Hickey’s Condor
Jim Hickey, a longtime Shenandoah River guide who now lives and guides in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, regularly guided clients in Patagonia, Chile, “land of the condor,” during the off-season in Virginia. While in Chile, Hickey noticed that the resident trout went nuts for what looked like damselflies. Back at camp, Hickey experimented at his vice until he came up with a respectable imitation of the trouts’ favorite fly. His pattern was a hit in Patagonia; Hickey’s Condor was born. Hickey brought the Condor home with him, noting the striking resemblance between his fly and the Virginia damselflies around him. Sure enough, his pattern was a hit with the fish here, too.
Blue damsel flies in Virginia start to become quite prevalent by June and are seen on a variety of rivers in the Old Dominion. Places like the James, the Clinch, the Rappahannock and of course the Shenandoah are great places to use this pattern. The hatches are so strong that at times the rivers seem to take on a blue haze from the hosts of blue insects. I have fished Hickey’s Condor with tremendous success for several years; on my best day, I landed 22 smallies in a single afternoon without changing flies. Be sure to use a good amount of floatant on this pattern, in particular around the hackle which makes up the collar for this killer bass pattern.
Though originally tied for South American trout, Virginia fish take the Condor without a second thought. Hickey’s Condor comes in chartreuse, brown, black, orange, and blue in sizes 6-12. For more information on Jim Hickey and his operation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
( www.worldcastanglers.com ) read the May-Trout issue of Fly Fish America ( www.flyfishamerica.com )
Copyright ©2008 Beau Beasley