(^7272) FFLYLYLLIFEIFE
Adams Variant...
Watson’s Fancy
Trout flies with Peter Watson
n 1922 Leonard Hal-
laday developed a dry
fly pattern for Charles
Adams. This fly, to be-
come immortalised as
the ‘Adams’, went on to be one of the
most successful trout patterns of all
time. Early success throughout the
Catskill and Appalachian mountains,
during a time when the popularity
of fly fishing was expanding, built its
reputation and the word spread.
It would be safe to say that the
Adams has resided in fly boxes the
world over, wherever trout are to
be found.
You would think this success and
popularity would set the pattern in
stone — why change something that’s
working so well? In reality the oppo-
site is true. The Adams has spawned
a multitude of variations, with fly-tiers
in every region fine-tuning the pattern
to suit the likes and dislikes of local
anglers. At the same time, other exist-
ing fly patterns were getting a facelift
of grizzle hackle and wings along with
the Adams name — flies such as the
Adams Humpy and Adams Wulff —
though perhaps more a wise market-
ing ploy rather than a need to improve
those patterns.
One region to customise the Adams
was the Smoky Mountains, in the
Southern Appalachians, where yellow
was thought to be the most produc-
tive colour when it came to catching
trout. The Adams Variant comes from
the vice of Fred Hall, who along with
his wife Allene tied commercially
from their house in Bryson City dur-
ing the ’40s and ’50s — a time when
fly fishing was at its peak in the east-
ern states.
The Hall’s flies were well known
for their symmetry, sparseness and
great attention to detail. While Fred is
credited with the Adams Variant, his
I
HOOK: Hanak H130BL, #12/14
THREAD: Black Veevus 16/0
WINGS: Grizzly hackle tips
TAIL: Golden pheasant fibres
BODY: Grizzly hackle and yellow
ostrich herl
HACKLE: Grizzly and brown
ADAMS VARIANT
360
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