On my version of this forgotten classic pattern, the standard wet fly quill segments are replaced with a sparse, soft calf tail wing. The Coachman is effective whether dead drifted, retrieved, or swung. Large trout often hit this fly shortly after it lands on the water. The coachman produces well under seemingly all conditions and on all species of freshwater fish making it an ideal fly for beginners and kids. My five-year-old daughter caught her first fish, an eleven inch largemouth, on a size 12 leadwing coachman.
Like any good fly fisher, the fish gets larger and the fight gets tougher every time she tells the story.
I prefer using the size 10 on bluegill as they have a tendency to swallow these flies. The larger fly makes for easier release of the fish as well as surer fly retrieval. The Coachman is a great dropper fly behind a Chernobyl Ant for the possibility of hooking two 'gillies at once!
Tied on a Daiichi 1560, barbed, or a Tiemco 3761SPBL, Super Point barbless, chemically sharpened nymph hook.
