Steelhead Flies

**Dillon** · 12-07-2011, 09:54 PM

Cut a 1 inch tube. Mount on needle and slide in a 1/2 inch tube of smaller diameter and add zap a gap to seal them together. Dub on a butt of polar bear and shrimp ice uv dubbing. Spin on artic fox tail.

Tie in 4-6 strands of crystal flash, and 8-10 Rhea plumes red and peach. Add micro hourglass eyes and white temple dog wing.

Apply a light film of zap a gap over the thread base. Make a dubbing loop and dub polar bear and shrimp body 50/50 blend. Rib with pearl Lagartun mini flat braid.

Tie in the same materials at the front of the fly as in the rear. Tie in the temple dog wing in the round and extend it to the end of the rear wing. Whip finish the head and add zap a gap.

I learned to tie this fly from Steelhead guide, Matt McCrary, of Portland. I believe he calls it the Skull knocker. I like to tie it in different color combinations and sometimes incorporate other materials. Black and blue is another favorite color combination. The fly is very light and does not absorb water. For a large fly it is nearly weightless to cast. It takes 45 minutes or so for me to tie and no two ever come out alike. I enjoy it so it doesn't bother me much when I lose one. Matt will be demonstrating how to tie them at one of the Saturday in the loft sessions at Northwest FF Outfitters soon. The date is on their website.

**Arctic** · 12-08-2011, 10:28 AM

Gorgeous!
Great profile, with almost zero material! I bet she fishes, and casts like a dream!
My friend Scott, that guides the NU has showed me how to tie some killer bugs like yours. I do a modified, less bulky intruder style that easily takes a half hour to tie!

Awesome concoction!

**Chedster** · 12-08-2011, 02:09 PM

Thanks for the write-up! I'm looking forward to tying up a few and taking them for a swim. That shrimpy pattern just screams eat me to steelhead.
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**wfocharlie** · 12-08-2011, 02:24 PM

I think the fly shop in welches has a party this saturday with fly tying demos and other stuff. I may take a break from fishing since we are so cold, low and clear right now and try to learn something over there. I have my hands full just trying to learn to fish this spey rod so the fly tying will have to come later. Buying a $3 fly with $2 worth of material in it seems like the easy choice right now but at some point it would be really fun to tie my own since I really enjoy doing that kind of stuff.

Jay. That fly looks great. I have a fishing bench in my garage that I call my evil lair.

**Spade** · 12-08-2011, 02:45 PM

I've always thought about tying up intruders but it's so hard to invest in it when I can walk the common swing areas of the Sandy and pick them up off the bank.

Oh and I prefer the bead.

**wfocharlie** · 12-09-2011, 01:23 PM

I have never tied a fly or obviously caught one on a fly I tied, but it would have to be way more rewarding than catching one on something you bought or found.
I'm sure I'll get to that point eventually.

**Chedster** · 12-09-2011, 03:36 PM

Start out with some simple but effective patterns. Green butt skunks etc for summer flies and leech patterns for winter. Look up Silvey's Tandem Tubes. They are really easy tie and they catch fish all year long. They are the staple in my fly box mainly because I'm pretty new to tying myself. I consider myself a utilitarian when it comes to tying flies, i want something simple and cheap but gets the job done.