Brown & the Bomber

(AuSable Brown with Bomber in mouth)

As I sit here waiting for spring, as many of you are, I think back about the fly that worked consistently for me. Many anglers would agree, the choice fly is the “AuSable Bomber" created by Francis Betters. 

If fishing dry flies is my choice, and I want to catch fish, I pull out this fly. Most often, being in an ideal hatch is rare. Usually, only a few rising fish are seen during an outing.  With this fly, it does not seem to matter. The Bomber is so buoyant, easy to see, has great skitter action, and is a great general attractor to fish.  It has saved the day often. 
At the shop, we are dedicated to keeping Fran's tradition alive. We are committed to the continuance of tying his patterns locally and fishing them often.

Actually, his collection of dries is an excellent part of what I call "The Dirty Dozen".  The Dirty Dozen concept I became aware of about 30 years ago, when I first started to tie flies.  I was living out west, Bob, my teacher taught us his Dirty Dozen basic fly patterns.  Each fly had 1 to 2 steps that taught us  one of the many basic tying methods in his course.  It was cool I thought that Bob picked flies that would keep the class moving forward in this way, teaching us in sequence the techniques needed. Bob was specific in his choice of patterns.  He choose patterns that were effective and simple, yet had all the tying methods we needed to learn by the end of the  final class.  The Dirty Dozen concept stuck with me over the years.  Who would have known some 20 years later, I would meet Fran betters and be reminded again about the Dirty Dozen.
 
Simple,effective flies that work and part of the Dirty Dozen.  The AuSable Bomber, the AuSable Wulff, the Haystack, the Usual and the Caddis that Fran tied are simple effective patterns. With so many patterns to choose from today, it is comforting to know I do not have to think past 12 most of the time.

AuSable River Two Fly Shop