thought it imitated an ant. Biologist-Angler Sid Gordon, writing in 1955, spoke for generations of anglers before and since when he said that if you slanted the wings back a little you could “go any place in the country and have a common-place, staple imitation of the caddis in just this one pattern.” The Adam fills in for everything. At need, I’ve used it as a midge, a PMD, a Hendrickson, and a dozen other things I didn’t know what to call. We all recognize an Adams hatch when we see one.”
Tying the Adams as a parachute pattern, gives it a lower silhouette and makes it a good fly for rougher water. The white wing is easily visible, but it can also be tied with wings in yellow, orange or any fluorescent color giving it even higher visibility. It is certainly fly you want to have in your fly box.
Fly of the Month 11.10 Parachute Adams
Hook: Standard Dry Fly, Tiemco 100 or equivalent, Sizes: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20
Thread: Uni 8/0 Black Tail: Grizzly and Brown rooster, about ten fibers (some recipes call for moose hair)
Body: Muskrat or equivalent dubbing in Adams gray
Hackle: Grizzly and Brown rooster hackle
Wing Post: Turkey flat, poly fiber or parachute post material – white or Hi-Vis colors
Directions:
1. Start thread two or three eye lengths back from the eye and wrap tightly to about one third the distance to the bend. Tie in wing post. Add two or three wraps around the base of the post after securing to strengthen the vertical.
2) Continue the wrap to the bend above the barb and return the wrap to the thorax. Gather several grizzly and brown hackle fibers and “blend” together for the tailing. Tie in.
3) Dub thread with muskrat (remove the guard hairs) or equivalent dubbing and wrap forward from the tail to two eye lengths from the eye. The wraps forward of the post should be very thin.
4) Select a grizzly and a brown hackle, stripping an quarter inch from each. Put the two on top of another and tie in forward of the post leaving the stripped stem as long as possible. This will be wrapped around the wing post to make the hackle.
5) Grasp the bottom feather and wrap two or three turns around the post, starting up and bring each turn down to finish at the base of the post. Hold the feather at an angle and down at the eye and wrap two or three turns to secure. Weaving the thread through the hackle barbs to avoid bunching.
6) Repeat with the top feather.
7) To finish the tie in of the hackle, lift the barbs gently and tie the knot under the lifted section. Cement the head. Some tiers will put a drop at the post to cement the hackle, avoiding slippage.
- Tom Adams, Tim Wilhelm