Kalkkisten Vaalea & Kalkkisten Tumma
We are continuing with traditional Finnish trout flies. I have tied quite a lot of these because Kalkkisten Vaalea has been one of the flies I like to teach in my workshops. It’s pretty fast to tie and has many of the basic components of a classic strip winged salmon fly. The materials are also pretty easy to acquire and relatively cheap. Not to mention that I really like the look of this pattern.
These patterns were also in production in couple companies including Hardy in the early 1900’s. They have been translated many times but I believe it’s best to just use the Finnish names for them. The name comes from Kalkkinen which is another famous fishing spot in Finland and Vaalea simply means Light and Tumma means Dark. So they are light and dark patterns used in Kalkkinen.
There has also been variation of Kalkkisten Tumma with a similar tail and a rib than in the lighter version but most all of the older flies I have seen are like the one pictured.
Kalkkisten Vaalea
Tail: Tips of brown hackles.
Rib: Oval golden tinsel.
Bodyhackle: Brown.
Body: Light yellow floss 2/3 and green floss 1/3
Hackle: Brown
Wing: Light mottled Turkey wing.
Kalkkisten Tumma
Bodyhackle: Brown.
Body: Black floss.
Hackle: Brown.
Wing: Dark dun turkey (there has been many feathers used in the old patterns for the wing, even pure black)
