Fly Tying the Usual (Fran Betters Dry Fly Pattern)

One of Fran Betters' more famous flies, the Usual is similar to his Haystack but uses snowshoe hare's feet in place of deer hair. This fuzzy very buoyant fly has been a staple of Adirondack fly fishermen since the 1960s.


Hook: #12-22 dry fly
Thread: Fluorescent red or orange
Tail: Snowshoe hare's feet
Body: Snowshoe hare's feet
Wing: Snowshoe hare's feet


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** Some of the other popular books used on this channel: **

Dave Hughes, "Essential Trout Flies," 2017, https://amzn.to/3lbCZYX
Dave Hughes, "Wet Flies," 2015, https://amzn.to/33ac3lQ
John Shewey, "Classic Steelhead Flies," 2015, https://amzn.to/2RywHcP
David Klausmeyer's "Favorite Flies," 2020, https://amzn.to/3oeSNMa
Morgan Lyle's "Simple Flies," 2015, https://amzn.to/3qB1zW1
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: https://amzn.to/34U0rUe
Mike Valla's "Tying the Founding Flies," 2015, https://amzn.to/354oSir
Mike Valla's "Classic Streamer Fly Box," 2020, https://amzn.to/3n3Vakf
Randle Scott Stetzer's "Flies, the Best One Thousand," 1992, https://amzn.to/34Q15mp
Terry Hellekson's "Popular Fly Patterns," 1976, https://amzn.to/2L4IyvS
Dick Stewart's, "Flies for Bass and Panfish," 1992, https://amzn.to/3aGpFs1
Fly Pattern Encyclopedia: https://amzn.to/34U0rUe

Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible. The channel is named after one of my western Maryland homewaters, the Savage River. I've been uploading three new tying videos a week, with the occasional extra video on other days.

Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know in the comments if you have any tying tips you would like to share or if you have any patterns you would like to see tied here.