Simon’s All-Around Mahogany Dun Dry Fly Pattern

Every fall there is a silent hatch that many anglers miss. It is overshadowed by the mighty October Caddis and the return of the familiar Blue Winged Olives that everyone loves. This mayfly hatch is consistent and trout key into the reliability of this hatch every afternoon and the evening. The regular spinner fall makes educated fish hold their appetite right up until dusk. This hatch is the Fall Mahogany Dun hatch.

Many anglers overlook this hatch with everything else going on. Some fair-weather anglers are entirely done by the time this hatch shows up. These smaller, delicate bodied mayflies are a 14-16 depending on if they are in their dun or spinner stage and if they are male or female. Duns are larger and spinners are much more slim bodied. Across the board, males are closer to a 16 and females are a tad bit larger being closer to a 14.

This hatch comes off every afternoon into the evening up until things start to get really really cold; only then will this hatch begin to taper off, which it does rather quickly. From that point on, BWOs will take the throne of the mayfly of choice for the next 3-4 months.

This pattern was designed to be versatile so that it can do what several different flies do. The slim body is extremely realistic, and the vertical hackle can be trimmed down so that the fly can ride low for picky fish. The front wing can be removed to more closely mimic a cripple or spent spinner. Conversely, the side wing can be clipped to look more like an actively emerging dun. Both can be kept and you can let the fish decide what the bug is. I typically like to only alter the fly on the river if fish are keying in on something specific; otherwise this makes a fantastic teaching pattern for the mahogany hatch in the fall. This year, it has been my go to pattern when prospecting good looking dry fly water with great success.

Tie some up, and of course it can be sized up, down, and color swapped for other mayflies.

-Simon