Fall in Alaska is one of our favorite times of year to fish. The salmon have spawned and have gone into the final stage of their lifecycle to become a food resource for the river and its inhabitants, including Rainbow Trout and Dolly Varden. That makes flesh flies extremely effective in the fall months here in Alaska. A variation on the very popular flesh pattern the traditional Ham & Eggs, this alternative version uses Marabou giving the fly more motion and a “fuller” fleshy look.
The Salmon flesh in the river can be found in a variety of color variations, depending on what phase of the Salmon spawning season you are in. The beauty behind flesh fly patterns is, they are relatively easy to tie, so you can mix and match the colors with relative ease. Try playing with different colors to match the decay stages of the Salmon flesh. If you are fishing towards the beginning of the spawning season, where the Salmon flesh is “fresher,” try “brighter” colors Orange, pinks, peach, with whites. If you’re later into the season when the flesh is more rotten, you want to go “dirty;” gingers, tans, light browns, and grays mixed in with white work well.
Tying, Instruction and Photos by Mike Brown of Mossy’s Fly Shop, in Anchorage, Alaska.
Material List:
- Hook: Daiichi 1710 Sz 4 (you can tie this on sz 8 to 4)
- Tail/Head: Glo Bug Yarn Egg
- Body: Peach and Cream Marabou
- Thread: Veevus 140 White
Step 1. Tie in our glo bug yarn, leave appx 1” for a tail.
Step 2. Take a plume of peach and a plume cream marabou and tie in together at the tips.
Step 3. Wrap the rest of your egg yarn up to appx a hook eye width away from the front and tie off. Cut your yarn leaving appx. 1” over the hook eye.
Step 4. Palmer or wrap your marabou plumes forward. Depending on the hook shank length will dictate whether you have to palmer it or wrap it. This version, due to the shank length, is palmered so I could get all the way to the front. Tie down the marabou and cut off your excess material. Whip finish and you are done.
Finished Fly.
Other Flies for Rainbow Trout:
Leave a Reply