Dornan’s Water Walker Fly Tying Video
Posted on March 4th, 2021 in Fly Tying Videos
Will Dornan’s Water Walker is a red-hot hopper/stonefly/attractor dry pattern in the Rocky Mountain West, probably the single hottest pattern in this category in the Bozeman and Livingston Montana area in 2019. In many respects, it functions as a “less chubby Chubby Chernobyl” that attracts trout that have seen one too many big fluffy hoppers, yet is still buoyant enough to float a nymph and is visible to anglers fishing from drift boats.
This “Micro Peanut” version worked better than any other for me on guided trips in 2019, and was my second-best or third-best hopper pattern overall. It worked particularly well in the month of August.
Hook: Kumoto K100W, #12-16.
Thread: 6/0 light brown.
Underbody: Whitlock’s SLF Blend, brownstone color.
Body: 2mm foam strip, mustard color.
Legs: MFC barred sili-legs, size small, amber color.
Underwing: 6-8 strands of rootbeer midge Krystal Flash.
Overwing: 1/2 or 1mm razor foam, tan or cream color.