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White Wulff
A dry fly, tied #10–14, a summer pattern. It is tied against 4 named insects in this book — June–September.
A heavily hackled white dry fly, built for a pale late-summer mayfly and for being seen when the light has nearly gone. It goes on a standard dry-fly hook in sizes 10 through 14 with white 6/0 thread: a white calf tail tail, a body of cream dubbing, wings of white calf tail set upright and divided, and a heavy badger or cream hackle. The bulk of hair and hackle keeps it riding high on broken water, and the white wings carry against a dark surface in the last five minutes of light. It is tied against the White Fly, Ephoron leukon, a mayfly of August and September in water from 62 to 74 degrees, and it serves as well for any big pale evening mayfly. Fished through the White Fly hatch in late August, carried through the summer for trout.
- #10–14Hook size
- dry flyType
- SummerSeason
- 4Hatches matched
What it looks like
A drawing, not a photograph, and not traced from one. Its proportions were read off 5 independent reference photographs of the pattern and written down as 5 measured characteristics — wing angle, tail length against the shank, how far a hackle fibre reaches — every one of which had to hold across more than one of them before it could be drawn. What survives across many photographs of a fly is the fly.
What it imitates
Each of these is the same hatch record the app's own panel reads, so a pattern recommended on a river card in the app is recommended for one of the insects below.
- Golden Drake Anthopotamus distinctus · July–August · 60–72°F · #10–12
- White Fly Ephoron leukon · August–September · 62–74°F · #12–14
- White Miller Nectopsyche spp. · July–September · 60–74°F · #14–18
- Yellow Drake Ephemera varia · June–August · 58–70°F · #10–12
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | Standard dry-fly hook, sizes 10–14 |
|---|---|
| Thread | White 6/0 |
| Tail | White calf tail |
| Body | Cream dubbing |
| Wings | White calf tail, upright and divided |
| Hackle | Badger or cream, heavy |
When to fish it
The White Fly hatch in late August, and any big pale evening mayfly. Visible in the last five minutes of light.
A summer pattern. The insects it matches are active june–september, in water from 58°F to 74°F.
Target species
- Trout
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Escanaba River the Upper Peninsula · July mean 68.3°F
- Saint Croix River northern Wisconsin · July mean 77.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Yellow Drake dry fly · #10–12 — A big pale yellow dun for full dark. Fish it by sound and set on the noise, not the sight of it.
- Elk Hair Caddis dry fly · #12–20 — Floats forever, skates on command, works when nothing is hatching.
- Parachute Adams dry fly · #12–20 — Universal mayfly dun imitation. Every angler carries these.
- White Miller dry fly · #14–18 — Cream body, white wing. The midsummer evening caddis of the Wisconsin driftless and the Michigan lower peninsula.
- Adams (Catskill) dry fly · #12–20 — The original. Rides higher than the parachute in broken water.