Parachute Adams

Fish the Parachute Adams on a dead drift with a drag-free presentation. Use a reach cast or mend upstream to extend the drift, especially on complex currents. The white post is a significant advantage in low-light conditions and on broken water where visibility is challenging.

During a hatch, match the size of the naturals and present the fly in the feeding lane of a rising trout. When prospecting, focus on seams, foam lines, and the heads and tails of pools. A light application of floatant to the hackle and post keeps the fly riding high, but avoid getting floatant on the body so it sits naturally in the surface film.

As an attractor or searching pattern, try sizes #14-16 on a 5X tippet. When matching specific hatches, drop down to the appropriate size and lengthen your tippet to 6X or 7X for pressured fish. The Parachute Adams excels in a dry-dropper rig with a small bead head nymph trailing 18 inches below.

The original Adams was created in 1922 by Leonard Halladay for his friend Charles Adams, who fished it on the Boardman River in Michigan. It quickly became the most popular dry fly in America. The parachute variation emerged in the mid-20th century as anglers recognized that the horizontal hackle provided a more natural silhouette and better visibility.

The parachute style of hackling was popularized in part by Vince Marinaro and other limestone creek anglers in Pennsylvania during the 1950s and 1960s. Applying the technique to the Adams created what many consider the single greatest improvement to an already legendary pattern. Today, if you ask any Montana fly shop to name one fly you should never be without, the Parachute Adams is the answer.