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Black Gordon
Black Gordon Spey I found this pattern from Bob Veverka’s book Spey Flies: How to Tie Them. There’s a plate of Steelhead Speys by Oregon tier Brad Burden and it’s one of my favorite plates in the whole book. I used hen hackle for the wings as opposed to rooster. They have a more opaque…
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Black Ranger
Black Ranger I tied this as a quick fishing fly with no material prep like forming crests. They will eventually take their place in the water so the prep is just for the show although I think it helps to achieve correct proportions and making sure you tied everything straight. Black Ranger a simple pattern…
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Orange Heron from Syd Glasso
Orange Heron One of the most famous Syd Glasso patterns that he used especially for winter Steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. I use featherwinged streamers quite a lot for Trout so I really like the idea of using them on salmonflies too. The trick is not to tie the wing flat on top of the…
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The Classic Salmon and Sea Trout Fly Compendium
The Classic Salmon and Sea Trout Fly Compendium – Grewcock & Carne This massive book that features basically all published and some unpublished classic salmon flies compiled by Barry Grewcock with the help of Dave Carne was published this summer as a limited edition on a pre-order only basis. It’s mostly a pattern reference book…
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Nepenthian
50 photo step by step instructions on how to tie Trahernes Nepenthian I wrote an article on Chasing Silver Magazine about J.P. Traherne and his salmon flies and in addition to the article did a long step by step on one of the flies, the Nepenthian, for their blog. You can find the full step…
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Switcher
The Switcher I tied this fly in hand about a month ago but hadn’t got a chance to photograph it earlier. I think it’s a fine looking salmon fly pattern that’s rarely used today. Even the color combination is a bit odd when you compare it to modern salmon flies but I can’t see why…
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Rocke’s Grub
Rocke’s Grub I haven’t seen anyone tie up this pattern even though it’s one of the featured patterns in both Kelson’s The Salmon Fly and in his Land & Water plates. Maybe it’s because of the unusual wash-leather in the body. Kelson also refers to two variations that use dyed silkworm gut in yellow and…