Classic Fly Pins For Christmas

An old pattern from the Penobscot River region of Maine. Originally intended for trout and landlocked salmon, the fly was found to be good for smallmouth and largemouth bass as well. Perhaps steelhead would fall for this fly too?

An Atlantic salmon fly pattern originated by the late Poul Jorgensen. During his time Poul was known among the best fly tyers in the world, largely because of his work with classic salmon flies. The Sir Conrad was tied for his friend Bill Conrad of television fame.

An adaptation of the Cain River series of flies, by C. Jim Pray of Eureka, California. This steelhead version was especially successful on the Klamath River. Originally tied for Atlantic salmon, the Cain River series was also good for trout and bass.

The Alaska Mary Ann fly pin is of a classic fly first tied in the 1920s by Frank Dufresne. The color scheme for the fly he derived from the red and white carved-ivory ice-fishing decoys that the native Eskimos made.

I’ve been tying old classic fly patterns on decorative hook pins for Christmas. Here are a few of my favorites. The hat pin hooks are not easy to tie on. There is the difficulty of tying around the pin and it’s keeper. Number one is avoid the sharp point of the pin. Ouch! Almost any fly pattern can be tied on fly pin. I’m looking forward to trying a few new patterns this year!

Gold Brooch Fly Fish Pins

The Alaska Mary Ann gold fly pin with body complete, awaiting attachment of the wing.

Chief Needahbeh awaiting the completion of a feather wing.

Completed Alaska Mary Ann steelhead fly tied on a 1/0 gold brooch pin.

Classic Chief Needahbeh Streamer tied on a gold brooch fly pin.

A Couple More Steelhead on the Rogue River 11-14-2017

 

Went two for three today on the Rogue River. All of the steelhead took the Orange Bead Head Brownbagger Stonefly Nymph pattern. This hatchery and native steelhead I was totally on top of except for the complete landing of the small native. The small native splashed it’s way to freedom at the bank. The first fish I hooked today was a biggy. I struggled to get it to shore (and to the camera), but the dry bank was a long way’s from the deep water were I hooked it.  As I neared my chosen landing spot, the fish gave a great leap and the hook was shaken. The Brownbagger Nymph has been on fire as of late hooking the majority of the steelhead. I believe that hot orange bead  head is the key.

An interesting hot bead head stonefly nymph.

A Carpetbagger style nymph with brown body and orange bead. Very good fly.

My version of the Agent Orange pattern and my Brownbagger Nymph pattern.

A Couple Steelhead on the Rogue River, Oregon 11-8-2017

Another Big Steelhead From the Rogue River 11/06/2017

I’m on a roll this past week and a half. Each of my last three fish has been a progressively larger than the prior. Todays steelhead went an estimated 30 inch’s long. I’d thought I would capture part of the battle on video. However the fish suddenly “came alive”, and was off on a determined run that eventually traveled 100 yards downriver. At the very onset of that run I knew I’d never land the fish near the camera, so as quick as possible I turned it off. The two capture photos were taken as fast with my phone camera before the grand native steelhead was quickly released back into the Rogue River of Oregon. The fly was my Brownbagger Carpetbagger Nymph with the orange bead head.

Snow covers the whole of Mt. McCloughlin on November 6, 2017. Luckily our rain has been light and scattered enough to maintain good fly fishing flow in the Rogue River.

Big Native Steelhead From the Rogue River 10-31-2017

I was a little down. Had just missed harvesting my blacktail buck that morning. This large Rogue River summer steelhead was a bit of consulation for missing that shot. I don’t know if the video captures all the beauty of this fish. In my memory the fish looked just perfect coming up out of the depths. A real gorgeous hen steelhead with good size. I’d estimate that she went about 28 inches long. She was quickly released back into the river to rest up before her winter’s spawn. The fly again was my fish-catching Yellow Fork Tail Prince Nymph that has been so successful this Fall.