The White
A very simple, universal, shrimpy kind of woolly bugger like hackle fly
The White was originally tied by Danish angler Rasmus Hansen. Rasmus earned the nickname "The Fork" in my circle of anglers because he once wrote an article about turning fork handles into lures for spinning.
These days Rasmus is almost exclusively a fly angler, mostly known for his pike fishing and his trips to Lapland in Northern Sweden. But he does often fish the coast for sea trout, and I personally meet him now and again when I roam the Northern coast of the Island I live on.
He also used to write for the same Danish angling magazine that I do, and we have met on many an editorial summit - often memorable because of the good company and the fishing, but of course also for slight dozes of serious editorial work - but that's a whole other story.
Rasmus himself tells the story about The White - or The White One as he calls it - on his home page. The fly stems from 1993 and has since been refined and forked out to other patterns, but the original tie is still a stable pattern in Rasmus' flybox, He uses it as a provocation (read: attractor) or as a shrimp imitation, and prefers it for turbulent water and autumn fishing.
The flies on this page are tied by Ken Bonde Larsen except for the one with eyes, which was done by Kasper Mühbach.
| |
 Moonfish Martin Joergensen |
 The White with eyes Kasper Mühlbach |
 Massive Ken Bonde Larsen |
 Spotted Ken Bonde Larsen | |
| |
| Type | Cold salt water |
| Originator | Rasmus Hansen |
| Year of origin | 1993 |
| Difficulty | Easy |
Materials
| Hook | Saltwater streamer hook, #6-2 |
| Thread | White |
| Tail | White Arctic fox |
| Rib | Monofilament |
| Body | White pearlescent Angel Hair |
| Hackle | White, soft hen or rooster |
| Head | Tying thread |
Tying instructions
See pictures below
Submitted August 24th 2009
Hey Martin
I'm proud to see that you have taken my simple but effective pattern "The White" into your collection of seatrout patterns. It really is an effective fly, and I still use it as my "first choice". Lots of flyfishers has been really sceptical to this pattern, I think mainly because it is so simple and easy to tie. For rough conditions I put a lot of weight under the dubbing. A "turbo" version with some flash (for example som flashabou tube) tied as a collar works fine too. The strange thing is that the fly often works best in larger sizes and taken in very slowly. On the right day it's a real Killer, I've often experienced loads of takes when other flies didn't produce anything, stangely enough...
Thanks
Rasmus Hansen