Dirty Hoh (Jerry French)
Step by Step Tutorial By Ben Paull
The Dirty Hoh is basically a cross between a string leech and an intruder. The idea is to try to improve on both of those flies with the motion of the rabbit strip and the robust, undulating shoulder of an intruder. The fly was tied and named by Jerry French. Jerry’s flies, like many of ours, are constantly changing as new materials become available and as the creative process takes its course.
This is a variation on the 2013 vintage Dirty Hoh. This one will have a fairly robust head, tied with Senyo Wacko Hackle, OPST barred ostrich drabs, blue Polar Fiber and Ice Dub. Instead of jungle cock, I used saddle hackles on this pattern.
If there’s one thing I know about Jerry it’s that he loves fly tying and he likes to see people having fun with his patterns and sharing ideas on fly tying. So go ahead and experiment with composite loops; the possibilities really are endless.
When I refer to “50/50” or “70/30” with respect to the materials in the composite loop, the 50/50 means the materials are half on one side of the “black line”, which serves as the guide for my materials. The black line represents the thread of the composite loop. So if the materials are 50/50 on the line, it means they are placed half on one side of the dubbing loop and half on the other. For materials with tapers (ie natural materials like ostrich), I prefer 70/30 or 60/40. This is because even though the butts don’t look good I still want them in there for their structural value (they add resistance to the head). With artificial materials I often use a 50/50 placement, because there is no taper and no butts.