SteelFlash Flies
The Following is an excerpt from Flies For Atlantic Salmon & Steelhead which can be purchased from Amazon HERE
I developed the SteelFlash series flies to have a fly that neither absorbs nor traps water, has an abundance of flash, has tremendous action in the water, sinks a bit headfirst, and balances perfectly with a stinger hook riding up. The hook in this position doesn’t make the fly 100 perfect weed proof, but time after time I’ve cast the fly into a rock pile and watched it swim through without hanging up.
All my SteelFlash flies are tied on Partridge Intruder or Partridge Waddington shanks. Size: 20 to 25mm for summer-run steelhead, 35 to 45mm for winter runs, but this can be reversed depending on water conditions. Hook size: No. 6 and No. 4 for summer steelhead; No 2 for winter. The hook rides point up, the weight of the barbell eyes calibrated maintain that position by using 1/60-ounce on the smaller flies, and 1/40-ounce on the larger. The weight of the fly wet can be cast and controlled with my 6- or 7-weight Burkheimer summer-run rods and my 8-weights for winter fishing. All the rods range from 12 to 13 ½ feet.
Flashabou Is Key
Today there are many different types of Flashabou: solid, dyed pearl, mirage, micro and micro pearl to name but a few. Each behaves di erently with varying degrees of sti ness. The dyed-pearl Flashabou is the stiffest, and comes in lovely shades of pink, purple, dark blue and orange. I use it in all my SteelFlash flies where longer materials are called for—in the two skirts and especially in the rearmost skirt. I like to add in micro opal mirage Flashabou, and/or micro pearl Flashabou to the tail skirt: anywhere where a block of color should be defused.
The dressings to follow have been extensively fished in Washington and British Columbia rivers. These trials produced very favorable results.
All four of these patterns (pictured below) are superb winter-run flies, including those in the smaller “summer-run” size. All have identical Intruder- style parts: a front skirt, a waist, a rear skirt, and something of a wing flowing over both skits. A Mylar Flashabou skirt is tied in that evenly surrounds the dubbing. The waist of the fly is thin and may be solid Mylar— my choice—or thinly dubbed and ribbed. All the strands of Flashabou are tied in doubled, the thread wrapped at the center of a strand and then a couple wraps are made over the base; nothing short of the fly’s destruction permits the Flashabou from pulling out.
SteelFlash Black
This subdued, dark pattern is a wonderful alternative to the blue and purple SteelFlash dressings. I especially like it under low light, or anytime where steelhead have been worked over. I have such confidence in this pattern that I feel that the Black can move a steelhead when other patterns have failed.
The dubbing for the body is black mixed with a small amount of metallic dark blue. Rear skirt is dyed-pearl Flashabou in black with a strand or two of doubled mirage Flashabou in purple. Repeated for the front skirt. Head is black dubbing mixed with a small amount of metallic blue dubbing.
The wing is black. Mix the craft fur, bucktail, even polar bear lightly with a few strands of blue and purple holographic Flashabou. A small amount of highlight color goes a long way. The fly can be thinly dressed and appear mostly black. But I always add some additional color to the black.
SteelFlash Purple
The pattern carries an underbody of purple dubbing mixed with blue metallic dubbing. A purple wing of sparse craft fur holding blue holographic mylar is tied in dorsally. My preference is to tie in dark purple dubbing mixed with a bit of metallic blue dubbing for the head.
The body is purple holographic Mylar. The rear shirt is purple dyed Pearl flashabou; front skirt is purple Flashabou, regular and/or holographic with blue and black Flashabou highlights.
Steelhead are famous for their attraction to purple. Like the Blue, the Purple is extremely effective on all days, from bright to overcast and raining.
SteelFlash Pink
Among the “bright” steelhead patterns, pink reigns high on most lists, especially in British Columbia where pink is often combined with purple when fishing the Skeena’s legendary tributaries. Holographic Mylar pink tinsel covers the narrow mid-body. I paint the eyes with hot pink paint followed by pearl glitter paint. The head is hot pink dubbing well brushed out. Pink dubbing for the body is wound in behind the two skirts. Flashabou, pink holographic Flashabou plus doubled strands of fuchsia and dyed-pink Pearl Flashabou over fluorescent pink dubbing for the rear skirt. Front skirt: solid or holographic pink tinsel. Optional: Use purple dubbing behind the forward skirt; introduce a strand of holographic purple Mylar tinsel doubled for the forward skirt.
I fish the Pink in No. 4 hook sizes on summer rivers with a sink- tip, especially if there are salmon in the river that have schooled up and have pushed steelhead from lies. The Pink is attractive to both Chinook and coho salmon. During the winter, when there is less competition for a fresh pool and I’m the first person to fish the water, I fish the Pink in the larger size, swinging it on 10 to 15 feet of T-11, or even faster sinking tips when the water is high and discolored. The exception comes at first light when steelhead may be parked in a foot or two of water along the beach. The smaller Pink on an intermediate tip is then a perfect approach.
SteelFlash Orange
Orange steelhead flies have been my go-to color for as long as I’ve been fishing for winter steelhead. The Orange SteelFlash pattern is tied with contrasting oranges: the tail of pearl orange and opal orange that veils hot orange body, creating one of two sets of glowing oranges. The forward skirt has orange holographic Flashabou and a couple doubled strands of pearl orange Flashabou, again veiling a body of hot orange dubbing. Metallic orange dubbings can be mixed with the regular dubbing if a more intense, deeper orange is desired. The eyes painted orange with gold glitter provide a very different shade of orange. This is a dazzling “shrimpy” orange fly full of semi-transparent motion. There is no other orange steelhead fly remotely like it.
I fish the fly on a fast-sinking tip, 15 feet of No. 6 or No. 8 for winter-run steelhead. There are faster-sinking tips, useful for deeper—not faster— pools. Just when my normal across-and-slightly- down cast has been completed, I make a strong upstream mend, yanking around the tip so it points upstream and near the surface where the current is strongest. I then drop my rod tip and point it downstream, time enough for the fly sink rapidly as it washes downriver, then come under tension as I strongly lead the fly. The current against the fly now comes from the fly crossing the river, not from being pulled against strong downstream surface currents.
There’s a lot of chrome in the tail, which gives the fly tremendous flash, a signal for steelhead to take the fly. The winter isn’t usually a runaway take so often seen with summer-run hens, and can actually be quite delicate. I try hard to not to raise my rod and “strike,” but simply tighten on the fish. If my rod is pointed at the fish, the line will either come tight in my hand or it won’t. If it doesn’t and I haven’t jerked the fly away, the steelhead will likely come back and take the fly again, or will on the next cast, or the one after that. Regardless, I haven’t spooked the fish by having the fly suddenly pulled away from its mouth.
I may pack a stiff and powerful 9-weight to cast flies with 1/30-ounce dumbbell eyes on a super- fast sinking tip. For me, this is work, and rarely successful because I’m unable to sufficiently slow the fly’s passage across the river. Nevertheless, I can’t resist giving the pool a few casts before moving on to more suitable water.
Click Images Below To Enlarge & View Caption Information
