VARIANT is the name given to flies of the long hackle type, which are in fact variations of some standard pattern.
The credit for designing this type of fly has been given to that ardent and enthusiastic fly-fisher of Yorkshire, England, Dr. William Baigent, who has been tying lightly hackled spiders or Variants for the past thirty years
Preston Jennings, A Book of Trout Flies
Variants are really just an oversized hackle wing, a short body and a tail. For variant dry flies normally the hackle is 1-1/2 to 2 times longer than the bend of the hook. For example, for a size #14 hook I like to use hackle that is really for a size #10 or #8 dry fly.
https://wiflyfisher.com/Variant-dry-fly-patterns.asp
From “Masters on the Dry Fly”, Art Flick’s section on fishing pocket water:
From Art Flick’s fly tying book:
- https://www.paflyfish.com/threads/flicks-variants.33561/post-491411
- Two patterns: hare’s ear for a dark one, yellow for a light one
- https://wiflyfisher.com/Variant-dry-fly-patterns.asp
- Using coq de leon for tails
Also see:
- Preston Jennings’ Book of Trout Flies
- Jennings used gold and silver tinsel for all the bodies.
- John Atherton’s The Fly and the Fish
- Ed Hewitt’s Neversink skaters
- Mike Valla’s Founding Flies and Forgotten Flies
To make my own Variants, I’m thinking of a size 16 hook with EP Mayfly dub, cree hackle, and coq de leon tailing.