Red Brassie by Ernie Nester

By Ernie Nester 12-25-01

On May 20, 2000 Rudy Schrot (a friend from Olean, NY), Larry Orr and I went to the lower end of Spring Creek near the mouth where it enters Bald Eagle Creek in Milesburg, PA. Rudy gave Larry and I a few flies to try including a couple of #16 Red Brassies that he had started tying about 8 years ago. There is a long run of good water (not very deep) above the bridge on a secondary road. I caught 20 browns in this run on Spring Creek on the Red Brassie. Since then I have had good success with this Red Brassie on two other Pennsylvania spring creeks and on several streams here in West Virginia.

“According to an article by Ed Engle in Fly Tyer magazine, the South Platte Brassie was originated by Colorado tiers Gene Lynch, Ken Chandler, and Tug Davenport in the 1960’s. The original pattern was tied with a body of copper wire and a short thorax made of black heat-shrink tubing. ---- In the hands of most tiers, the chunky-looking heat-shrink tubing disappeared almost immediately and was replaced by a short thorax or collar of peacock or ostrich herl.” (Gierach, Good Flies)

Rudy got the idea for using red wire when he had a summer job with the Pennsylvania Fish Commission in 1960. Rudy helped with aquatic insect surveys on Spring Creek and said that on some sections the seine would be red because there were so many red midge larvae. “Regardless of species, midge larvae that burrow in muddy bottoms (where oxygen is low) contain high levels of hemoglobin to increase oxygen uptake, and thus are bright red.” (Gary Borger, Designing Trout Flies)

I normally use the Red Brassie in a tandem rig with a good floating, highly visible strike indicator fly such as a yellow body caddis. Although the Red Brassie works without a gold bead head, I normally use the bead head version. Currently, #14 is the most common size that I use. The Red Brassie works well for wild or reproducing browns and for reproducing rainbows. I have not had enough opportunities to check its effectiveness on native brook trout.

I think that some of the reasons that this Red Brassie works better than the original is the red wire, the scud type hook, and the gold bead to help get the fly deeper. The small diameter red wire is not easy to find. The only source that I know of (thanks to Larry Orr) is Hunter’s Angling Supplies, Central Square, Box 300, New Boston, NH 03070 1-800-331-8558. I use the medium (0.010”) for #14-#18 hooks and the small (0.006”) for #18 and smaller hooks.

I tie some red yarn just behind the gold bead to prevent the bead from sliding back over the slender body. Tie in the red wire about half way down the bend of the hook leaving a tag that will reach up near the bead. Wrap the tying thread around this tag so it will lie under the hook shank. For the collar, twist black thread with two strands of peacock herl to make a more durable collar.