classic Michigan dry fly · late 1960s
Borcher's Parachute
Also called Borchers Parachute
Unverified origin The Borchers link and the pattern are well documented, but the Neumann credit and the late 1960s date rest only on the Michigan Dry Flies archive.
History
The Borcher's Parachute takes Ernie Borchers' older Borcher's Special, a dark mayfly dry with a mottled turkey body, and ties it on a parachute post. Borchers was a Grayling guide and tyer who died in 1952, so the parachute version came after him.
The Michigan Dry Flies archive credits the parachute version to Art Neumann of Saginaw in the late 1960s. Neumann built rods under the Wanigas name and was a central figure in the early Trout Unlimited, but no public source found so far ties him to this fly.
It is still a stock Au Sable pattern, sold by Michigan shops in a wide range of sizes for Hendricksons, mahoganies and other dark mayflies.
Materials
| Hook | Dry, sizes 8 to 20 |
|---|---|
| Tail | Moose body hair |
| Body | Turkey tail fibers, often ribbed with fine copper wire |
| Post | White deer hair |
| Hackle | Brown and grizzly, wound parachute style |
Sources
- "How to Tie the Borcher's Special Dry Fly." Trident Fly Fishing.
- "Ernie Borchers." FrankenFly.
- "Arthur Neumann." Saginaw County Hall of Fame.
- "How to tie Borcher's (Ernie Borcher) Drake Pattern." Current Works.
- "Borcher's Parachute Size 14." Streamside Au Sable River Fly Fishing Guides.
- Deschaine, T. Michigan Dry Flies archive.
Know more about this fly's history, or spot a mistake? Send a correction.
No photo yet. Every photo on michfly is of a fly tied for the site, so they're added a few at a time.
Original recipe cards for many Michigan patterns are kept at the Michigan Dry Flies archive, built by the late Tom Deschaine.