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Opal Trude

By Dennis Potter

In the early 1900s, Carter Harrison tied a down-wing fly using hair from a spaniel for the wing and he used brown hackle. It is believed that the fly was a joke and presented to A.S. Trude who lived in the Island Park area of the Henry’s Fork river in Idaho.

Over the years the down-wing style fly has really caught on and is obviously a mainstay in fly fishing. Any body material and color combination can be used to create the different effects the tier is looking for whether for hatch matching or attracting.

My first flashy Trude was tied in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the second year the West Michigan Fly Fishers entered the One Fly Contest. I knew that cutthroats love flashy flies, so I concocted a big #10 fly, with pearl tinsel for the abdomen, lots of brown hackle and a wing of calf tail. Only getting one fly per day, I wired and glued the heck out of the fly. It was big and flashy and the fish just loved it. I used it mostly dry, but on a few occasions I used split shot on the leader and swung it like a wet fly. I was the #2 or #3 high point angler for the day when I left the fly somewhere behind me on a backcast while fishing on a gravel island. My guide, Rick Westerberg, from West Bank Anglers crawled around on his hands and knees for a while looking for the fly until I declared it “gone” and tied on another one. I caught several really nice trout in the 15 to 18 inch class during the last hour of fishing but of course the points did not count. I would have been the high point angler for the day. Oh well!

Enter Opal Tinsel a few years back. Away went the Pearl Tinsel. The Opal is better.

Over the years I have changed the pattern a bit using EP Fibers for the wing instead calf tail and I have added a peacock thorax for a wonderful silhouette and the natural sheen of the feather. I use it in sizes from #10-#16 and it is my favorite attractor fly.