Hook: Partridge Bomber #2
Thread: UNI 6/0
Tail: Calf Body
Body: Wapsi Premo Deer Hair Bleached
Hackle: Whiting Bronze
Wing: Calf Body
Got a shipment of different size (#2-#8) Partridge Bomber hooks the other day and starting with the largest hook I’ll start tying up a box of these in different colors. The smaller ones will work well for trout as well, not only salmon, so this will be something to test out just as the sun is setting and the trout goes hunting after mice.
Hook: Kamasan B280 #4, Partridge Patriot #8
Thread: UNI 6/0 Red
Tag: UNI-French Medium Oval
Tail: GP
Body: underbody of UNI-Floss, UNI-Mylar #16
Rib: UNI-French Medium Oval
Wing: Squirrel
Hackle: Whiting Dryfly neck, Rooster Saddle Grizzly (depending on size)
A pattern on facebook got me in the direction of this fly, a grey&silver some might call it, but I used what I had to create this double on different hook sizes.
The all-silver body combined with a thin wing and trying to have a sparse hackle will make this sink quickly in the current and give a lot of visual feedback. I’ll tie this one up on singles and on tube as well, but I’ll do that later, for now I’m on a double rush!
The head on the smallest one did not come out very good, but it will catch some fish anyway:
Hook: TMC 7999 #8
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black
Tag: UTC French Oval Silver
Body: UNI-Floss Black, White underbody
Rib: UTC French Oval Silver
Wing: Hair
Hackle: Whiting Rooster Black
A small and very simple salmon fly that I haven’t tested out in real-life yet, but I do think this pattern should give results, maybe in a smaller river on low water! Will tie this up in #8/#4 and #1 to have something to test out when the time comes.
This autumn is really turning out to have a single-hook salmon focus, but relax: I have some double hooks that needs tying as well :)
Hook: TMC 7999 #1/0
Thread: Sheer 14/0
Tag: UTC Oval Silver Medium, UNI-Floss Red
Tail: GP, Veniard Red Crow Substitute
Butt: Black Ostrich
Body: UNI-Floss Black
Rib: UNI-Mylar #10
Hackle: Whiting Black Rooster Cape
Throat: Harline Strung Guinea Natural
Wing: Turkey Yellow/Red, 3 GP toppings
The “Classic Salmon Fly Patterns” by Michael D. Radencich lists 5 variants of the Black Goldfinch. What I had closest material for was the Black Goldfinch No.1 and tied these two up for my salmon box. Still have some issues with mounting, but the real interesting exercise here was the mounting of 3 toppings over the wing. The GP toppings needed to sit correctly together and not flare out to the sides, to tell you: I spent some toppings to get these to sit ok, but a good exercise indeed!
I have done some Polar Magnus lately and I thought it would be good to do a SBS on this great seatrout fly. This is a pattern that can be changed with different colors and hackle and this is how I tie them to ensure maximum durability during fishing.
Hook: TMC 777SP #8
Thread: UNI 6/0
Tail: Whiting Hackle tips
Body: Hareline Ice Dub
Body Hackle: Whiting
Rib: Copper Wire
Front Hackle: Foxtail Hen Red
Eyes: Bead Chain Gold Medium
1. start with thread from the hook eye and add a layer back and then towards the eye again. Add a pair of bead chain eyes, here I have used a medium gold version, but can be substituted with different sizes and colors. You can also add the eyes on the underside of the hook
2. When tying in the eyes: wrap in a figure-eight around the hook to securely tie in the eyes, if not they can start to slip. Also make sure you apply a good amount of pressure on the thread here to secure the eyes, you can also add some superglue to the wraps when you are done to secure the eyes even more.
3. Find two hackle tips and tie them in around the hook point (or where the hook bend starts), tie them in on the side of the hook
4. The hackle tips should form a V going back
5. Tie in the hackle and when going back add a copper wire
6. Add dubbing to the thread, this can be varied in different colors and variants but I like the Ice Dub on this fly
7. Dub the body but stop a little bit before the eyes: you want to have room to tie in the hackle
8. Tie in the body hackle, this can again be varied: short or long, and be added in short or longer turns around the hook, this depends on how you want the final fly to appear
9. When you reach the end of the dubbing make sure to keep the hackle tight while you counter-wrap the copper wire around the body all the way to the front of the dubbing
10. The first copper wrap here is keeping the hackle down and secures it in place. Make sure to not get the wire above the hackle so that it is trapped
11. I have ribbed the fly with a lot of turns here, this will make sure the fly is durable and will add a little bit of extra weight to it as well
12. After cutting away the hackle tip (keep it to make more tails on other polar magnus!) and the wire tie in a red (or pink) hackle
13. Wrap the hackle 2-3-4 times (depending on how much hackle you want and the profile you want the fly to have) and tie it in just behind the eyes. Secure the thread with a whipfinish and you have the final fly:
14. To make sure the fly is even more durable and will endure everything that happens to it I add some Bug Bond above the thread between the eyes and cure it with UV
15. The Bug Bond keeps the eyes securely in place, but make sure that you don’t cover the hackle in it
16. A alternative Polar magnus with red copper wire and pink spey hackle, just to show how you can mix this pattern up
A batch of Polar Magnus done and ready to fish:
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