The Hornberg Special
Here is a quick rendition of the classic Hornberg fly. A Wisconsin conservation officer, Frank Hornberg, developed the fly prior to the Second World War. I'm not entirely sure of the actual history of the fly or the man but I got the impression that this man was not one to share his secrets. I also remember reading that he had a particular dislike for any 'worm dunker" that dared to fish his hole. If anybody has more info on the subject - please inform us in the comments..
5 comments:
Joel - very nice! The hornberg is one of my favorite dry flies. It has replaced the elk hair caddis as my go-to dry fly in the summer.
Joel, I have fished this fly since I started fly fishing. I tie it as a dry, and a streamer. Its a killer fly.
Ironically, it was Brk Trt that first recommended the hornberg to me!
Thanks for the comments guys. The Hornberg is a great fly that I should fish a bit more. I usualy fall back on the elk hair caddis but might have to switch it up with the hornberg. I love it as a streamer but never given it much chance as a dry.
While some suggest only a small amount of information exists on Frank Hornberg, there's actually a fair amount that describes this interesting person.
The Jan 2011 newsletter of the Southern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited chapter has a column about him and the Hornberg Special (www.swtu.org/pdfs/newsletters/January_2011.pdf). Also, here's a link to an article by Virgil Peters on fly fishing in Portage County, where Hornberg was a warden (www.pchswi.org/archives/sports/flyfishing.html).
For the past 10 years I've taught a TU fly tying class, but it only was last year that I demo'ed the Hornberg Special, and then I first used it last April on a Wisconsin spring creek. It was a remarkable day of fishing and I designated the Hornberg Special as my 2010 Fly Of The Year.
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