The Serendipity
Hook: Heavy-to-regular wire, regular length, straight or humped shank,
sizes 24 to 14 (I like to tie mine on a Tiemco 2457 or 2487)
Thread: 8/0 or 6/0 in color to match body
Body: Body: Z-lon, twisted into a rope and wrapped on the hook. Colors
include tan, gray, olive, red, and brown.
Head and Wing: Natural gray deer hair trimmed short.
Optional: Gold Bead
The serendipity is a pattern that was developed by a gentleman by the name of Ross A. Merigold. He introduced it to Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies of Montana in 1988. Craig then helped make the pattern famous and what it is today. It is generally considered an imitation of caddis, midge larvae, and pupae. The Serendipity is fished both deep, and up in the surface film. Many fish it as a dropper in a two-fly rig. It can be extremely effective and is an excellent producer on the Housatonic. In fact Jeff Passante in his ‘Housatonic River Fly Fishing Guide’, lists it as one of his recommended patterns. I’ve had great success fishing it in red and green on the Hous. It’s also a fly that has many variations.
Instead of twisting the Z-lon into a rope, simply “wrap a Z-lon body” around the hook shank and rib it with gold wire for a “ribbed effect”. The $3 serendipity uses rusty brown thread as a body. It’s also ribbed with gold wire. The crystal serendipity is comprised of 3-4 strands of pearl krystal flash
wrapped for the body. Also with a fine gold wire rib. This pattern is easy to tie and one you shouldn’t be without.