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[CoastRider]

Anyone care to share any new patterns they have been tying up on the bench waiting to take out for a swim?
I personally stick with the simple black/purple or pink/purple intruder style flies but always looking for something new to tie up

[dlo]

Loving the lady gaga intruder right now I think it will do well

[HOOK]

You mean this pattern ?




I also like using Blue/Black a lot in the winter but also have other colour combos

[Ian Forbes]

Steelhead are dumb. As a general rule, they will grab anything that swims in front of their face. Purples, blacks, burgundy, reds, pinks and orange colours all work. Pick any combination of materials you want. They all work. Only occasionally are steelhead selective, and those are usually summer-runs that do feed occasionally.

[dlo]

that's the one i'll be swinging tomorrow

[Spawn Sack]

You mean this pattern ?




I also like using Blue/Black a lot in the winter but also have other colour combos

Looks sweet! Hook, would you mind giving a list of the materials required and how to the fly? I looked for something on youtube etc but didn't find anything great. Will have more time to look later.

[HOOK]

Mine is not the actual recipe but a variation.

I do plan to do a SbS of this on the Blog over the steelhead season but just not yet. Which means I cant give it away early, sorry ;-)


There is a bit of tweaking I also want to do to up the sexyness factor when its swimming. This one looked fantastic in the water but I can see room for improvement.

As far as I can find there is no recipe for this fly online however here is what the originals look like

http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/Lady-gaga-intruder-flies.htm

[Spawn Sack]

What does "SbS of this on the blog..." mean? Sorry don't get it No worries I found a thread on speypages where one writer gave his version of it:

Tube: Pro 40/40 Pink...junction cut down to 25mm
Butt: Pink Dubbing Ball half on and half off the junction to prop hackle
Rear Hackle: Pink Saddle...select one with a thin stem so you can use the fluff towards the bottom end of the hackle. 2 turns of hackle/ 2 more when it turns into the fluff
Rear Wing: Black Barred White Ostrich...6 pieces flared on each side (tyer's side and far side of the top) so it encompasses about 180 degrees of the top side of the tube
Body: Pearl Mylar Flash
Prop: Blue Craft fur tied in clump or in dubbing loop
Flash: 8-10 strands of Copper Flash on each side
Collar 1: K-Fisher Blue Marabou 2-3 turns
Collar 2: Purple Marabou 2-3 turns
Wing: Two matched Grizzly Saddles tied over the top and slightly longer than the rest of the fly
Hackle: Black Schlappen...use 2 turns of hackle and 2 turns of fluff...just like the rear hackle select one with a thin stem that won't break as it is wrapped
Eyes: Medium Blue Sparkle Dumbbell eyes or medium eyes of choice

I changed a couple of things on the fly pictured a ways up the thread.
~Hot Pink Oppossum instead of the traditional butt & hackle in a dubbing loop followed by Hot Pink Marabou...stripped off most of the long stuff...tied in tip first and just 2 turns
~Cyan Blue Oppossum in a dubbing loop after the body is wrapped for the prop

I like it on the tube as opposed to a shank or Waddington so it is not so ganrly to cast and I like it a bit more sparse. Tie it how you like it and materials that will allow you to fish it confidently!

For low colder and clear water try the White/Blue version. The White becomes somewhat translucent in the water and won't put fish on the run in lower/clear conditions like larger brighter patterns that fish better in Steelhead Green to higher and off colored water.

Going off this recipe and the pictures I've seen of it I can prettymuch figure it out. I may not have ALL the materials this individual used but I have most and can surely substitute where necessary. For example I have no idea what "Oppossum" is but I have a decent selection of seal dubbing, other dubbings such as ice dub, other stuff like fox tail, polar chenile etc etc I could use as a dubbing loop butt or whatever that I imagine would still work well.

Just a quick question for ya HOOK: What do you find works best for the "umbrella" in front of marabou, etc? I know a lot of ppl use a guinea feather, which I like and normally strip one side. I know others use schlappen hackle (the non fluffy tip part) or other similar feathers. Just curious what youthink works best. In this recipe the tier says "Pink Saddle...select one with a thin stem so you can use the fluff towards the bottom end of the hackle. 2 turns of hackle/ 2 more when it turns into the fluff." So...I'm guessing he is tying in tip first and tying in close to where the stiff fibers turn to fluff and not stripping one side??

[HOOK]

if your "bump" under the marabou is decent then it will help it to umbrella. I prefer using Schlappen over marabou but guinea is good too.

best thing for a bump under marabou is arctic fox spun in a loop. some people also put a stack of deer hair spun under the fox which I find isn't necessary. my rear post on this fly is large cactus chenille, schlappen then the marabou. front post is fox then blue-purple marabou then black schlappen. If you feel you must add something under the fox to help prop it up then chenille is easy, quick and cheap.

The recipe you have there is a little more involved than mine, uses more materials and by using craft fur instead of fox it wont have as large a profile. Mine also have a lot more flash in it

just remember you don't want more than 3-4 wraps of each colour of marabou. I wet mine a lot before wrapping which helps keep it in control but can screw you up if you don't stick to a strict number of turns.


and the comment about the Blog isn't me being a di** but instead to check out the Blog my buddy and I have started. Its located in my signature. So far I have a couple SbS (step by steps) of flies and will be doing more along with tips and tricks on tying (which I may do before another sbs)


mine is a little more like this but some things I added or omitted. mine is also shown in this thread but like I said there is still room for improvement

http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=73905

[Ian Forbes]

If you just like stacking feathers on a hook, then tie one of these.



Otherwise, just wrap some coloured wool on a hook and tie some purple marabou on top with a few half hitches. You don't even need a vice or bobbin. Just 2 feet of tying thread and a pair of scissors will do an adequate job.

[CoastRider]

If you just like stacking feathers on a hook, then tie one of these.



Otherwise, just wrap some coloured wool on a hook and tie some purple marabou on top with a few half hitches. You don't even need a vice or bobbin. Just 2 feet of tying thread and a pair of scissors will do an adequate job.

Tying is half the fun and keeps the confidence up on those long days

[HOOK]

If you just like stacking feathers on a hook, then tie one of these.



Otherwise, just wrap some coloured wool on a hook and tie some purple marabou on top with a few half hitches. You don't even need a vice or bobbin. Just 2 feet of tying thread and a pair of scissors will do an adequate job.

If that was the case Ian then why do you have an entire house filled with tying materials and such. I'm sure along side it is a crap load of fishing rods/reels too 

If all it took was some garbage on a hook that I could use on a drift rod with then why would I choose a fly rod 

Hell, maybe we should all just chuck indicators and glo bugs and such for steelhead. I bet a roe bag could survive a few casts even LoL

[Ian Forbes]

You know me too well, Hook. I do things just for the fun of it. 

I've fished for steelhead in so many places only my fishing journal can recall them all. After a few thousand steelhead you start to see patterns forming... and I don't mean fly patterns. I can only count on two hands when steelhead were actually selective, and almost all of those were summer steelhead. I do know that steelhead have colour and size preferences, though. That is when I experiment. And, because most of us like things that are pretty, were create all these lovely patterns. It's pretty hard to beat something that is colourful and swims through the water like something alive. And, because fish don't have hands they will pick up things with their mouth.

I was sitting above a canyon pool full of spring steelhead with a friend from the Kootenays. Simon wanted to catch a steelhead on a fly and asked what pattern to use, and I said watch.

I took a candy mint from my pocket and bit it in two pieces. Then, I tossed each piece into the pool where about 50 steelhead were holding. The first piece went fluttering down in the current and when it reached the fish the first big steelhead grabbed it and held it for about 3 seconds before spitting it out. It didn't float more than 10 feet and another steelhead grabbed it. That happened a third time before the candy mint drifted out of the pool. The same identical thing happened to the second mint.

Then, I took the candy wrapper and put a tiny pebble in it, and tossed it into the pool. Three steelhead sampled it as well. Then I asked Simon what fly he thought he should use. Simon could only laugh.

[CoastRider]

Simon said...?  That is true, but its not usually that easy when you are fishing the congested, over fished rivers that we seem to frequently fish

[Spawn Sack]

HOOK: Thanks for that tying info I have not had a chance to give the lady gaga intruder a go yet but when I do I'll post a pic, my "recipe" and let you know how it goes. Yeah I remember last winter I took a intruder class with April Vokey and she was a big advocate of artic fox dubbing looped to form a but and act as an umbrella for the subsequent material. I have it in a few colors and will put it to good use.

As CoastRider put it "tying is half the fun and keeps the confidence up on those long days." I agree 100% For pinks, chum, coho etc I tie pretty quick and basic flys and jigs as I expect them to get chewed up by many fish, snapped off the odd time, etc. However with steelhead, to help me get over the mental barrier of sometimes casting ALL day without so much as a sniff, I find it helps with the confidence to tie super extravagant flies/jigs. I know the fish doesn't likely care if the fly has grizzly saddle hackle and jungle cock in it, but I think it looks fricken awesome which helps me fish it with confidence.

I tied up 5 COOL jigs tonight that I based on intruder patterns I have learned, and adapted them to my liking. I'll post them later on a thread I have going on steelhead jigs.