Swingin' Flies in the Pacific Northwest: Fly #36: New Materials

Dec 24, 2008

Fly #36: New Materials

Santa arrived early this year and delivered a bunch of material. I've been tying when free time permits and below is one of my creations.

I just recently received a steelhead fly tying DVD featuring Marty Howard and Dec Hogan. Marty is in my opinion, one of the better fly tiers out there. His work is not just effective, but nice to look at. Likewise, Dec is not only a world class steelheader, he can also tie up some beautiful flies. After watching the DVD, I discovered some new techniques and was able to learn a lot. Some of that is represented below. Check out Marty's website here if interested in his DVD (I do not benefit from this link, just want to point out good instructional material).

Hot Orange Spey

Hook: Size 4
Tag: Silver Tinsel
Body: Hot Orange then Orange Floss with Black/Purple Dubbing
Ribbing: Oval Tinsel
Hackle: Orange Spey
Collar: Mallard Flank
Wing: Bronze Mallard

This guy hasn't seen the water yet. However, I know it will do well. And confidence is half the battle when swinging for steelhead.

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About Me

My interest in fly fishing began as a teenager in my home state of Missouri. After years of fishing rivers in and around the Ozarks, I moved to California in the early 90's. Life continued on, I happily drove hours around to various streams hunting trout. Then it happened. One rainy fall morning, I landed my first steelhead.

Game over. Buh bye trout. Hello steelhead!

Fast forward to 2011. My obsession with steelhead was out of control. I convinced my wife and family, that we needed to leave California and head to the Pacific Northwest.

Now, I'm able to happily fish for steelhead almost year around in both Washington and Oregon. My now home-water is a quick 10 minutes away. Within two hours, I can reach the Deschutes, Klickitat, Wilson, Sandy, Clackamas, Hood, Lewis, Cowlitz, Kalama, and dozens of others. Many of those are within a half hour. Paradise.

Although I started out with single handed rods all those years ago, I switched almost exclusively to 2-handed rods around 2005. I find them to be more efficient and less tiring over those long days. Initially reluctant to give them a try, I've rarely looked back.

This blog is my little spot on the internet to keep record of my trips, fly tying, and thoughts on fishing. Originally conceived as a personal journal to help myself remember where I went and what flies were productive- for whatever reason, I decided to make it public. Hopefully you will get something from it.