Winter steelheading season is here. Those of you who brave the cold months and fish for these chrome beauties know that the fish are less active and will not move to a fly. This makes it essential to use tips to get your fly down for better results. Tips=hangups=loosing flies.
In the past I would tie flies that took a long time and were costly, specially if you fish every week for the next four months like I do. In the last few years the variety of chenilles that are on the market is endless such as krystal chenille, palmer chenille, cactus chenille, and uv chenille to name a few. Now I tie and fish flies that are some what beautiful, do not use overly expensive materials (i.e seal fur, blue eared pheasant, etc.) and take 3-5 minutes to tie. Below is one of my patterns. I will be posting other “3 to 4 Step Flies” through out the season.
Chronic prawn
Hook: Tiemco 7999, size 2 to 3/0
Tail: Squirrel, purple
Body: UV polar chenille, red
Wing: Teal flank, purple
Step 1: Tie in tail
Step 2: Tie in chenille
Step 3: Palmer the chenille forward…
…and stroke the fibres downwards.
Step 4: Tie in wings…
And the fly is done! Easy, and fast.
Notes: you can tie with different materials of your choice for the tail and wings.
Happy fishing until the next fly,
Andre
