| The Adams was first created by Len
Halladay in 1922 and was supposedly first fished by Charles Adams on the Broadman River.
It is, if based on sales alone the most popular dry fly in America and is well known in
the rest of the angling world. An
Adams in the right sizes can pass for just about any winged aquatic insect and for this
reason works well as a searching pattern, it can bring up fish to the surface that have
not already been rising.
Strangely enough it also works well as a
caddis pattern, which as the story goes is was what its inventor Len Halliday intended it
to be when he invented it. Apparently it originally had down wings like a caddisfly but as
it became more popular and more professional flytiers got to work on it they gradually
started setting the wings in an upright position in the style of a mayfly.
Mayfly or caddisfly this is an
exceptional pattern and in the right sizes covers the angler for most eventualities. The
angler and author Gary LaFontaine believe the Adams is consistent because it is never
wrong.
Grayling seem to be particularly fond of
this great American classic and a sparsely dressed Adams is seldom refused during a hatch
of Olives.
| Originator:
Len Halladay |
| Hook: Tiemco 100 BL,
900BL or 100 (standard dry fly hook) |
| Thread:
Gray |
| Wing:
Grizzly hen hackle tips |
| Tail:
Grizzly and Brown hackle fibres mixed (or moose hair for the Western Adams) |
| Body:
Muskrat underfur (gray) |
| Hackle:
Grizzly and brown mixed |
Photo and text: Sean
Andrews 2001 ©
Sean Andrews is a professional flytyer. |
