- Hook: TMC 100, #10-18
- Thread: Red UTC 70
- Tag: Red Ice Dub
- Rear Hackle: Brown
- Body: Peacock Ice Dub
- Front Hackle: White or Natural Dun
I have a rule when it comes to tying attractor flies: whatever is good can be made better by using Ice Dub. Ice Dub is a synthetic, flashy dubbing made by Hareline that adds a ridiculously effective trout-catching glow to any fly. They should have called it trout crack dubbing. I use it everywhere - Stimulators, Humpies, stoneflies, midges, scuds, saltwater flies; I could go on. The Renegade is one of my favorite summer attractor patterns for both rivers and lakes, so the logical step for me was to add Ice Dub and make an already good pattern even better. Besides substituting peacock Ice Dub for natural peacock herl, I also replaced the gold tag with a red Ice Dub tag. The red offers a nice contrast with the rest of the fly and I always seem to have luck with red flies, especially in high country lakes and small streams. I will often fish this fly by itself as a dry, but you can just as easily add a small dropper if you want to fish two flies. One of my favorite ways to fish this fly is subsurface in high country lakes. I like to trail this fly 20” off the back of a big Copper John or other heavy nymph that will sink and cause the Renegade to sink as well. Once it gets a few inches below the surface, I strip the flies back with short, slow retrieves. I always have a good assortment of these flies in my box because they have proven time and again to take fish. Tie a few up and see if they don’t do the trick for you next time you are on the water.
Directions
- Start your thread between the hook point and hook barb and wrap back slightly into the bend
- Add a small amount of red Ice Dub and dub forward. Your tag should end right where you began your thread in between the hook point and barb
- Tie in the brown hackle and make two wraps forward towards the eye
- Tie off the hackle and make a small “V” cut on the underneath side so no hackle extends directly over the hook point
- Dub your body with the peacock ice dub forward to within one hook eye’s length from the eye
- Tie in the white hackle and make 3 wraps
- Tie off the hackle and whip finish
Tying Notes
On my Renegades I like to have a heavier front hackle and a thinner rear hackle for two reasons. First, when tied with equal hackles in front and rear, the barbs on the rear hackle extend over the hook point. I believe this decreases your hooking capabilities. Second, a slim rear hackle will allow the back of the fly to sit lower in the surface film to imitate an emerging or crippled food source, a favorite of trout everywhere.
JD Miller is the Managing Editor of Rocky Mountain
Fly and a guide for Henry's Fork Anglers. He lives in Island Park, ID
and can be reached at
jd@rockymtnfly.com