parachute post material test

Guest Blogger: Joe Dellaria, Learning from the River 

Years ago, I thought parachute style flies were an unnecessary curiosity. Slowly over the years, I have come to appreciate them more and more. Over the last couple of years, they have become part of my core group of “go-to flies.” By the time this is posted, two of my earlier posts detailed using parachute flies (Bobber Fly Fishing and Speed Nymphing – It Really Can Work!). I believe there are two issues that influence how effective these flies can be: post color and post material.


Choosing the Best Color - Seeing the parachute fly on the water is a key issue. If you can’t find the fly, it is tough to know when to set the hook. I first ran into this issue several years ago on my second trip out west to fish the Madison.

Neer Hair - The author

Our guide had given us a list of places to try on the days we weren’t fishing with him. It was mid-afternoon on our first day alone and fish were rising all over the place. It was BWO hatch and the fish preferred an emerger pattern, but I could not see the fly on the water. The angle of the sun caused the fly to disappear in the glare on the water. I elected to use a two-fly rig with a hi-vis lead fly and the emerger as the dropper. White, yellow, and even orange hi-vis post materials all disappeared in the sun’s glare. Out of desperation, I put on a flying ant pattern with a red post. Eureka, I could see the ant and that helped me locate the emerger. Better yet, the fish split fairly evenly between the two flies. It was mid-April – not your typical time for a flying ant hatch – but if that’s what the fish like, that’s what I was going to give them.


Over the ensuing years, I have found through trial and error, which post colors work best, in different conditions. The chart below summarizes my experiences. Others may, or may not agree. That’s fine, as in the end the fly has to be visible to the one using it whether or not others agree. I use these basic colors. There are numerous other shades of each color and other colors. I try to minimize the number of flies I have. This set seems to cover most situations.

Fishing Situations Vs. Parachute Post Color 


  Red  White  Hi-Vis Orange  Hi-Vis Chartreuse 
Sun Glare  Best 
 
Not Visible  Partially Visible to Not Visible  Rarely Visible to Not Visible
Foamy Water in Daylight  Best
 
Rarely Visible to Not Visible  Good Partially Visible to Not Visible
Foamy Water in Low Light  Partially Visible to Not Visible  Partially Visible to Not Visible  Best Partially Visible to Not Visible
 
Low Light (Sunrise/Sunset)  Partially Visible to Not Visible  Good/Best  Good to Partially Visible Good
Shade  Partially Visible to Not Visible Good/Best  Best Good

If you are like me and want to carry the fewest possible flies, I would recommend carrying sizes #12, #14, and #16 with red posts for sun glare situations and hi-vis orange for low light conditions. I cheat and carry a couple of #12 white posts for sunrise and sunset. However, I would suggest you experiment and determine which colors are most visible for you.


Choosing the Best Material - I have evaluated numerous qualities* to evaluate the different post material and whittled it down to the following list:

  • Visibility – how well does the material show on the water
  • Durability – how well does the material hold up to catching numerous fish
  • Weight – the weight of the post material can cause the fly to lose flotation, lighter materials require less treatment with a floatant
  • Water Shedding – how well does the material shed water during false casting, if the material holds water it adds weight causing the fly to sink
  • Bulkiness – how much bulk does the material cause during tying, bulkiness makes it difficult to get a fly body with proper proportions
  • Stiffness – how easily is the material crushed to flatten the post, this can occur in your fly box or after catching multiple fish, once the post crushes it is more difficult to see the fly on the water

*These are terms I made up. It is purely coincidental if you happen to find other sources that refer to the qualities I am considering. I actually assessed other qualities but eliminated them, as they did not provide differences between the post materials considered.

I tied a #12 parachute fly with each of the following materials: 1- Calf Tail, 2- Poly Yarn, 3 - Dyed Deer Hair, 4 - Z-Lon Post, 5 - SLF Fine Dubbing, 6 - Para Post (Orange) and 7 - Neer Hair. All but one were tied with red (Para Post was tied with ii-vis Orange). Front and Top view pictures are below. All of these post materials are available at J. Stockard! 

Front View of Parachute Flies

TOP VIEW OF PARACHUTE FLIES 

FRONT VIEW OF PARACHUTE FLIES

TOP VIEW OF PARACHUTE FLIES 

The pictures provide a sense of how well the fly might show on the water. One of the problems is consistently getting the same amount of post material for each fly – obviously, I was not that consistent. However, you get the picture.


I have fished with each type of post material and made a table assessing on a scale of 1 to 5 how well each post material fulfilled the qualities discussed above. One is the lowest score indicating the material was poor for the quality and five is the highest indicating it was best. This is a qualitative rating, as I did not attempt to use measurements of some sort. So take this as an attempt to be semi-scientific.


The table below tabulates my scores for seven post materials for the six qualities.

Table Rating Post Materials in Six Qualities


  1-Calf Tail
 
2-Poly Yarn
 
3-Dyed Deer Hair
 
4-Z-Lon Post
 
5-SLF Fine Dubbing
 
6-Para Post
 
7-Neer Hair
 
Total 
 
23 
 
22 
 
23 
 
28 
 
22 
 
23 
 
28 
 
Visibility 5 3 5 4 5 3 4
Durability 5 3 4 5 2 3 5
Weight 3 5 3 3 5 5 5
Water Shedding 3 4 3 5 3 4 5
Bulkiness  2 4 3 5 5 5 5
Stiffness   5 3 5 4 2 3 4

Neer Hair and Z-Lon Post scored identically in all categories and had the highest score. The only differentiating factor between the two is cost. Neer Hair is about 3-times less expensive than Z-Lon. For that reason, it is my top choice.


You can look at the ranking table to make other comparisons. Below I summarized the pros and cons of each material in another chart. Again, these are my opinions based on my experience. I would be happy to hear from others who differ.

Pros and Cons of Each Post Material


Post Material 
Pros 
Cons 
1-Calf Tail
Excellent Visibility, Durability, and Stiffness
It is bulky and heavy and requires more frequent floatant treatments. It sheds water well initially, but once it absorbs water, it is even heavier. 
2-Poly Yarn
Excellent on weight and Very Good for water shedding and bulkiness 
The colors tend not to be as vibrant so they don’t show as well on the water. It is softer and tends to crush easily. 
3-Dyed Deer Hair
Excellent on visibility and stiffness. 
It is bulky for tying and is heavy requiring more frequent floatant treatments. It also water logs fairly quickly. 
4-Z-Lon Post
Excellent durability, weight, water shedding, and low bulkiness 
The fibers are thin and don’t show on the water quite as well as the best ones, but still quite visible. 
5-SLF Fine Dubbing
The best visibility in the group and low bulkiness make it easy to tie 
It is very soft, crushes, and deforms easily. It floats extremely well but becomes water logged after a couple of fish and is difficult to dry 
6-Para Post
A very light material with low bulkiness make it easy to tie 
I think the crinkled texture makes it harder to see on the water. It is a softer material that crushes easily 
7-Neer Hair  Excellent durability, weight, water shedding, and low bulkiness 
The fibers are thin and don’t show on the water quite as well as the best ones, but still quite visible. 

A Quick Tying Tip - I don’t recall where I saw this first. My preferred method for attaching post material is to hold the post material parallel to the length of the hook and make 3-4 wraps around the post material and hook. Then pull the two ends of the post together and lift up from the hook. Now wrap thread 1/8”-3/16” up the post and back to the post. Another slick trick is to add a drop of cyanoacrylic (CAN) to the thread wrapped post area. This stiffens the area making it easier to wrap the parachute hackle.


So there you have it. My experience indicates that Neer Hair scores high in all the qualities assessed and is substantially less expensive than Z-Lon. So it is my preferred material for parachute posts. After the top two, all of the other materials were essentially the same. There were trade-offs between the different qualities. In a pinch, any of these materials are serviceable.


If you need help on methods for tying a parachute fly, you can find numerous videos with a quick internet search on “tying a parachute fly.” I recommend watching 3-4 as each tier offers something you might find helpful.


Now comes the fun, using the flies to catch trout. Go get them!

6 comments

Mike

Mike

Hi, interesting experiment and useful to see. Often have trouble picking out a white para post on the waters I fish, and have never used a red one – will give it a go! BTW, is the 3 score for weight in the 4-Z-Lon Post column wrong? Perhaps should be a 5? Mike, London UK

Joe Dellaria

Joe Dellaria

Hi Paul, I would be happy to figure out what you are looking for, you can send me an email at jfdellaria@aol.com. I will be watching for your response. Thanks.

Paul Kruse

Paul Kruse

Hi Joe,
Looking for the information on the drowned hopper pattern you wrote about. Thanks.

Joe Dellaria

Joe Dellaria

Hi Neil,
Good point on not mentioning black. In my experience black is difficult to see on the water in almost all conditions (I can’t think of one, but I am sure there must be some). As a for instance, we have a fantastic black Caddis hatch in mid-late April. If you use black wings on your pattern the fly disappears into the water and it is very difficult to see if at all. I have started adding either a layer of a highly visible wing material or using light colored elk or deer hair for the wings. The fish don’t seem to care. When you think about it, they are looking from the underside of the fly and the color of the wings are either less important or not at all as they can’t see much if any of the wing.

Neil Nelson

Neil Nelson

No mention of black……

Jim Murphy

Jim Murphy

Love This Article…Lots Of Really Good Stuff…Never used Red…But I Am About To Give It A Try👍

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