Single malt whiskey and plate winged salmon flies.

Today I started my task on plate winged salmon flies. I started with a classic fly called Bridge. It was first tied by Colonel Bridge in England in the 19th century, and has been known to work well for landlocked salmon. Also there are some stories that this pattern has worked for big salmon on the river Tana, (Teno in Finnish) the border river of Finland and Norway. As for trout, Bridge works well too. Here is my own version of the fly.

Bridge

Hook: Mustad SL73UBLN

Thread: Sheer 14/0 black

Tag: Oval silver tinsel (xs)

Tail: Golden pheasant crest

Rib: Oval silver tinsel (s)

Body: 1/3 Burgundy or claret seal fur, 2/3 black seal fur

Throat hackle: Black cock

Underwing: White tipped squirrel

Wing: Bronze mallard (2 layers)

Head: Thread and black varnish

After I was finished with tying Bridges, I changed to Green Butts. I lost a nice salmon from a double hook Green Butt last summer and had a few strikes too. It is a really simple fly that has earned a fair reputation of a really effective fly in the clear waters of northern Norway and Finland. A year ago I was asking for some "must have salmon flies" from more experienced anglers, and almost every one told me to tie some sort of Green Butts. I did, and got convinced on the first day on the river. I'm going to tie these on #2-#8 hooks and propably in both heavy wire and light wire hooks for different conditions. Here's my version on the heavy wire hook.

Green Butt

Hook: Mustad SL73UBLN

Thread: Sheer 14/0 black

Tag: Oval silver tinsel (xs) and bright green silk floss

Tail: Golden pheasant crest, dyed chartreuse

Rib: Oval silver tinsel (s)

Body: Black silk floss

Throat hackle: Black cock

Underwing: Black squirrel

Wing: Black goose shoulder feather (2 layers)

Head: Thread and black varnish

 

Another fly that has almost the same amount of trust from people in the north is the Blue Charm. It is a classic English pattern by Colin Simpson. It is well known to work on clear water and as a dark bodied but bright hackled and winged fly, it has been effective both on bright and cloudy days. Blue Charm is a fairly simple fly just like the Green Butt and doesn't take too long to tie. That surely is a bonus, since I'm tying these too to #2-8 hooks, both heavy and light wire. I might also tie some hair winged ones, but those are for later. 

Blue Charm

Hook: Mustad SL73UBLN

Thread: Sheer 14/0 black

Tag: Oval silver tinsel (xs) and yellow silk floss

Tail: Golden pheasant crest

Rib: Oval silver tinsel (s)

Body: Black silk floss

Throat hackle: Light blue cock

Underwing: White tipped squirrel

Wing: Mottled oak turkey

Head: Thread and black varnish

Last flies for today were a set of Lady Carolines. A classic spey fly from the 19th century was tied to meet the conditions of the river Spey in Scotland. It uses a long barbed heron feather as a hackle to give it a nice motion in the water. The developer of this pattern has been lost in the times of history and no one knows if Lady Caroline was an attractive maiden, but the fly sure is. I took the last sip of a 15 year old GlenDronach single malt whiskey and started tying these on a #2 Partridge bartleet traditional hook. It has a really nice curve to tie spey flies on. 

Lady Caroline

Hook: Partridge Bartleet traditional

Tail: Golden pheasant red breast feather

Rib: Flat silver tinsel and oval silver tinsel (crossed)

Body hackle: Natural brown heron

Throat hackle: Golden pheasant red breast feather

Wing: Bronze mallard (2 layers)

Head: Thread and black varnish

Tomorrow I will rather be tying flies again, than going to play ice hockey in the cold (-27°C tomorrow), so there will probably be some more pictures and recipes for you to check out.

-Niilo