The story of a long lasting love for classic steelhead flies – and some flies that illustrate why the love is still there
Back in the heyday of the FF@ mailing list – back when people communicated via emails distributed from a central mail server – a decade before things like YouTube were launched – when people connected to the internet via dialup modem and Motorola was just introducing the flip phone – there was a discussion about what books people would like to see written. Yes – books – real solid things you hold in your hands and read in a comfy chair.
I remember my suggestion clearly: I hoped that John Shewey would write a book about classic steelhead flies.
In those days I lived close enough to the Salmon River in NY that I could fish for lake run fish all Fall and Winter long – it was an easy day trip from the house and one I took as often as I could manage – even more so when we were visiting family in Central NY. Oh heck – back then we fished for anything that swam in New York rivers and lakes and ponds.
And we wanted to catch them all on flies – flies we tied ourselves. I learned to tie Dahlberg Divers, Clouser Minnows, Royal Wulffs, Pheasant Tails, and bright colorful steelhead flies like the Polar Shrimp and the Green Butt Skunk. I fell hard for the steelhead (and salmon) hairwing wet flies – something about the marriage of form and function and art that just clicked with my sensibilities. I love them still.
Back in those days of the internet horse and buggy, most of us also subscribed to magazines! Glossy printed things that arrived in our mailboxes! A frequent contributor was John Shewey, a west coast fly tyer who tied the most exquisite steelhead flies. Models of perfection, each and every one. He also had a mail order materials business – and his feathers were as perfect as his flies – hand selected and pampered and expertly dyed. You may laugh – but I still have his catalogs on my bookshelves (and chuckle at the prices compared to today - $10.75 for an extra-select chinese cape – which were HUGE and perfectly symmetrical left to right). I never regretted spending money on quality materials with zero waste – nothing hurt worse than spending the limited “fun money” budget on crap feathers.
Anyway – with all that as history – John did eventually write the book I hoped for. In fact, he wrote a couple, a few if you include his wonderful book on spey flies.
“Classic Steelhead Flies” was published in 2015 and was exactly the book I hoped it would be. Chock full of stories about steelhead fishing and the characters who fished for them, as well as huge beautiful color photos of the most remarkable flies you can imagine. It’s a treasure trove of information and a textbook reference source for steelhead fly tying.
Bob Petti
Similar to last year when I filled a fly box with salmon hairwings, I got the itch to do the same for steelhead flies this year. I had a beat up old Wheatley clip box with rows of 7’s, so I ordered some hooks, broke out John’s book, and started writing down patterns on my trusty legal pad of paper where I jot down lists of flies to tie all winter long.
Below is just a small selection of the flies that filled the box – which is yet a smaller subset of the flies presented in John’s book. I’d need another box (or more) to tie all the patterns in the book. If you have an interest in these flies, I strongly suggest you get a copy. It would be wrong for me to just dump all that info here – get the book – give John all the credit he is due for collating such a wonderful resource.
Al's Special
Bekheart's Special
Benn's Coachman
Brad's Brat
California Coachman
Freight Train
Golden Demon
Max Canyon
Silver Admiral
Skykomish Sunrise
While flies and materials have evolved over the years since publication – and will continue to evolve for as long as people wrap thread around hooks – the foundation flies are worth studying and tying. John’s book is the best place to start.
A few notes about my flies:
- All are tied on size 6 hooks
- I hate chenille, so frequently substituted wool yarn or dubbing where appropriate. As John demonstrates in a late chapter in the book, steelhead flies lend themselves to style interpretation and materials substitutions unlike some other genres who are far more rigid (or stodgy, as the case may be).
- I only used jungle cock eyes on flies with feather strip wings, but some of the hairwings in the hook had jungle cock cheeks. Use your judgment
- On patterns that called for bucktail, I often used goat or another substitute which felt more appropriate for such a small hook. Same for polar bear – I used goat.
- Some of the flies in the book are tied on down eye bronze hooks like the classic Eagle Claw 1197, but for consistency’s sake I tied all mine on the same up-eye salmon style wet fly hooks.
- Pinch the barb if you plan to fish them. Mine are just going in a box that will sit on my bookshelf – so I left the barb alone.
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Some variations I like
Thank you, Mr. Petit. I have several books by John Sewey, and they are all wonderful to browse and, above all, inspiring for successful fly tying. For several of the hairwing patterns Sewey suggests, I add a heron feather hackle to the fly head to give them a bit more movement. Also, tied on size 6 and 8 hooks, some of these flies are also very good for Atlantic salmon in shallow water.
Ahh, The Smell of Old Books.
Yes, real books do have a certain charm one cannot get through the Internet route. Opening an actual book, like opening a fly box leads to soul fulfilling discovery. The sight and fragrance of each stirs the senses.... especially the flies which have that fishy lived-in ambiance. Cheers!