What Makes A Great Salmon Fly?

I guess the answer should be an easy one.  It should be a fly that catches fish and leave it at that.  But I really think it should be something much more.  There is an extra value to some Atlantic salmon flies that have stood the test of time.    While some hot patterns will come and go, a number of these classics seem to hang on for generations.

Who would deny the ability for a White Wing Akroyd or Lady Caroline to catch a fish on any river in the world.  Or the power of a size eight Blue Charm.  For some time using the Green Machine, a relative new comer, seemed like you were cheating.  However, those days are gone because the Green Machine can be like magic some times.  Add the white tail and you have a real winner.

The thing that makes all the difference for me is how a certain fly will make me feel.  A fly that offers me an added touch of confidence and might be the difference between success and failure.

Do you rise up as royalty when you tie on a big and beautiful Green Highlander?  I do.  Some days I choose a fly that makes me feel good and the only change I will make all day is to a different size of the same fly.  Often when 7pm rolls around I open my fly box and automatically put on a Black Dose.  It is just that way sometimes.

Well, I have made a new version of an old fly that makes me feel great to use.  This spring I fished Dick Eastman's, Dick's Killer for trout for the first time.  I saw a post on a fishing chat forum about the fly and started to tie a few, and a few more followed.  The fly caught many large trout and Lanlocked salmon and always was responsible for the largest fish of the day.  There is something about the way the colors reflect off each other that gives the fly a wonderful look while swinging.  So I have taken this streamer pattern and converted it to be a standard Salmon fly as well as a Spey style fly.

I just have a feeling about this pattern, and I'm going to give it a real work out the end of the month on Matapedia.  Maybe it will catch the largest salmon as well as trout.

William