Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear

March 12, 2022

Pattern Description:

This cool little pattern comes from Greater Yellowstone Flyfishers up in Bozeman, Montana and is sort of a dressed up Hare’s Ear with all the bells and whistles. I’ve made a few needless modifications to the pattern here, subbing a Mirage Flash rib for the flashback over the peacock herl thorax and a copper bead in place of the usual gold. I just like the mirage rib better than plain gold wire and the copper bead gets a nod because gold beads remind me of those rappers with the gold teeth and that freaks me out a little. Tie yours however you like.

Materials Needed:
Hook: TMC 5262 #10-18
Bead: Tungsten Color of choice and sized to hook
Weight: Lead or Non Lead wire
Thread: UTC 70 Denier, Red
Tail: Hare’s Mask Guard Hairs
Rib: 1/100″ Mirage Tinsel
Abdomen: Light Natural Hare’s Mask
Thorax: Peacock Herl
Collar: Hungarian partridge

Step 1
Slide the bead on the hook and up to the eye. Make turns of lead wire along the shank, taking care to keep them butted together. The number of turns is up to you, you’re a big kid, you can do whatever you like!!

Step 2
Break the ends off the lead wraps and shove them up into the back of the bead. Start the thread at the back of the lead wraps and build a thread dam tapering up to the diameter of the lead. Continue the thread base up to the back of the bead and back again to the bend of the hook.

Step 3
Clip a small clump of the dark colored hair from the center of a hare’s mask…

Step 4
…and peel the underfur from the butt end of the clump, leaving a small tuft of only guard hairs.

Step 5
Measure the guard hair bunch to just a touch longer than a half chank or so and tie it in at the bend of the hook. Wrap forward over the butt ends to the lead and clip the excess.

Step 6
Tie in a single strand of Mirage Flash along the near side of the shank and wrap back over it to the bend.

Step 7
Dub the thread with a thin noodle of light-colored hare’s mask dubbing and build a tapered abdomen from the bend of the hook up to the 75% point.

Step 8
Spiral wrap the flash forward over the dubbing with six or seven turns and tie it off at the front of the abdomen. Clip the excess.

Step 9
Clip the tips of three or four nice, juicy peacock herls and tie them in at the front of the abdomen.

Step 10
Wrap the peacock herls forward to the back of the bead, forming a thick thorax. Tie the peacock off and clip the excess.

Step 11
Select a nicely mottled partridge feather that has barbs just a bot shorter than the hook shank.

Step 12
Strip the fibers from the base of the feather and stroke the fibers back along the stem exposing the tip. Tie the tip of the feather in at the back of the bead with the concave side of the feather toward the hook shank.