This is a fly that I call the “More Green”.
It’s intended for early spring Atlantic salmon on the rivers of the Gaspe peninsula in Quebec. But this fly will work very well for chinooks here on the Skeena system.
This fly came about last night. While I was having a talk with my good friend and Atlantic salmon expert Jim Rusher. I was showing him the flies I have been preparing for my trip east this spring. He was examining my flies. Which is a little intimidating. Jim is an absolute master fly tier.
This is an example of the kind of flies Jim ties:
As he looked at my flies he said “more green” I know one thing. When Jim says “more green” by God you tie a fly with more green. So here it is.
Materials:
Tube: 3mm chartreuse glow tube.
Under wing: 1″ chartreuse arctic fox
1st hackle: chartreuse schlappen
1st flash: mirage crinkle flash (blue)
Second wing: 4″ chartreuse snow runner
3rd wing: 3″ highlander green arctic fox
4th wing: 3.5″ black marble fox (very light)
2nd flash: mirage crinkle flash blue
Front hackle: chartreuse schlappen
Jungle cock.
I really like the snow runner as an underwing. It’s stiffness keeps the wing swimming even in strong flows.
The snow runner allows for a really vibrant dye job. I believe when we are targeting fresh fish moving upstream from the ocean. We need to have a vibrant colour, that will catch the eye of the fish. The SRFS snow runner achieves this perfectly.
Here is an example of a fresh Atlantic taken by my friend Bryan Hotchkiss on a similar fly last spring.
Happy tying
Derek
