While most streamers and wet flies represent some insect or
baitfish, here is one which imitates bait.
One of the best baits for brook trout in eastern Canada and the lakes
of the northeast is the pectoral fin of a brook trout. (No one
mentions what happened if you didn't catch the first brookie to
use the fin). However, assuming the inventors of this fly were
fly fisherman, they may have been aware of the success of the fin
as bait, and specifically created it for that use.
It appears the Trout Fin fly was developed entirely independently
by Robert H. Cavanagh, Jr., of Woburn, Massachusetts, and by the
Gulline Brothers, Montreal, Canada. The time seems to be the
1920s.
Trout Fin
Hook: Mustad #3906, sizes 8 to 16.
Thread: Pre-waxed black nylon.
Tail: Red duck quill.
Body: Flat siver tinsel with a very fine oval silver rib.
Hackle: Light ginger, tied back collar style.
Wing: Three layers, married matched duck, goose, or swan,
Top to bottom - white, black (thin) and red.
Credits: Information fromTrout and Salmon Fly Index by
Dick Surette, published by Stackpole Books. Photo from Forgotten
Flies published by Complete Sportsman.
~ DLB
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