The Renegade is one of those classic attractor patterns that doesn’t necessarily look like anything in nature but has consistently caught fish for decades. With fore and aft hackles like its relative, the Bivisible, the Renegade floats well in rough water and looks buggy enough to bring fish to the surface. Plus, the contrasting hackles make the fly easy to see in all kinds of light. Bonus tip: The Renegade also works well when it’s sunk.
In his latest how-to video, Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions walks you through the process of tying a Renegade, explaining how to choose the right hackles, orient the peacock herl, and make a clean thread head.
Renegade
Hook: Standard dry-fly hook (here, a Dai-Riki #300), sizes 12-18.
Thread: Cream, 8/0 or 70-denier.
Tag: Gold/silver Mylar Tinsel, extra-small.
Rear hackle: Brown.
Body: Peacock herl.
Front hackle: Cream or white.
Head: Tying thread.
I love these old patterns.
A great pattern rumored to have been created on my favorite little river here in southern Idaho, the Malad.
Glad to see some hackle fibers trapped in his head, makes my flies look not so bad.
Yes. Rumored to be by Ray Alban, my grandpa Oakley’s good friend in Gooding, Idaho.
The Renegade is not just a popular pattern for southern Idaho. I always have a few of them in my box for fishing small streams near Sandpoint in North Idaho.
My all-time favorite dry fly, the Renegade has caught fish everywhere from my local brookie stream to the famed Railroad Ranch on the Henry’s Fork (I won a bet that day landing four fish on it). Try tying it with olive Ice Dub instead of peacock.