About the Rat Faced McDougall Trout Fly

According to Harry Darbee, he and his wife Elsie tied several of this style of fly in combinations of colour shades. They were unnamed patterns but were placed in the first catalogue (1934?) they published. "They (the flies) were later to become known, thanks to Judge Wiggens of Middletown, NY, as the Beaverkill Bastard, owing to their somewhat questionable origin fom the union of a deer hair bassbug and a large trout fly." (H Darbee) One evening while Harry and a friend, Percy Jennings, were tying these flies, a young female visitor asked the name of the fly. Not wanting to offend her sensitivities, she was asked to name it and she said, "I think it's a Rat-Faced McDougall." Thus its name. Information by Allan Podell

Expert Tip:

Originally the fly had wings of grizzle hackle tips but was changed to white calf's tail hair at the request of C. Otto von Kienbusch. Due to his afiling eyesight the thought the white wing would be eaiser for him to she. Otto von Kienbusch had helped the Darbees by buying a lot of flies from them during the Depression

Creator of this trout fly: Harry Darbee

Tier of this trout fly: Tom Mason

Country of origin for this trout fly: America - Catskills

This trout fly is designed to be fished on Rivers & Streams

Dressings

• Hook : 10 -12
• Thread : Black or white
• Tail : Ginger hackle
• Body : Tan/greydeer hair,spun and clipped to shape (caribou)
• Wing : Grizzle hackle tips (white calf tail)
• Hackle : Ginger

Larger size hooks for Salmon , Steelhead etc. Feather wings later changed to white calf tail Mustad 9671 (or equiv. 2x1)