How to Tie a Streamer Fly for Steelheads

The Pacific Northwest is famous for steelhead fishing. Fly fishermen pursuing steelhead on the rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean have produced a wide variety of steelhead streamer patterns. Some patterns are particularly renowned in certain areas while others have become popular along the entire coast. A fly tying or steelhead fishing book will provide numerous established steelhead patterns. One pattern that is widely popular is the Polar Shrimp. Supplies and materials for the Polar Shrimp and other patterns can be obtained at fly shops and on-line suppliers.

Things You'll Need

  • Fly tying vice
  • Fly tying thread bobbin
  • Fly tying scissors
  • Fly tying hackle pliers
  • Fly tying bodkin
  • Fly hooks, steelhead or salmon, sizes No. 1 through 6
  • Fly tying thread, 3/0 black
  • Hackle, scarlet red
  • Hackle, orange
  • Chenille, large, orange
  • Calf tail, white
  • Fly head cement
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Instructions

    • 1

      Clamp the bend of the hook in the vise. Wrap the thread clockwise around the hook shank just behind the hook eye. Wrap the thread down the shank stopping at a point above the hook's barb and let the bobbin hang there.

    • 2

      Pinch 12 to 15 wisps from the side of a scarlet red hackle feather and cut them off against the stem. Adjust the tips so they are even and set the butt ends on top of the hook shank where the thread is hanging. Extend the wisps out the end of the hook an equivalent of 1/3 the length of the shank and tie them down to the shank with four turns of thread.

    • 3

      Lay the end of a strand of orange chenille over the tail thread wraps and tie it down with three turns of thread. Wrap the thread forward to the hook eye and let the bobbin hang. Wrap the chenille clockwise around the shank moving toward the eye keeping the turns tight.

    • 4

      Stop wrapping the chenille at a point behind the hook eye equal to three lengths of the eye. Tie the chenille down to the shank with three turns of thread. Cut the chenille strand off against the shank.

    • 5

      Strip the fuzz off the butt end of an orange hackle feather and set the hackle stem across the top of the shank at a 90 degree angle to it. Adjust the hackle stem so the back of the hackle is facing the eye and the wisps are vertical. Push the stem across the shank and back, so the bottom wisps are against the shank and the chenille body and then tie the stem down with four turns of thread.

    • 6

      Cut off the butt end of the stem and then attach the hackle pliers to the tip of the hackle. Wrap the hackle four times clockwise around the shank moving toward the eye. Tie the hackle down to the shank with three turns of thread and cut off the end of the hackle.

    • 7

      Part the top of the hackle with your thumb and forefinger pushing the wisps to the right and left of the shank. Grip all the hackles around the shank between your thumb and forefinger and pull them all back toward the rear of the hook. Wrap five turns of thread over the bent back wisps locking them down so they are pointing toward the hook point on both sides and the bottom.

    • 8

      Cut a 1/16 inch diameter clump of long hairs from a white calf tail. Grip the tips of the hair tightly between your thumb and forefinger and with the other hand strip out all the short hairs from the butt end of the clump. Position the calf hair on top of and parallel to the hook shank.

    • 9

      Adjust the calf hair so the tips are even with the tips of the hackle tail wisps. Tie the hair down to the shank in front of the hackle collar with six turns of thread. Cut off the excess butt ends of the hair up to the thread turns.

    • 10

      Finish the fly by wrapping the thread around the butt ends of the calf hair. Form a cone shape with the thread from the thread turns over the calf hair to the back of the hook eye and tie the turns off with three half hitches. Paint fly head cement over the head and cut the thread from the fly.