Heres an American Classic to tie and try over the holidays. The H & L or House and Lot as it is also known was said to be President Dwight Eisenhower’s favorite trout pattern, especially for fishing Eastern streams. Like most of the fat boy attractors this pattern should be over dressed, a little longer, larger and fatter than normal. This pattern should float high and dry, creating and irresistible footprint when drifted  over the feeding window of any trout.  Otherwise I dont know much about the history of this pattern, if  one of you do, please post a little info if you have time, it would be good to know more. Happy holidays to you all.

H&L Variant fly pattern recipe

• Hook: Mustad R30NP-BR # 10-18
• Thread: Dyneema
• Tail: Calf tail hair
• Abdomen: Stripped peacock herl natural
• Thorax: Peacock herl
• Wings: Calf tail hair
• Hackle: Brown

How to tie H&L Variant fly

1

Secure your hook in the vice making sure that the hook shank is horizontal.

2

Attach your tying thread and run a foundation over the hook shank until the tying thread hangs plumb with the hook barb.

3

Cut a small bunch of calf tail hair and clean with a tooth brush. Once you have removed all the shorter hairs stack the bunch in a hair stacker.

4a

Many fly tyers have a problem with exchanging a bunch of stacked hair from one hand to the other! Heres how you do it:

Once you have removed the bunch of hair from the stacker hold it between your right finger and thumb.

4b

Now place your left hand thumb against the hair and your right thumb.

4c

Once you have trapped the hair between both your thumbs keep the pressure on.

4d 

While keeping both your thumbs pressed together trapping the hair bunch, remove your right index finger.

4e

Now bring your left index finger into the equation and grasp the butt end of the bunch against your left thumb.

4f

Remove your right thumb and your hair bunch has been transfered from right to left hand without messing it up.

5

Measure your tail length.

6

Tie in the calf tail on top of the hook shank and about half way between the hook eye and the bend. Leave a few mm of hair flared.

7

Trim off the flared hair at an angle.

8

Tie down the calf hair and apply a drop of varnish to the whippings.

9

Prepare another bunch, a little larger than the first one,  of calf tail hair and tie in as shown on top of the hook shank.

10

Cut off the flared ends at an angle again. This will give a good foundation for a tapered body later.

11

Before you tie them down apply a small drop of varnish to the trimmed calf tail.

12

Now run tying thread over the whole body making a fine taper.

13

Fold the wing back and build a small support of tying thread in front of the wing base.

14

Split the calf tail into two equal wings and tie each one down at the wing base, making a V wing.

15

Take a long peacock herl and strip only 1/3 of the herl from the quill. This will make the abdomen and thorax tying process all in one.

16

Tie in the stripped end of the herl at the tail base. You can give the under body a thin coat of varnish before you start wrapping the quill.

17

Attach a hackle plier to the herl end of the quill. Now wrap the quill in tight even turns over the rear body, when you come to the part of the quill with the herl on it, continue wrapping to form the abdomen.

18

Once you have wrapped the herl abdomen tie off and remove the excess herl.

19

Tie in a nice brown dry fly hackle. This ideally should be a long hackle, but if you only have short hackles you can tie in two. Make sure that your hackle is 90 degrees from the hook shank.

20

Start winding your hackle with one or two turns through the herl thorax and then forward making the hackle as dense as possible. Tie off and remove the excess hackle.

21

Whip finish and varnish the head.