Samuel McKale
This was the first in the line of bead head dry flies that I started tying, and is named for the world’s number 1 fishing buddy. Considering the trout attracting power of bead head nymphs, I thought why not bring some flash to surface patterns. The bead emulates the light focused by the surface tension dimples created by the insect’s feet on the water surface. Plastic beads are light and can be supported by most standard floatation techniques. The beads can be purchased in a craft store, but don’t come counter drilled, so you may need to do this yourself. My experience has been that these bead head dry flies work on the dead drift or skated across the surface. In some of our central Missouri trout streams the fish are notoriously finicky about rising to a dry fly, but not for Samuel McKale. I have had great success using the fly as a searching pattern or to bust through on trout feeding selectively on hatches.