Hares Ear Nymphs

This natural dubbing that is taking from the face or mask of a Hare has been used to dress nymphs and flies for over 200 years and is still as popular and productive for tying nymphs today. The nymphs of today have varied quite a bit with the additions of synthetic materials being added to the fly, dying and mixing the natural fur also has helped the evolution of the Hares Ear Nymph. The dubbing in general gets used in millions of dressings and is a easy dubbing to use, along with its nice soft texture it can be dubbed on tight to the body or be brushed out to create a nice full and natural style to any fly. 
My first experience of this material and nymph was in the form of a small un-weighted nymph that I bought as a kid with some Pheasant tail covering a simple thorax and a copper rib, when I swung down and across in a wet style fashion on my home river and once it started the swing across the river a trout would rise and take it; when the conditions were just right it was unmatchable. Some time later when I began to tie flies the Hares Ear mask was one of the first pieces of material that I bought under the instructions of my coach, the late Noel Shields.  He began to teach me several patterns that this fur could be used on and from there it became a favorite dubbing and component to a lot of my best flies.  Over the years I have tied thousands of nymphs with this dubbing as the body and each of them have varied in one way or another, through mixing dubbings or adding tags, tails, wings ect; but it is still that natural piece of fur that give the fly its life and is irresistible to feeding trout. Here are some of my most successful Hares Ear Nymphs: 

Hares Ear Jig Hook
Hook: Hends Jig hook size 14
Flat lead under-body & 2.5mm Black tungsten bead
Thread: Black twist tying thread
Tail: Glo-brite no 11
Rib: Fine sliver wire 
Dubbing: Main body is natural Hares ear mixed with a small pinch of Hends ice dubbing, the collar is Hends Spectra dubbing no 46.

Small Hares Ear
Hook: Size 18 B175 Kamasan
Flat lead under-body & 2mm gold tungsten bead
Thread: Olive twist tying thread
Tail: Cock De Leon fibers 
Tag: Glo-brite no 12
Rib: Fine gold wire 
Dubbing: Main body is natural Hares ear, the collar is Hends Spectra dubbing no 32.

Pearly Hares Ear
Hook: Size 14 Hends grubber hook
Flat lead under-body & 2.5mm sliver tungsten bead
Thread: Black twist tying thread
Rib: Hends med pearl tinsel  
Dubbing: Hares ear mixed with a small pinch of Hends ice dubbing.

A lake Hares Ear Nymph 

Hook: Size 8 Hends 321 hook
Thread: Black twist tying thread
Tail: Glo-brite no 12 & several fibers of olive Krystal flash
Rib: Gold wire 
Dubbing: Main body is natural Hares ear
Thorax cover: Natural pheasant tail fibers 
Thorax: Natural Hares Ear but use the lighter part of the mask.


One key ingredient in all these flies is that I brush them out very well I fell it adds to the fish-ability of the dressing, I prefer to use a cut down tooth brush to achieve this as it allows me to dig deep into the dubbing and draw the fibers out. The first three flies are river nymphs and I have them in my box in all sizes from 18 to 10 or even size 8 for the jig hook nymph. I use the different weights and sizes depending on the depth of the river I am fishing. You can also change the colour of the tails and tags, this is worth trying to see what hot spot colour suits your river system. Also it is worth playing around with your dubbing and try mixing in different synthetic materials to enhance the natural material, the Hends Ice dubbing is really worth trying.  
The last Nymph is one I fish on lakes its not weighted as the fly lines take the fly down if needed, it is a great fly when fished deep and retrieved very slowly, it represents many forms of the trouts diet and can be very effective for those bigger fish hiding deep.
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you have any comments or questions please feel free to post them, also you can enter your email and follow this blog to see what flies will be coming shortly.