One of Tom Larimer’s go-to flies these days for winter steelhead, summer steelhead and king salmon in Alaska is one of his own designs – the Reverse Marbou Tube.
NOTE: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to hear Tom talk about his steelhead and salmon fly on YouTube.
The big problem with designing flies for winter steelhead and king salmon is that these fish often tend to strike at big-profile shapes in the water, but they also can swim relatively deep. When you’re swinging flies (which we really like to do), big bulky patterns tend to not sink very fast, since the bulk of their bodies provides resistance against the current.
With the Reverse Marabou Tube, Tom solves this problem by tying it backwards on the tube so the marabou fibers point forward, giving a bigger profile with a smaller amount of material. The smaller amount of material helps it sink fast, and that sink rate is really important as we mentioned above.
The Larimer Outfitters web site provides detailed instructions for tying the Reverse Marabou Tube – have a look.
Good stuff Tom–gonna tie a few up for Dean chinook next summer!