QuickreleaseEN
Steelhead
A favorite saltwater fly of mine. Designed to be essentially foul free, mostly bulletproof and loaded with lightweight, swimmy materials. Incorporating a tungsten bead for the action it provides, not so much the depth advantage although it will get deep if you allow it. I tend to strip too fast for that, it just adds a nice twitch on every strip and keeps the fly swimming on a pause. Fish seem to really dig it some days.
It's real name is "Lance Farmstrong" because the name unfortunately stuck in my head for some reason. Its a Sand Lance on roids! Tasteless......maybe, but fish don't think so. Okay here's the pattern.
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Start with a Gama B10s or comparable. This is a size 4 with a medium tungsten bead, 140 denier ultra thread. Wrap thread to the bend.
Take a sparse clump of craft fur and manipulate to get a tapered end. Add some flash (12 strands of pearl polarflash here), wrapping the tail with tight thread wraps past the hook bend until it's wrapped past the point of fouling, or past the majority of the hook bend.
Add some krystal flash (chartreuse here) and a darker color craft fur (olive used here for the smelt/lance look). Apply super glue or your favorite uber durable head cement.
Tie in some pearl ice dub along the bottom and sides and a short bit of craft fur over the top to cover the tail.
Add some pearl ice dub to a dubbing loop- pretty sparesly so there's very little bulk on the loop, but it has plenty of long fibers coming off. If there's any bulk, I push it to the bottom of the loop, which will be the furthest towards the head of the fly.
Wrap the loop tightly up the shank of the hook leaving a bit of room by the head. Notice it stays pretty dang sparse.
Wrap a sparse collar of arctic fox. A tiny cut of fur goes a long way.
Tie in some more crystal flash (6 strands) and a bit of craft for on the top of the fly, over the fox collar. This should extend JUST a bit past the bend of the hook, longer and it will foul. I may have even left it a bit too long on this fly, time on the water will tell. You can always carefully shorten it on the water with scissors or nippers.
Then, tie a small amount of olive and white bucktail on the top and belly of the fly, respectfully. I use bucktail that flares a moderate amount when tied in, close to the base of the tail. Bucktail can extend a bit past the bend of the hook, it's sparse enough that if a strand or two foul it won't impact the look or action of the fly.
Add some red dubbing as a bleeding gill on either side.
Apply head cement and attach eyes. Cover eyes with UV cure.
The finished product is a slim but action filled fly that eliminates most fouling that occurs and has a very natural look in the water. There's certainly simpler flies out there but this one checks all my boxes and gives me confidence when the classics aren't working or are being rejected by feeding fish. Plus, not dealing with a fly that fouls every four casts is a wonderful experience. The slender profile is a great match for a sand lance or juvenile smelt... this size and color in various styles of fly has been a consistent producer for me for as long as I've been fishing the salt.
Happy tying!
It's real name is "Lance Farmstrong" because the name unfortunately stuck in my head for some reason. Its a Sand Lance on roids! Tasteless......maybe, but fish don't think so. Okay here's the pattern.
------
Start with a Gama B10s or comparable. This is a size 4 with a medium tungsten bead, 140 denier ultra thread. Wrap thread to the bend.
Take a sparse clump of craft fur and manipulate to get a tapered end. Add some flash (12 strands of pearl polarflash here), wrapping the tail with tight thread wraps past the hook bend until it's wrapped past the point of fouling, or past the majority of the hook bend.
Add some krystal flash (chartreuse here) and a darker color craft fur (olive used here for the smelt/lance look). Apply super glue or your favorite uber durable head cement.
Tie in some pearl ice dub along the bottom and sides and a short bit of craft fur over the top to cover the tail.
Add some pearl ice dub to a dubbing loop- pretty sparesly so there's very little bulk on the loop, but it has plenty of long fibers coming off. If there's any bulk, I push it to the bottom of the loop, which will be the furthest towards the head of the fly.
Wrap the loop tightly up the shank of the hook leaving a bit of room by the head. Notice it stays pretty dang sparse.
Wrap a sparse collar of arctic fox. A tiny cut of fur goes a long way.
Tie in some more crystal flash (6 strands) and a bit of craft for on the top of the fly, over the fox collar. This should extend JUST a bit past the bend of the hook, longer and it will foul. I may have even left it a bit too long on this fly, time on the water will tell. You can always carefully shorten it on the water with scissors or nippers.
Then, tie a small amount of olive and white bucktail on the top and belly of the fly, respectfully. I use bucktail that flares a moderate amount when tied in, close to the base of the tail. Bucktail can extend a bit past the bend of the hook, it's sparse enough that if a strand or two foul it won't impact the look or action of the fly.
Add some red dubbing as a bleeding gill on either side.
Apply head cement and attach eyes. Cover eyes with UV cure.
The finished product is a slim but action filled fly that eliminates most fouling that occurs and has a very natural look in the water. There's certainly simpler flies out there but this one checks all my boxes and gives me confidence when the classics aren't working or are being rejected by feeding fish. Plus, not dealing with a fly that fouls every four casts is a wonderful experience. The slender profile is a great match for a sand lance or juvenile smelt... this size and color in various styles of fly has been a consistent producer for me for as long as I've been fishing the salt.
Happy tying!
