Leisenring’s Favorite Twelve Wets: Hare’s Ear

Here we have Big Jim’s take on the legendary GRHE. (Sounds like a British title: Sir James Leisenring, GRHE.) Buggy, spikey, flashy, and who doesn’t love a pattern made with wood duck — or “mandarin” as they called it back in the day. I have to confess that I’d just as soon dispense with the wings, but Leisenring thought differently. He wrote, “I use an English woodcock feather for winging this fly because it has a bar lacking in our American woodcock. By taking one of these sepia-colored secondary feathers with the buff bar, I dress my Hare’s Ear with a buff tip to their wings and find it very effective.”

Hare’s Ear

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Hook: Wet fly, 13-14 (I used a 1xl)

Silk: Primrose yellow

Hackle: None: a few fibers of dubbing picked out for legs

Tail: Two or three fibers of the fine mottled feather of a wood duck or mandarin duck

Rib: Very narrow flat gold tinsel

Body: Fur from the lobe or base of a hare’s ear spun on primrose-yellow silk

Wings: English woodcock secondaries with buff tips

Tying Notes: The tail on this fly is why you save those precious leftover wood duck scraps from winging Dark Hendricksons and Light Cahills. It’s easy enough to dip into your Hareline Dubbin bag o’ hare’s ear, but go out and buy the actual mask for a more authentic tying experience. (Not to mention you can pick and choose the color and texture of the fur.) I used a tool to pick out fur along the length of the body. Buggy is good!