The Mercury RS2

The Mercury RS2 is one of my staple patterns in my box.  It passes for so many bugs and does it really well.  It often comes out to play when I need an additional trigger such as a bit more flash in deeper water or even off colored water.  I especially like this pattern in a size 22 for trico nymph and emergers and sunk spinners.
   

The many faces of the RS2

The Colorado State Fly. That's what this fly is. If you want to fish Colorado, I think they check your fly boxes at the borders to make sure you carry some variation of these flies. If not, they recommend that you get some as soon as you can. And for good reason. The original RS2 has been fooling trout in Colorado and surrounding areas for around 30 years. The name of the fly is explained below.

Soon Rim began to experiment with his own fly designs. He named his first successful fly Rim's Semblance, followed shortly thereafter by Rim's Semblance #2. He deliberately picked the word "Semblance" to indicate that this fly was not the imitation of any particular insect, which would have limited its function. Instead, the RS2 suggested a variety of insects. The RS2 proved to be an eclectic fly that has replaced all other flies (dries, emergers, nymphs, etc.) in Rim's fly box. The RS2 comes in many sizes and colors, but the shape remains unchanged as is the name.

Different variations of this fly have come and gone and their is always someone trying to add the latest and greatest bling to this fly to make it better, but I just don't think that can happen. The original is just that great of a fly. Born on the South Platte River, the RS2 is now sold and fished all over the world. This fly has stood the test of time. The many variations work well and some people prefer their patterns to the original. I prefer them all and have used the original the most and therefore have the most confidence in it. Even the original has variations. I tie 3 different variations of the original changing only the wing material. I don't know yet if one style is better than the other, but I will continue to fish and let the fishes let me know if they prefer one over the other. Tying the RS2 is fairly easy and it is truly a guide fly. Only using 3 materials a good tier can crank out a dozen in less than an hour. Listed below are a few of my variations that I carry in my box and ones I usually have tied onto the end of my line.



RS2 Antron Wing. This fly is a bit quicker to tie and is the one I use for guiding as it can be replaced quickly. A single strand of bright white antron is used for the wing. It can be tied in and measured and cut to length and it is ready for the next fly.

My version of Rim's original RS2 using natural beaver and the fluff from the base of a dun saddle hackle. Rim ties his using a really tight body and gets great segmentaion from the dubbing. I have not figured out how to get my dubbing that tight.

CDC Wing RS2. This RS2 uses CDC for the wing and works well as a surface emerger due to the CDC being able to float they fly in the film. This can be deadly when the fish are extremely picky and are eating emergers right in the film. This is my favorite version of the RS2.

Sparkle Wing RS2. The feather wing is replaced with a flat braid looped to add just the right amount of flash. This is a good fly to use when nymphing deep and the sun is out. The flash get the fishes attention and the profile is right. How can they resist?

Mercury RS2. Just slap a silver glass bead on the fly and you have another variation of the fly. This fly works as well as the original and can be just what you need on that slow day. I have fished this fly the least and don't quite have the confidence that I do with the others.
All flies are tied with either Iron gray or gray 8/0 thread. I use a TMC 101 hook for all variations of this fly. I also use either gray beaver or adams gray superfine dubbing. The antron wing RS2 is the easiest of the variations to tie. By using antron and superfine dubbing, it makes tying this fly faster and somewhat more durable. When guiding, I can burn through a dozen or more of these a day. If I have a trip the next day, the last thing I want to do is come home and tie a couple dozen complicated flies after a long day on the water. I carry sizes 18-24 in my boxes and mostly in a gray color, but I do have a few black and chocolate RS2s stashed away for those times when I need a different color. Some people swear by an olive RS2. I have yet to have fish turn down the gray or chocolate colors and do not carry any olive RS2s.

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**Edit**Here are a couple videos for your reference.  


Tying the RS2 from Juan Ramirez on Vimeo.
A new updated version of this popular fly.  I have deleted the previous video of this fly.




RS2 Sparkle Wing from Juan Ramirez on Vimeo.
RS2 Sparkle Wing tied during the favorite South Platte patterns class on 01/29/10.  This pattern is a varation on the famous RS2.  Tie some up and give them a try.  They work great for baetis and I fish them year round.  

Love/Hate relationship with the Dream Stream

I was hoping to get back on the water the next day on a guide trip.  Things fell through as the clients never answered their phone to schedule this thing.  Hmmm.  I was then hoping that I could go up there today, Sunday on another trip, but it didn't happen either.  I get one day of fun for myself and any other day, I  have to be making money.

Since I won't get there this weekend, I can spill what I saw up there this weekend.  It's not like there are any  secrets about that river.  I would estimate it sees a couple hundred anglers on any given summer weekend.  Of those, maybe 50% can figure out what is going on.
 Tricos are there and the fish are eating them.  Not many fish are eating on top, most of the fish are eating below the surface on the drowned duns and any drowned spinners.  Along with that, you have some caddis coming off along with some egg layers on the water.
We started off with nymphs and soon heard some big splashes from big fish eating something off the surface.  "That doesn't sound like a fish sipping duns or spinners".   I took 2 rods with me just in case I needed a dry when I had a nymph rig on.  For me, the nymph rod was in my hands the most as I targeted the deeper water.  My first choice was a San Juan Worm followed by a #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2.  That was a good choice as the RS2 imitated a drowned trico.  Most of the fish were lake fish as some of them were just as wide as they were long.  The thing I love about the Dream Stream is that the fish are freight trains.  When they decide that they want to go, there is nothing that will stop them.  You can only hop that your knots hold.

Juan's PMD Ice Emerger

Throughout the day, the fish ate tricos, caddis and PMDs.  Flies of choice were a #16 Caddis, #20 Black Sparkle Wing RS2, #18 PMD Ice Emerger, Olive PT Nymph and San Juan worms.  Another good fly is a Spent Wing Trico Spinner.  Kent was trailing this behind the caddis and did well with this pattern.

A lot of us have a love/hate relationship with the Dream Stream.  Some days it can be so good, and others it is stingy.  This day was one of the better days I have had on any river recently.  It was fun. It reminded me of why I love fishing and why I still have that burning desire to get out there.  The mosquitos were horrible though.  As I write this, I have to stop and scratch my hands.  I forgot my bug spray and I paid for it.  If you go, make sure to have the bug spray and maybe a net.  It helps landing those big, solid 18" fish that you can't get your hands around.  Believe me,  I tried and wish I hadn't forgot my net in the car.

18.5 ".  They feel a lot bigger.  Still, it's not a bad fish.

Kent's big bruiser brown on a caddis.  

Foam Wing RS2

All of a sudden it's September!  Where did the summer go?  As we head closer to Fall, it's time to think about the BWOs.  BWOs are my favorite hatch of the year.  While I make sure I have plenty of dries with me and try to get out on those nasty days, I usually end up fishing more nymphs and emergers to fish than the actual adults.  As many of you know, the RS2 is one of my favorite flies to tie and to fish.  It just works and the fish don't mind eating it.  The pattern below is a Foam Wing RS2.  There are many different variations of this fly and they all work.  This is just one of the variations.   Tie this just as you would a regular RS2, just replace the antron or fluff wing with white foam.  Tie some up and give them a try and let us know how you did.

FOAM WING RS2 
Hook:  TMC 101 18-24
Thread: 8/0 Gray
Tails:  Mayfly Tails (microfibetts)
Dubbing:  Superfine
Wing:  White Evazote foam cut to size with a razor
Thorax:  Superfine Dubbing

Tying the Mercury RS2, PMD

Here is a short video on tying the Mercury RS2.  This is the PMD version, but you can change colors easily to match any insect you want to .  I only tie these in PMD and Adams Gray color.  Maybe black as a third color.  Do me a favor and tie your tails a bit shorter than I did.  I didn't notice that they were a bit long until I looked at the fished fly in my hands.   I was in a hurry to get this done.  See what happens when you rush things?


Tying the PMD Mercury RS2 from Juan Ramirez on Vimeo.
A quick and easy tie, this is a true guide fly.  Easy to change colors and to get a different look, this thing is effective in PMD, gray and black to name a few.  I would keep the tails a bit shorter than what I did here.

The RS2-Revisited

My posts on the RS2 have been getting a lot of looks ever since they were posted.  It seems like there is a lot of interest in tis fly especially the further East one goes.  I wanted to share another tip that I use to tie one style of the RS2.  By using Whiting Farms Chick-A-Bou, this makes a great wing for the fly.  I tie this fly many different ways but have settled on using this style for the flies I tie for my box and for others.  I am not posting a complete step by step here, but just a few photos of what I do to get the wing sized and tied in. Please excuse the blurred photos.  I was in a hurry to get this completed with the time I had to get it done.  :)

The product.

This is a natural color as far as I can tell.

A single feather from the skin. Strip the short fibers at the base of the feather and use the longer fibers for the wing.

Pull a few fiber from the stem.

Gather the fibers and pinch off the tips.

To get them to look like this.  

Tied in bundle.

Make sure you do not leave a big space behind the eye.  Otherwise, you will have a long front portion to your flies.  I like a short, nice taper in front of the wing.  

I use a half of a double sided razor blade for a very close cut.  Make sure you break the razor in half because it's very easy to get cut as I found out.  

This makes a very close cut that scissors cannot make.  

See, what did I tell you?  A clean, close shave.  

Not the same fly, but the finished fly.  Lots of movement in the wing for below the surface use.  

Tying the RS2 HD video

I don't remember if I shared this with you or not, but I re-did this video and reposted it.  If you haven't noticed, you can find both video and photo tutorials on the right side bar just below the class listings.  Also on the bottom of this page is another link to my Vimeo page with all my videos on it.


Tying the RS2 from Juan Ramirez on Vimeo.
A new updated version of this popular fly. I have deleted the previous video of this fly.