Simple Salmon

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Hi,

Last weekend I picked up some Tiemco TMC 202SP Hooks in size 8. The SP stands for Spey. These have a loop eye and are a black hook. I picked these up on a whim, and have decided to have a try at some hairwing salmon flies. Two of these, the Blue Charm and Cosseboom I tie on size 10 2x hooks for trout already and have taken rainbows on the Cosseboom, but haven’t really fished the Blue Charm properly (yet).

Blue Charm: Unfortunately, this got picked up before the head was dry. Also, a few messy bits from the wing are showing around the eye.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/BlueCharm.jpg

Cosseboom
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/Cosseboom-1.jpg

The next one is a hairwing Highlander:

The recipe says the wing is suppose to be “fitch tail”, but I don’t know what “fitch” is. I used “kip tail”, which is calf tail, and just possibly “fitch tail” as well!
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/Highlander.jpg

The next one is based upon the Lady Caroline:

I didn’t have a picture, and I would be surprised if the body was not too dark (supposed to be light brown mixed with olive and I would call my brown dark brown). The tail is supposed to be a “reddish brown golden pheasant crest”), but I only have yellow golden pheasant crest. So, I used a reddish body feather from a golden pheasant. The hackle should be “medium blue dun”, but again, I substituted the blue/grey rump feather from a ringneck pheasant. And finally, the wing was supposed to be “brown mallard”, and I used “mallard dyed to Woodduck”. Hmmm, perhaps “based upon” is going to far and I should have said “I was looking at the recipe for the Lady Caroline when I came up with this completely different tie?”

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/LadyCaroline.jpg

Finally, feeling confident, I put together this one, which I’ve named after my wife (the Vanessa):
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/Vanessa.jpg

Tag: flat gold tinsel
Tip : Lavender floss
Tail: golden pheasant crest
Rib : flat silver tinsel
body: wine floss
throat: guinea flowl
wing : mallard dyed wood duck
topping: golden pheasant crest
head : black (tying thread)

I found these recipes in Art Flick’s “Master Fly Tying Guide” in the chapter by Ernest Schwiebert. This is an older book, I have a 5th printing in paper back from 1979. If you see it in any used book stores, I do recommend it.

  • Jeff
2

Those are some nice flies. If I had all the materials I’d be trying more flies like that. Keep it up!

3

Hi Joerogrz,

Thanks! The Blue Charm is made of pretty standard materials. You can substitute yellow hackle fibres anywhere you see Golden Pheasant Crest for the tails. The BC is then just flat silver tinsel (tag and rib), yellow floss (the tip), black floss for the body, fox squirrel tail wing, and blue hackle fibres for the throat. The Orange Charm is the same except bright orange hackles instead of the blue. Anyway, most of these simplified salmon flies use simple materials, certainly simple compared to the full dressed Salmon flies! All the materials in these are used in many trout patterns.

  • Jeff
4

i really like the lady caroline!

5

Hi mnklagoon,

Thanks! The Lady Caroline is one of the more subdued ties, rather than the other more flashy and colourful flies. I suspect it would be a real killer for trout tied down to regular size 10s and 12s. It is similar enough to the March Brown that it would just have to work (he says with undue confidence).

  • Jeff
6

i’ve been using atlantic salmon flies for bass here in mississippi lol everyone wants to know what the heck i’m fishing with !

7

Funny. I’ve gathered so much salmon tying materials over the last 40+ years it’s a shame because I hardly tie any. In fact, I’ve purposely shied away from the full winged flies because I lack the patience and would probably end up pulling my own hair out. Anyway, seeing the flies posted and the idea to use them for bass and maybe even trout has peaked and renewed my interest. Maybe I’ll try my hand at some of the less complicated patterns. No, I won’t be mailing the stuff out to get it off my hands.

Oh Jeff - Thanks for the kick start.

Deezel

8

Hi Deezle,

I would think these tied on size 10 2x trout hooks would work well for trout. I have tried some with good success, and a number of variations on the Cosseboom have worked well. Basically, tied smaller these reduced Salmon Flies are really just basic hairwing streamers. Blue Charms were, and maybe still are, popular in Newfoundland for both salmon and trout.

I’m hoping these work well on Rainbows at least, as there are no Atlantic Salmon in New Zealand!

  • Jeff
9

That Cosseboom is tied in dry style by the look of it. They DO work well on bass and salmon. For the collar look, try using hen neck or saddle hackle. Then, tie a few wraps over the base of the hackle to make it bend back a bit. The wing should be as long as the hook, any longer & the fish’ll strike short. BTW, for not living in an area where here’s salmon, you did a nice job of the first ones!! Here’s one I did for a guy in Switzerland. Keep up the good work, Jamie

10

Thanks Jamie! That’s a beautiful looking fly you’ve included! Would like to get to that stage one day.

And on the Cosseboom, the hackle is from a softish Indian Neck, but it’s the only yellow hackles I have of the right size. I agree it’s not sloped back enough, but that’s my fault. The head was looking a bit large as it was, and tying back to slope the collar would probably have goosenecked it. Next time will remember to take it forward.

I’m originally from Nova Scotia, so I’ve fished these before. It’s also why I fish them here as I’m used to seeing and using these patterns. I feel a bit uncomfortable not having them in my box!

Anyway, I’ve tied up a couple more (before your suggestions on wing length). Here’s an Orange Charm, which I had never seen before but found in the book mentioned in my first post. The lack of a tail was just because I forgot to tie it in!

These next two are my own pattern. The first is a Hammlim Minnow, which took my largest trout on the first day I used it (7.25 lbs brown). In fact, this is probably one of my most successful streamer patterns (in lakes), taking both browns and rainbows. Again, I’ve never tied it this large, and the fancy bits at the bend weren’t part of the original tie.

Lastly, here’s my attempt at a Spey style pattern. The hackle is a pukeko feather (local NZ swamp bird). The wing looks better in the photo then in real life, but overall I’m pleased with it. I’ve only tied about half a dozen Spey style flies, and the others were all smaller versions. The proper hook really helps.

And please, tips and tricks and suggestions always welcomed!

  • Jeff
11

I hesitate to get into any more discussions about kip tails and mysterious animals, but a fitch is a European polecat (looks a lot like a black footed ferret) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_polecat

I’ve seen black bear hair and squirrel tail recommended as substitutes, and you can buy fitch tails in the US from at least a couple fly shops, but I’m sure your kip tail wing will do fine.

12

Jeff, those look excellent! I think i’m gonna tye up some of those Atlantic Salmon flies, in some smaller sizes and try them out on the trout.

I’ve been working on some smaller, trout spey’s, as of late. I’ve been using beadhead/curve nymph hooks, in sizes 10-12 and so far, they look pretty good. The hooks I bought, had a more exaggerated bend then they usually do, so I thought i’d try them for some wet patterns. I’ve been using schlappen, soft hackle and saddle hackle for the bodies.

Jamie, that highland gem looks awesome!

13

Hi CM Stewart,

Thanks for the info on the fitch. Looking at the photo’s in the Wikipedia link you provided I would guess the wing should be darker than I have it.

  • Jeff
14

Thanks pspaint! I would expect some of these would work well when you target steelhead. I see in a book I have on Steelhead fishing and flies from 1976 that a lot of recommended patterns are Spey style flies.

I know trout like the smaller Cossebooms. Also, some variations in colour have worked well. Here’s what I call a “night cosseboom”, tied in maroon, gold ribs, fox squirrel tail , and with red and black hackles. I’ve taken a few nice rainbows with this just after dark at the Waiteti Stream mouth (into Lake Rotorua):
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/NightCosseboom.jpg

And this one is a day version, based upon the colours of a Parson’s Glory, which is a popular NZ matuku style fly. I’ve had some luck with this on a few bright days fishing the lake edges.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/YellowCosseboom.jpg

This orange one I’ve not actually fished yet, but I suspect migrating fish will take this when running up the rivers.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/OrangeCosseboom.jpg

Here’s another Spey style, but this is tied on a size 10 2x shank hook (as are all the above). http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/JeffPHamm/PukekoSpey_blue.jpg

These are what I usually use, so the larger versions shown earlier look huge to me. Still, I am finding it fun to tie on these larger hooks with their different shape. Also, I know a lot of people here fish some pretty huge flies so these are not too big for some of our fisheries.

  • Jeff
15

pspaint, try coot feathers for trout speys. The feather size is right, with a small rachis(stem) and appropriate fiber length!! Jamie

16

The blue charm, in various incarnations and variations, is still the “go to fly” for Atlantics in Newfoundland. If the success it sees over here is any indication, you’ll be having lots of fun with that fly and some NZ trout.!!

17

Very cool Jeff!!! Maybe me and MFTG can get down there, soon and you can show us how they work. From what Marty said about the size of some of those rivers, I think I may need to bring the two hander with. lol.

Jamie, i’ve never used those before. I haven’t seen it any of the shops around here. Are they sold in different colors?

18

Maybe, maybe not. If you do a Yahoo (not Google) image search for fitch tail, you’ll see tails offered by US flyshops. They appear to have both black and brown hair.

19

Hi pspaint,

I’ve recently tied up a trout sized spey (size 10 2x shank) using hen saddle hackle. It looks ok size wise, though not the long flowing look, and I think one might need to strip one side to thin out the hackle a bit. But, these should produce good working fishing flies. All theory at the moment of course!

  • Jeff