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modern Michigan dry fly · 1970s

Kelly's Hex

Also called Troutsman Hex

Likely origin Several sources agree Galloup designed it and that it was his first commercial fly, but they give different dates (early, mid or late 1970s).

History

Kelly Galloup tied this large Hex dry in the 1970s, while he was guiding on northern Michigan rivers as a teenager and young man. MidCurrent and the Wet Fly Swing podcast both describe it as his first commercially produced fly, and The Drake calls it the first Hex pattern sold nationally. John Kreft writes that McKenzie Fly sold it in the 1980s, before tyers' names were routinely put on commercial flies, and that it was built for the Manistee.

Galloup opened the Troutsman in Traverse City around 1981, and the fly took the shop's name. Hex fishing drove much of his business in those years, and he later wrote Modern Streamers for Trophy Trout with Bob Linsenman before moving to Montana in the early 2000s.

The tying order is unusual: the calftail wing goes on first, then the bucktail belly, moose tail and deer-hair back are bound down behind it. Galloup has said the deer hair that extends past the bend helps the fly float. Sources disagree on the decade: Kreft says early 1970s and The Drake says mid-1970s.

Materials

Materials for the Kelly's Hex
HookDry, 3XL to 4XL, sizes 4 to 10
ThreadYellow
WingWhite calftail, tied in first, pointing forward, then divided and angled out
UnderbodyYellow bucktail tied under the shank and later pulled forward as the belly
TailMoose body hair
OverbodyNatural deer hair pulled back over the top and bound down in open turns
HackleGrizzly and brown, wound together

Tying steps

  1. Start the thread and tie in the calftail wing first, tips forward, then split it and angle the halves out.
  2. Tie a bundle of yellow bucktail under the shank and cover the body area with even thread wraps.
  3. Tie in moose hair for the tail.
  4. Bring deer hair from behind the wing back over the top to the tail and bind it with open turns.
  5. Fold the bucktail forward along the underside and bind it up to the wing with open turns.
  6. Tie in grizzly and brown hackle, wrap them together, and finish the head.

Tying video

Tying The Troutsman Hex with Kelly Galloup by The Slide Inn

Sources

  1. "Hex-Mania." The Drake Magazine.
  2. Block, E. "Tippets: Fishing the Rust Belt for Steel, Tying the Troutsman Hex." MidCurrent, May 12, 2018.
  3. Kreft, J. "Troutsman Hex." RiverKeeper Flies, August 2017.
  4. "Tied to the River." Outside Bozeman.
  5. "WFS 167: How to Dry Fly Fish with Kelly Galloup." Wet Fly Swing podcast.
  6. "How to Tie the Troutsman Hex Dry Fly." Trident Fly Fishing, September 26, 2022.
  7. Flarup, S. "Troutman Hex." Ahrex Hooks, February 3, 2023.

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.