Washington Steelhead Hairwing Classics

Dave Westburg

Dave Westburg

Fish the classics
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When I started steelheading in the mid-70's we fished hairwing wet flies with Chenille bodies. My first winter steelhead came from an Orange Shrimp on the Wallace river just above the Hwy 2 pullout which is now closed. Some famous hairwing patterns of the day where the Brads Brat and Skykomish Sunrise.

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The Brads Brad was invented by Enos Bradner the outdoors columnist of the Seattle Times. It's an elegant fly when tied with polar bear and jungle cock. Bradner specified a half orange/half red wool body but I sometimes use seals fur dubbing. Bradner's Northwest Angling is a must read if you want to know how Washington fly fishing was from the 40's to the 80's. He fished the Brads Brat in size 2-6 for steelhead and down to size 12 for cutthroat in streams and lakes.

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The Skykomish Sunrise was invented by Ken McCleod, the outdoor columnist for the Seattle PI. I have a Skykomish Sunrise tied by Ken's son George who ran a fly tying business.
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Dave Westburg said:
View attachment 6624
When I started steelheading in the mid-70's we fished hairwing wet flies with Chenille bodies. My first winter steelhead came from an Orange Shrimp on the Wallace river just above the Hwy 2 pullout which is now closed. Some famous hairwing patterns of the day where the Brads Brat and Skykomish Sunrise.

View attachment 6616

The Brads Brad was invented by Enos Bradner the outdoors columnist of the Seattle Times. It's an elegant fly when tied with polar bear and jungle cock. Bradner specified a half orange/half red wool body but I sometimes use seals fur dubbing. Bradner's Northwest Angling is a must read if you want to know how Washington fly fishing was from the 40's to the 80's. He fished the Brads Brat in size 2-6 for steelhead and down to size 12 for cutthroat in streams and lakes.

View attachment 6617
The Skykomish Sunrise was invented by Ken McCleod, the outdoor columnist for the Seattle PI. I have a Skykomish Sunrise tied by Ken's son George who ran a fly tying business.
View attachment 6618
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Those are some beauties…!!! 😉
 
Dave Westburg said:
View attachment 6624
When I started steelheading in the mid-70's we fished hairwing wet flies with Chenille bodies. My first winter steelhead came from an Orange Shrimp on the Wallace river just above the Hwy 2 pullout which is now closed. Some famous hairwing patterns of the day where the Brads Brat and Skykomish Sunrise.

View attachment 6616

The Brads Brad was invented by Enos Bradner the outdoors columnist of the Seattle Times. It's an elegant fly when tied with polar bear and jungle cock. Bradner specified a half orange/half red wool body but I sometimes use seals fur dubbing. Bradner's Northwest Angling is a must read if you want to know how Washington fly fishing was from the 40's to the 80's. He fished the Brads Brat in size 2-6 for steelhead and down to size 12 for cutthroat in streams and lakes.

View attachment 6617
The Skykomish Sunrise was invented by Ken McCleod, the outdoor columnist for the Seattle PI. I have a Skykomish Sunrise tied by Ken's son George who ran a fly tying business.
View attachment 6618
Click to expand...
I found 2 copies of that book at Powell's in Portland, one was signed.
 
I obtained a copy via an old bookstore from a google search. I used to fish both of those patterns for SRC in the fall. Love those old patterns. It’s interesting to see how steelhead patterns have changed over the years.
 
Brad's Brat was one of the first steelhead flies I tied. Haven't tied one in decades now. The last classic hairwing I tied is the Skunk, and I don't think I've tied one of those in over 10 years. The more I've learned about steelhead fishing, the more I've learned that fly patterns don't matter much. So now when I tie a classic hairwing, it's usually for the club's Christmas fly plate. For fishing, there's always the simple but effective Spade, Muddler Minnow, and whatever color marabou I have handy.
 
I was fortunate enough to watch him tie some of his flies. The way he spun ostrich and floss with tinsel was pretty cool. Thanks for the reminde. I had forgotten about that tech. Alec used the ostrich and tinsel in place of chenille. I really liked the ostrich version better than chenille.
 
Dave Westburg said:
View attachment 6624
When I started steelheading in the mid-70's we fished hairwing wet flies with Chenille bodies. My first winter steelhead came from an Orange Shrimp on the Wallace river just above the Hwy 2 pullout which is now closed. Some famous hairwing patterns of the day where the Brads Brat and Skykomish Sunrise.

View attachment 6616

The Brads Brad was invented by Enos Bradner the outdoors columnist of the Seattle Times. It's an elegant fly when tied with polar bear and jungle cock. Bradner specified a half orange/half red wool body but I sometimes use seals fur dubbing. Bradner's Northwest Angling is a must read if you want to know how Washington fly fishing was from the 40's to the 80's. He fished the Brads Brat in size 2-6 for steelhead and down to size 12 for cutthroat in streams and lakes.

View attachment 6617
The Skykomish Sunrise was invented by Ken McCleod, the outdoor columnist for the Seattle PI. I have a Skykomish Sunrise tied by Ken's son George who ran a fly tying business.
View attachment 6618
Click to expand...
You always post the coolest stuff 😎. I love it!
 
The first time I visited Alec in his home was to stock up on silk floss. His hooks were still in development and he was having some trouble with the hook making company getting them just right. I think he finally gave up and switched companies. When he was eventually satisfied I went back and bought some hooks and back again as he developed new styles.

Alec always took full advantage of having a captive audience so you needed to have plenty of time to share as one subject drifted to the next and to the next and to the next but it was always pure pleasure and education. Each visit he would put a Spade in the box or bag. I put them in my fly box and fished them.

Although I tied a few myself I don't recall a special technique for finishing off the hackle. Can someone please describe what that is.
 
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Nice flies Dave!

I agree it was fun to watch Alec tie though to be fair the spade was developed by Bob Arnold as a simple drab fly for low clear water. His origin spade was a simple tied on 1x- short, 1x-strong size 6 sealey hook. It was tied with tail of grey deer body hair, a body of medium black chenille and a grey Plymouth rock hackle (usually a rooster saddle hackle.

Curt
 
Alec did have a lot of variations on the basic Spade pattern, it was a good fly to show off at shows but I never heard him claim origination during the 20 plus years I knew him. Considering that Alec’s favorite fly for winter and spring fishing were variations of the skunk, I wonder if the spade was just a good show fly. Never fished with him so I don’t know if the spade was a “normal” summer fly for him.
 
Smalma said:
Nice flies Dave!

I agree it was fun to watch Alec tie though to be fair the spade was developed by Bob Arnold as a simple drab fly for low clear water. His origin spade was a simple tied on 1x- short, 1x-strong size 6 sealey hook. It was tied with tail of grey deer body hair, a body of medium black chenille and a grey Plymouth rock hackle (usually a rooster saddle hackle.

Curt
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Curt, I was always amazed how Alec and Bob were able to keep the deer hair tail from flaring. I often use a sparse bucktail tail or squirrel tail to get the same effect.
 
Tim Cottage said:
Although I tied a few myself I don't recall a special technique for finishing off the hackle. Can someone please describe what that is.
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As he completed the collar, he would strip the remaining stem fibers away. Alec would then wrap the thin bare stem in front of the collar. After a few wraps of thread, cut off the remaining stem. Alec then spun the thread counter clockwise and wrapped a smooth head to a whip finish. I hope that explains it.
 
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