When fishing clean, clear, relatively still waters with a dry fly, the
challenge is often in throwing a visible fly without creating too much
commotion. For every problem there are often many solutions, and fly
tyers have been trying to solve this small fly, high visibility
quandary for quite a while.
Enter Andy Burk, one of the world’s
most creative and accomplished modern fly tyers. Burk designed his
Silhouette Dun series with a slim and trim profile that sits neatly on
the surface of the water with very little disturbance on landing. The
bug’s prominent wing post allows it to be seen easily from a distance.
Burk’s
Silhouette Dun - Pale Morning Dun is a fantastic mayfly dun imitation
tied to represent the Pale Morning Dun in its winged adult stage. Its
split tails and tapered quill body make it an extremely attractive fly
pattern while the sturdy dubbing through the thorax allow it to stand
up to the toughest of trout.
Specifications:
- This fly pattern was developed by Andy Burk, one of the world’s most successful modern fly tyers
- The Silhouette Dun is a dry fly designed to maintain a realistic and trim profile, but remain highly visible in the water
- This pattern is also very durable and can stand up to the most demanding trout
- Pale Morning Dun imitation in the emerger life stage
- Use as either an impressionistic searching fly or as a realistic imitation when matching the hatch
- Fish on a dead drift in medium to fast water; perfect for riffles, runs, and tailouts
- Fishing this fly towards the end of a prolific pale morning dun hatch to get the best results
- Due to the importance of fishing this fly on a dead drift, long leaders and light tippet material are necessary
- SIZE 18
When and Where to Fish Burk’s Silhouette Dun - Pale Morning Dun
This
mayfly dun can be fished as either and impressionistic fly pattern when
searching for trout or as a realistic imitation when matching the
hatch. When searching, fish this fly in medium to fast water. When
matching the hatch, look for signs of hatching pale morning duns in
deeper riffles, runs, and pools. Tie this neat little bug at the end of
your leader later in the hatch when pale morning duns have broken the
surface film and hatched into winged adults. The best hatches of pale
morning duns occur throughout North American from May to August. Early
morning and afternoon hours will yield the best numbers of pale morning
duns, and hatches can last a few hours on overcast days.
How to Fish Burk’s Silhouette Dun - Pale Morning Dun
This
adult pale morning dun imitation is wickedly effective when fished on a
dead drift. It’s most effective in the medium to fast, well-oxygenated
water of riffles, runs, and tailouts. The key to successfully fishing
with a pale morning dun adult imitation is in the set up. A long,
drag-less dead drift is utterly necessary, so be sure to use long
leaders and fine tippet as pale morning duns will float for long
distances before trout feed on them. Early in the hatch, trout will
focus their efforts on the struggling pale morning dun emergers,
feeding hungrily on them just beneath the water’s surface. The most
efficient predatory trout will key in on a well-presented dun later in
the hatch, realizing their prey is a relatively easy target during its
post-hatch drift on the surface of the water.
The Pale Morning Dun
The
Pale Morning Dun (Ephemerella inermis or infrequens), commonly referred
to as a “PMD,” is a mayfly that enjoys wide distribution throughout
North America’s trout waters, although it is particularly prolific in
the rivers of the American West and Northeast. In its nymph life stage,
the pale morning dun is easily identified by its large front legs,
torpedo shaped body, and three tails of roughly matching length. As a
winged adult, or “dun,” the PMD is identified by its clear, upright
wings, three long tails, and pale yellow colorations. The pale morning
dun follows the life stages of a typical mayfly life cycle and
generally hatches from early spring (May) to late summer (August).
Pale Morning Dun Adult Life Stage
During
its nymph life stage, these crawlers are commonly found inching along
rocky and debris-littered river bottoms. These nymphs thrive in
moderate to fast water. Look for them in medium to fast moving riffles,
tailouts, and runs. PMD nymphs aren’t usually vulnerable until just
before they hatch into adult duns due to their reclusive habits and the
shelter of their rocky environment, making their emerger and adult life
stages critically important to both fly angler and feeding trout.
During these important life stages, many of these emergers will become
“hung in the shuck” and subsequently crippled, unable to complete their
metamorphosis to winged adult duns. Those that do complete their
metamorphosis to winged adult mayflies will drift along the water’s
surface before fluttering away to find mates. Pale morning dun mayflies
are most vulnerable in either of these adult stages and thus, it is
important to imitate emergers and duns as trout will often key in on
only these well-exposed morsels, rather than expend energy chasing less
active nymphs.
About the Tyer: Andy Burk
Andy Burk
has been fly fishing all his life and loves to share his experience,
ideas, creativity, and techniques with anyone who’ll listen. He’s a
tremendously successful angler who has a big personality and lots of
fun wherever he is. A well-known professional fly designer for Umpqua
Feather Merchants, Andy has developed a cult following among fly tyers
by willingly sharing many of his best secrets at traveling fly tying
shows and in-shop demonstrations. Andy has recently begun to reach many
others by using 21st Century technology to his advantage. Thanks to
Andy and You Tube, Internet-savvy fly tyers and fly anglers from all
corners of the globe can now bring his fly tying tips into their living
rooms and offices. Andy continues to develop new ideas from his home in
Reno, Nevada, and is will continue to be an asset to the fly fishing
industry for decades to come.
Leland on Umpqua
In
1972 a man named Dennis Black and his fly tying skills found themselves
in high demand. Mr. Black, then a professional production fly tyer, was
famous in the industry for his unsurpassed skill and speed with
whipping up tremendously beautiful and precisely constructed flies. It
wasn’t long until this young fly tying superstar realized that he ought
to take his consistent approach to quality to the next level. Shortly
after this realization, a small army of fly tyers had banded together
to support Mr. Black’s vision. With the likes of Dave Whitlock, Jack
Dennis, and Andy Puyans, Mr. Black was officially in business.
Dennis
Black’s new company Umpqua Feather Merchants quickly extended its reach
and fly production capabilities with expansion into India, Sri Lanka,
and Thailand, where the world’s first and full blown “fly tying
factories” were built. Since those early days, only the highest
standard of excellence has marked Umpqua and this commitment to quality
and efficiency continues to spur the company forward. Dennis Black’s
innovative vision for “fly production” has truly revolutionized how the
fly industry operates and has ultimately made the majority of
production flies better. From the first “royalty system” for rewarding
the most creative professional fly tyers to streamlining production
systems and offering a range of other products, Umpqua Feather
Merchants just seems to “do it all.”
Today, Umpqua Feather
Merchants is without a doubt the world’s best and most prolific
supplier of hand tied fly fishing flies as well as fly tying hooks and
materials, and they recently got better! Umpqua’s brand new, state of
the art headquarters in Louisville, Colorado marks another paradigm
shift in the way fly tying business is done. From its vast warehouse to
its specially designed inventory management and tracking system, Umpqua
is poised to continue its energetic trajectory and lead the way for the
next generation of flies and fly tyers.
Umpqua on Umpqua
"As
you may or may not know, we're the largest producer of quality
hand-tied flies in the world. We also make available through your local
fly shop a wide array of the finest fly-tying hackle and Tiemco hooks.
At
Umpqua we offer everything the angler needs to a have a first class
fishing experience. (Everything that is, but the water and the fish.)"
Umpqua on Dennis Black and the “Obvious Quest”
“The
idea first took shape in the hands of our founder, Dennis Black, back
in 1972. As a fast and facile professional fly tyer, Dennis was known
for his skill and speed at producing hundreds of dozens of flies each
year for the larger mail order houses. But he was also quick to realize
how fast the demand for excellent flies would outstrip the abilities of
cottage industry types like him.
The Obvious Quest: To create
excellent flies in sufficient supply – without sinking his standards.
In response, Dennis developed (with characteristic care) a methodical
plan: First, he enlisted the tying expertise of the likes of Dave
Whitlock, Jack Dennis, Andy Puyans and others, to help him set the
standard of excellence for Umpqua flies.
Next, Dennis
established the first of what would eventually be five separate
fly-tying “factories,” first in India, then in Sri Lanka, and finally
in Thailand. The primary focus at each of these factories was on
producing the very best fishing flies possible, constructed of the very
best materials available. From the beginning, the quantity of flies
produced was secondary to the quality and excellence of each fly
pattern. These high standards were assured by the personal involvement
of the fly designers themselves, and by the ever-increasing skill,
imagination and creativity of the Umpqua production fly tiers. Today,
you will find no flies more skillfully tied than those available from
Umpqua Feather Merchants.
Finally, Dennis created a system of
royalty payments, to reward professional tyers like Whitlock, Lefty
Kreh, Randall Kaufman, Larry Dahlberg, and Bob Popovics for uniquely
good patterns.
The Result: Today, Umpqua produces umpteen
thousand dozen flies, from micro-scopic midge imitations to the huge
patterns favored by marlin and sailfish. And the "Umpquality" – you’ll
see for yourself.”