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December 2001
by Rich Johnson
Martin River Smolt
Notes: This is one of those patterns that I knew as soon as I saw it that it needed to be a featured fly. Bob Churchill (current president of
AFF) showed me this new pattern earlier this fall. He had been trying to get large eyes on a smolt pattern without the hassle, or additional weight, of adhesives, epoxy in particular. Being creativity lazy (read efficient) at tying fishing patterns is one of the trademarks of a good fly
tyer, and Bob has one of the best minds for coming up with great fishing patterns that are easy to tie. The pattern is named after
a drainage in Cordova, where Bob was fishing for Dollies feeding on out-migrating
smolt. His use of a baggie is a stroke of genius.
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Hook: long shanked streamer (3XL straight eyed)
Thread: 6/0, white
Weight: optional (.025)
Tail: Krystal Flash, UV
Body: Flat Braid, pearl (or similar material)
Gills: 6/0 thread, red
Eyes: 3mm Self-adhesive, flat or 3-D
Eye Wrap: strip of clear plastic (from a baggie)
Head: 6/0 thread, black
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1) I am using a 3XL, straight-eyed streamer hook; size 8 (Dai-Riki #270 or Tiemco 200) This is the hook that will give me a body length of approximately 3/4 inch so that when you add the tail the total length closely matches the natural.
Cover the shank with a layer of thread. This will provide a base of the lead to sit upon.
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2) Tie down a length of lead wire along the top of the shank and along the bottom of the shank. You will want to cut the ends of the wire at the back of the fly at an angle so that you have a tapered transition up onto the body. I like to cut the underbody wire slightly shorter than the wire on top to accentuate the taper at the tail. This weighting creates an oval body that should pitch left and right in the current.
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3) Tie in a small bundle of UV Krystal Flash at the back of the fly and trim short. (Approximately 1/4" past the bend of the hook.)
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4) Tie in the Pearl flat braid (or similar material) at the rear of the shank. Bring your thread forward, wrap the flat braid forward, and tie off just behind the hook eye. Half-hitch once, do a three-wrap whip finish and cut your white thread.
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5) Create a band to represent gills with the red thread approximately 3/8 inch behind the hook eye. I used four layers, with a whip finish for the last layer. Cut the red thread.
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6) Attach the black thread just behind the hook eye and apply 3mm eyes to both sides of the body. If all has gone well in your proportions, the eyes will cover most of the red gill band. (I am using flat silver/black eyes on this fly, but the sample Bob gave me had green/black 3-D eyes, that give the head of the fly a bulbous appearance, I like that look a lot and will stock my personal box with some.)
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7) Tie in a thin strip of clear plastic on top of the shank just in front of the eyes. I cut mine from a material zip lock bag. Wrap the strip rearward, just past the gills and then reverse directions forward back to the front. Stretch the plastic just a little while wrapping. Tie off, trim the excess, and whip finish. (I found that I needed to be careful when placing the first wrap of plastic over the eyes. My first attempt resulted in the eyes rotating out of place due to torque. Being a little more careful the second time resulted in the eyes staying where I placed them.)
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8) The finished fly; itching to do a little swimming this coming spring, when trout and dollies gorge themselves on the thousands of out-migrating
smolt.
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