Over the years, it's been a reliable caddis imitation that I've tied in a range of colors and sizes that have fooled fish far beyond the borders of Vermont or New England. Vermont Hare's Ear Caddis. A similar fly from upstate New York, the Dorato Hare's Ear, came to my attention several years later. The basic Dorato pattern indudes a short fanned-out grizzly hackle tail, optional mallard or woodduck flank wings, and mixed brown and grizzly hackle trimmed straight across the bottom.
Variations naturally range from dark to very light.
Over the years I've fished both of these flies a lot. 3 - Select one grizzly and one dark brown dry fly hackle and strip away the barbs from the lower portion of the stem. It doesn't really matter which hackle is in front, but if the stem of one hackle is discernibly narrower than the other, tie the narrow stemmed hackle to the rear. It's always easier to wind the narrower stem between the wraps of the preceding one. 4 - In front of the hackle, dub a thin base of fur toward the eye.