Fly Tying the Usual (Fran Betters Dry Fly Pattern)
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- Опубликовано: 5 ноя 2021
- One of Fran Betters' more famous flies, the Usual is similar to his Haystack but uses snowshoe hare's feet in place of deer hair. This fuzzy very buoyant fly has been a staple of Adirondack fly fishermen since the 1960s.
Hook: #12-22 dry fly
Thread: Fluorescent red or orange
Tail: Snowshoe hare's feet
Body: Snowshoe hare's feet
Wing: Snowshoe hare's feet
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** Some of the other popular books used on this channel: **
Dave Hughes, "Essential Trout Flies," 2017, amzn.to/3lbCZYX
Dave Hughes, "Wet Flies," 2015, amzn.to/33ac3lQ
John Shewey, "Classic Steelhead Flies," 2015, amzn.to/2RywHcP
David Klausmeyer's "Favorite Flies," 2020, amzn.to/3oeSNMa
Morgan Lyle's "Simple Flies," 2015, amzn.to/3qB1zW1
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: amzn.to/34U0rUe
Mike Valla's "Tying the Founding Flies," 2015, amzn.to/354oSir
Mike Valla's "Classic Streamer Fly Box," 2020, amzn.to/3n3Vakf
Randle Scott Stetzer's "Flies, the Best One Thousand," 1992, amzn.to/34Q15mp
Terry Hellekson's "Popular Fly Patterns," 1976, amzn.to/2L4IyvS
Dick Stewart's, "Flies for Bass and Panfish," 1992, amzn.to/3aGpFs1
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: amzn.to/34U0rUe
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Matt this a great,trout catching fly.I'll tie 50 or more at a sitting,different sizes and color of snowshoe feet.I all ways use red thread.And the history on the red thread is fran would tag along with his dad on Sat. nights to his friends gettogethers to tie flies and drink.Fran got what the other tiers didn't wont.One of his dads friend gave Fran some red thread,that's where the red thread came from.I met Fran at his fly shop.He gave me this fly.He was a great guy.I have tied all of his flies and have them in a shadow box.Ken was doing great one day in the river with this fly,two guys was watching Ken,asked him what fly he was using.Ken said the usual and it was funny.The guys got offended.Every trout fisherman needs a few of these in his box.Great job Matt,have a wonderfull weekend. Linda
Linda- this is a great story! I would have loved to have met Fran. From everything I have read about him, he was just an all around great guy. And great idea with a shadow box of his flies. I think I'll make that a winter project for myself. Thanks for the note. You and Ken have a great weekend!
Well that is one buggy looking fly. I definitely learned a couple of things during this video. The waxing and dubbing technique was great. In one of the comments I also learned an interesting fact. I now know we have Snowshoe Rabbits 🐇 in Northern Wisconsin. Being new to this area, I did not know that. Time to hit the hunting members of my wife’s family up again. Thank you Matt and subscribers.
If I would have known I would start fly tying I would have saved a bunch of snow shoe feet and hair during my hunting time in Northern Wisconsin. Great tie Matt!
Thanks! Now you've got me wondering. What do the winter feet on the rabbits we have down here in Maryland look like? I mean, they do live outside in the winter. There's not that much snow, but I'll be they are pretty insulated. Hmmm.... I might have to trap a couple and give it a try. Thanks for the note. :-)
I’m stoked to tie a bunch of these. I love snowshoe fur. Thank you Sir Matt for sharing this tutorial.
I got to watch Fran tying in his shop when I was a kid back in the mid 90s! My Dad would take us to the Ausable a few times every summer and we'd always go in his shop.
Great story! I wish I had got to meet him. From everything I've read about him, he was such a great guy. Thanks for the note. :-)
@@SavageFlieshe was a good sales man too. My dad couldn't go in there without spending $200 on flies 😂 I loved it. Even at that time and my young age I knew I was watching a legend of the sport at work. So many of the books I had talked about him. Thanks for the reply. One of my favorite tying channels as I try to get back intro it after a 20 year hiatus
@@joeg5414 That’s great to hear. Welcome back my friend. 👍
Now, that is a buggy fly! Again, thanks for the time you put in for us.
Good morning Matt. Enjoyed your choice for this morning. Thanks for sharing amd thanks to those who shared their experiences with this fly in the comments.
It’s time for another ☕️
I second that John! I just mentioned to Bob that I learn a lot from reading these comments as well. Such a great community here. :-)
Anyone who has ever tied one of Fran Betters' Usual fly pattern soon become "Hooked" on this one for life. Reading the other SF testimonials already posted in just a few hours is proof positive just how well this single pattern works. So in short, What fly did you use to catch all those fish? The USUAL... As always Matt, BRAVO ZULU !
The usual is a great fly, along with Frans other flies.He was a legend in the fly tying world.He passed away in 2009, but his legend lives on.
I know! The name is one of the most interesting parts of this history on this one. :-)
Definitely a good one Matt I've caught a lot of nice trout on this one over the years.👍
Thanks Hugh! I appreciate you stopping by and leaving a note my friend. So what's going on with your channel? Are you thinking about bringing it back??
@@SavageFlies I started a new one under the same name fly tying with Hugh!
Hey Matt,
Good morning thanks
☕️☕️
Always Jim! I just got home from Missouri. Now to answer some comments and get back to family time. :-)
@@SavageFlies Glad you had safe travels, always good to be back home👍
Finally a fly I can use my snowshoe hare rabbits foot for that I've had for a couple of months. LOL. Thanks Matt
You bet Alex; have fun with it my friend!
This fly in small sizes or a compardun is often my go to for the “sophisticated” trout. Nice tie.
Cool fly, I'll have to add this pattern to, (The List), lol. What a list it has grown into. Thanks Matt for sharing
Ha! I hear you my friend. The list of flies I want to tie grows by at least a dozen with every new book I get. And with some books it grows by a lot more than that!
Great Job on the usual Matt. That's a great fly to try when trout are active but sporadic but refusing everything else that you throw.
Great call Daryl. I've got lots of these "when all else is failing" flies. Sometimes when my go-to EHCs are failing, maybe they're getting some looks and then rejects... I'll first go to something tiny, and if that doesn't work, I'll go to the other extreme and go huge. Usually one of these tactics will fool at least a couple of the young and reckless fish. :-)
Nice ty Matt a great fish catcher , and thanks for the history . Awesome. Tight lines Denny
Thanks Matt, really enjoy your channel! Thanks for sharing your time! KANSAS
An incredibly effective fly. You can pull it underwater, but I don’t think you can actually sink it. Nicely messy tie Matt. Just as it should be.
Thanks Bob, and great tactic! I wish I had thought to mention that in the intro. (I think I learn more from all the comments here than I do when researching most patterns.) :-)
Very buggy and definitely choice trout even grayling fly up here. Thx Matt!
Tie the usual as a clinkhammer it will tear up grayling.Have a great weekend Clyde. Ken
Awesome! That "thumbnail" looked perfect Matt, add it to your shadow box. The cool thing about this buggy fly besides being "buggy", like the way Betters told me how to tie flies - with that huge standing mount of a black bear looking over my shoulder :o) - is that you can pull it under the surface with that wing waving in the current and have it pop back up to the surface like a hatching fly. And the Usual is very visible in the water. For me Betters, his flies, the Adirondacks, is the essence of the outdoors. I learned a lot about fly fishing just by being observant and practiced what I saw while fishing up there. I never caught or saw a leg long Adirondack trout like Betters is holding in that photo, but that's what lured me to go there, and I'm happy I did. Thanks Matt, great tutorial.
Wow Joe, great comment. Those leg-long trout are what dreams are made of! And can I infer from your comment that you met Fran and actually tied with him? I think I'll end up with a chapter on him and his flies in my first book. It sounds like Linda and Ken Blaine knew him too. Great stuff. Okay, I just got home from Missouri. Now to finish reading these comments and then off to some family time. :-)
@@SavageFlies No I never tied with him, and he never gave me any flies. My wife and I took week long vacations up there for many years. His shop was always our first stop and he'd recommend what flies to use and I'd buy them. I later told him I tied and loved his flies but didn't have the right materials to tie them. So he picked out some woodchuck, that Ausie opossum dyed rusty orange, coastal deer hair for the haystack, some beautiful bronze mallard, and that fire orange thread he used. When I asked him how to tie them he told me "just make them look buggy Joe". He also signed his pattern book and the fishing the Adirondacks book that I bought there. He was a nice man, and I was disappointed he was ill the last time I went to his shop and we couldn't see him. Later I read in Fly Tyer he had passed away. I really like the Usual and Snowshoe Rabbit as a material - lots of patterns call for it. I liked hunting them white bunnies too, "ghost of the woods". Enjoy the family :o)
The bad part about this video is that those 7 minutes flew by and now I have to wait 'till Tuesday for the next one! Very kool tie Matt, certainly one that we beginners should have no problem with! (Hell, most of my ties look buggy like that one!) :0) Have a great weekend!
Ha! Thanks Garrett. I just got back in town and haven't even thought about Tuesday's fly yet. But... I did order Stewart and Allen's "Trout Flies" which arrived while I was out so I've got lots to pick from this week. :-)
Yep it is a buggy mess, but like you said, that's the beauty of it. I'm betting that white gets pretty translucent when it gets wet so that red thread shows through pretty well. Keep the good stuff coming Matt.
Appreciate it Dave! And I think you're right with the translucency of the natural hair.
Thanks Matt looks like a nice fly for a beginner .
Good morning Matt. Will be adding this to the box for sure. Can't wait to try on the Adorndick waters near me. Thanks for sharing this one. Have a great weekend sir.
Appreciate it Karl. You have a great weekend too my friend!
OMG i can see fish hitting that in my head 2 thumbs up
Nice job on this one. Thanks Matt.
Appreciate it Chad! And BTW, I just got back in town tonight. Awesome package my friend; thank you! I think I'm going to do a giveaway with it (except for the turkey feathers; those are nice. I'm keeping them for myself!) If I can get a video done tomorrow I'll do it then. I'll let you know. After a week out of town, I might have too many chores around here. :-)
Surely is a great pattern Matt.love to fish it.catches fish.thanks for sharing!!👍
You know it Mike! Thanks for the note. :-)
This is one of my top 4 all time most productive patterns for western rivers and streams (Utah, Wyoming, Idaho & Montana).
Very cool to hear! I think this one is a lot of people's "confidence flies." Mine is a prince nymph and elk hair caddis. :-)
Simply a buggy bug. Thanks Matt.
that is a great pattern I learned from Fran's book, checked out of the library, as a kid. I caught bass and sunfish in golf ponds and trout in streams. One of the flies I used a lot not sure why I stopped. great choice to show.
Thanks Ralph! Definitely a blast from the past. Thanks for the note my friend. :-)
Great tying a usual
Great fly for the white fly hatch on the Yellow Breeches in Cumberland county Pa
Oh man, I've never fished the YB, but lots of folks in my TU chapter fish it. I hear the white fly hatch up there can be some amazing night fishing. :-)
@@SavageFlies Matt, it is!
Thanks Matt. This looks like a great fly as a dry dropper or solo. I appreciate your instructions in tying with spikey hair. The rule of ‘start with more than you need and pair it down’ is helpful.
Thanks James, and you're absolutely right that this would be a good top fly in a dry/dropper rig. I'd probably hang a small zebra midge off this one (in the winter), and maybe something like a Prince or Hare's Ear in other seasons. But then again, I've had good luck with a zebra midge all year long. :-)
Classic Fran! :-) Thanks for the video! I like that trimming technique to get a taper.
Appreciate it Nicole! Thanks for watching. :-)
That's a good one, Matt. "Bugginess" is key!
Nice tie Matt. Being from the Adirondacks this pattern doesn't surprise me, I'm always seeing Gypsy Moth Caterpillars floating down stream after falling from their nest and the fish gobble them up and this pattern reminds me much of the Gypsy Moth in the caterpillar stage really hairy.
Hmmm... that makes me wonder if Fran might have been thinking of the gypsy moth when he came up with this one. Maybe, or maybe it's just a buggy looking attractor pattern. Whatever it is, the fly certainly works!
@@SavageFlies Hey Matt. I'm really enjoying the rotary function on the Spider vice and have decided to upgrade a bit and you and many others have given the Peak rotary vice good reviews but no one has mentioned hook size. I know from watching your videos that you use a lot of hooks from size 10 to 16 and that you also use your Peak when at the farm. I mainly use size 12 to 16 hooks myself and i'm wondering if the jaws on the Peak being kinda chunky prohibit the holding power on smaller sized hooks?
Thanks, Pete.
I like the buggy flies!
Matt, this is my go to pattern in different colors from late spring thru fall on a dry dropper great Sulphur pattern too. Picked this up from a guide buddy on snow shoe mount in West Virginia from Dave Brittemeyer he was a huge Betters fan and showed me the way for many years…. I use 70 denier in orange.
Thanks Scott and great story! I was actually using a 140 denier on this one, not sure why I said 210. :-)
That's a neat pattern Matt thanks for sharing
nice tie, I have not used snowshoe yet, I'm going to give this a go.👍
It's pretty cool stuff Kyle. Good luck!
Good Morning Sir Matt, as USUAL ( LOL 😆 ) the video was fantastic, I have no snow rabbit shoe so I will try with calf tail if not than I will order some. Have a great weekend Sir.
Order you some snowshoe feet,calf tail can't get it on this fly.Natural works best other colors are great too.And use the read thread for sure.
@@epsieblaine7968 thank you Epsie 😊
Hi Edward. The snowshoe has a couple properties that calf tail doesn’t. It is more translucent when wet allowing the red underneath show through and it compresses easier so is buggy but not bulky if that makes any sense. Good luck on your ties as this pattern really works!
Hi Edward the other reply was from my wife.See you have calf tail.Try ausable wullf, it is another of Frans great flies along with the haystack.I think Matt has them on his channel if you haven't seen them. Ken
Thanks Edward! And Ken, Linda and Mark. They're all right. Calf tail might *look* like snowshoe hare as they're both kind of crinkly, but snowshoe rabbit feet hair is VERY water repellent and buoyant. And even a bit translucent when you use the natural. I do have some feet dyed black, brown and olive and they work for certain patterns, but this one definitely works best in the natural color. Good luck with it. It's a fun one. :-)
That is a cool looking fly Matt
I have heard of this one but have never tried it
Will definitely have to try this one out sometime
Thanks for the video
Appreciate it Dave!
Nicely done, as always.
Looks pretty cool. And super easy to tie. Thank you, Matt. Have a great weekend!!
Peace.
Appreciate it Kyle! You too my friend. :-)
Great fly and tie Matt. The story of the usual reminds me of my son asking a float tuber who was doing well what he was using. The guy said a nymph and paddled off. My son was like “well that narrows it down”. Have a good weekend and thank you for your efforts. Continued blessings my friend.
I know Mark; that bugs me when other fishermen are so secretive about the flies they're using! I'm totally the opposite. If I've got a fly that's working and someone asks me, I'll tell them exactly what it is, down to the color and size. And if they don't have any, I'll offer to give them some of mine. (I probably have too many flies anyway.)
Same here. If I can help someone I will. Some folks just don’t get it.
@@SavageFlies don't tell them it is the Uasual, but give them one.
Definitely one for the box ,excellent pattern. Thanks for sharing Matt!
Thanks for sharing
Thanks Matt for the start of another great day this one looks like I could even do it :-)
Piece of cake Marty! :-)
Oh man, that fly has little brookies written all over it.
I can attest that this pattern works on both stillwaters and flowing waters for trout (rainbow and westslopes) in British Columbia. FWIW, I vary the thread and body colour and typically tie with a foam underbody for added buoyancy.
Spent a lot of time on the Batten Kill with this one.You should have shown where that between the toes is where the fibers come from.
That depends on the size that you're tying.
Yep, good point Michael. On this specific foot it seemed to have longer hairs up close to the toes, and on the back part of the pad it was definitely thicker (with more underfur dubbing). But for the most part on a size 12, I could have used tufts from either area on it.
Well tied! But, I prefer to set the wing first, that's just me tying! 👍
I like mine with a thin CDC body in pale yellow an cream works great on big hunting creek size 14 16 18
Yeah, no way I'm getting tying this in anything smaller than a 14. Looks super easy to tie but that material is a bit too unruly for my skills! thanks for showing us another great fly!
I hear you Ed! Anything smaller than a 14 would be too unruly for me too. :-)
Nice one, I just so happen to get some Snowshoe this week. Was wondering about the underfur, would it work better to snip it up with scissors before dubbing?
Thanks Thomas! I think if you chopped up the underfur before dubbing it on it might make it too hard to get on the thread. It might be worth a try though!
Coffee & watch you ty , is a great way to start my day . Thanks, question am new to tying , which way do you spin your thread to tighten up your thread ? Guessing clock wise. Thanks Again
Thanks John- and yes, usually clockwise if you were letting the bobbin hang and looking at it from the top. But keep in mind that all threads don't flatten or cord the same way. If you let your bobbin hang for a few seconds you can see which way it will naturally tend to spin. It will usually spin toward "flattening out" and just spin the other way to cord it up.
@@SavageFlies thanks Matt 👍
Yup. I looked high and low. No snowshoe hare feet. Several cottontail feet. Guess night be some brownish hairs,hares,in mine.
I just saw the Fly Shack did have their Hareline ones on sale, but at about $10, they're still a bit pricey.
flyshack.com/DisplayItem.aspx?ItemID=117837
@@SavageFlies thanks Matt.
Looks nice what kind of bobbin are you using
Thanks Isaiah. My main bobbin (and my favorite) is the C&F, standard length. amzn.to/3CW7jzY
Matt, I need your PO box. Trying to send you something. And I can't find it. I know you posted it before. Thanks
Thomas- send me an email and I'll give you my home address. matt@savageflies.com. Thanks!
You scare me! With all the flies you tie a would be afraid to see how many you carry with you. You’re vest must weigh 100 lbs. Just kidding.
Uggh... you don't want to know Gary! But seriously, I usually just carry three small boxes in my vest, but have another half dozen in my bag in the truck. But it never fails when I'm on the water and I'll think, "Ohhh... that caddis emerger I tied last week would be perfect here." And it's in a box two miles away in the truck. :-)