Majestic AF - Brown Drake - Size 8

"The Majestic AF was a true spur-of-the-moment creation; born of necessity, tying boredom and a little booze.

I was tying at the house of a fellow Fins & Feathers employee, where I was supposed to be teaching him to tie some streamers he wanted to learn. However, after tying a few streamers, which he wasn’t paying attention too, and drinking a few Budweisers – I got bored.

The Brown Drakes were popping on the lower Madison River and I was fresh out of Brown Drake dries.

I had tied some large Drake patterns in the past using hair as the parachute post to aid in buoyancy and avoid making them too top heavy, but they were pretty hard to see in the failing light - even in a size 8.

I suddenly had a vision, of an Elk Hair Caddis type wing split by a mayfly wing shaped piece of foam all of which was the post for a parachute hackle. It sounded funny. It looked funny in my mind’s eye.

After raiding my buddies tying desk and a few awful first tries, I produced a very respectable first recreation of what I had imagined.

After talking it over and throwing it back and forth we noticed a funny thing, no matter what it landed perfect every time – like a gymnast sticking the landing. That’s when I knew this was something different.

The next night the Brown Drake hatch was dying down with significantly less bugs from the night before. I still tied on this new fly to try out and was able to pick off a few nice rising fish over the course of the evening.

However, just as back at the tying desk the fly always stuck the landing. Never once did it land on its side, or upside down or even produce any real leader twist.

I quickly adapted it to the forth coming PMD hatch as well as a few other choice mayfly colors. It is now my go-to pattern for any mayfly hatch."

Steven Rendle

Fins and Feathers of Bozeman GM and Umpque Feather Merchant Signature Fly Tyer