Salmon Flies - Size & Use
Recommended sizes for hooks change through the year. Early in the salmon season size 4 hooks with green flies are more reliable at catching salmon, As the season progresses to the summer season changing to yellows (try Allys Cascade Shrimp) and then to oranges (try Allys Shrimp) with smaller hooks is more reliable. During the height of summer you may be using salmon fishing flies as little as size 16. Towards the end of the salmon season red flies (try Allys Shrimp Red) then purples colour flies (try Allys Shrimp Purple) are more reliable.
Salmon Flies - Tube Flies
One of the most flexible & reliable salmon fly fishing methods is probably using tube flies. Salmon tube flies can comprise metal or plastic. Salmon tube flies including copper salmon tube flies (which have more weight to go deeper faster) or nylon salmon tube flies which remain closer to the surface.
Salmon tube fly patterns vary from traditional tube flies patterns like green highlander through newer flies like pot bellied pig tube flies and the ultra mobile sunray shadow and monkey tube flies using materials that give maximum movement like cashmere goat. Modern tube fly fishing systems like Tubeology are even more flexible enabling you to take a aluminium salmon tube fly to the water and swap heads for hot spot colour and size / weight enabling the same salmon tube fishing fly to vary the depth and speed at which it descends across different parts of salmon pools.
Salmon Flies - Hook Based Flies
Salmon flies come in various shapes and sizes and vary according to hooks used, you can get salmon single hook flies, salmon double hook flies and salmon treble hook flies. Rules may potentially allow the use salmon doubles or trebles or may not depending where you are fishing and the relevant club or water rules. Many waters are restricting the types of hooks for the benefit of the salmon.
Salmon Flies - General Notes
The salmon stops eating when it moves into fresh water from the sea for breeding, it is literally "dying" to breed and reproduce and will not eat until it is able to return to the sea. Indeed vast quantities of salmon die in the act of reproduction. Because of this we are not catching salmon because it wants a fly to eat to satisfy hunger like the Rainbow Trout we are catching the salmon as we are triggering its predatory nature. We can stimulate the salmons predatory nature using imitative flies like Ally's shrimps designed by Alistair Gowans which resemble shrimp based patterns or the red francis which using boar hair and again resembles a shrimp . There are then modern flies like monkey tube flies and sunray shadow tube flies using materials like cashmere goat for maximum movement producing ultra-mobile flies which may look like a small fish to the predatory salmon.
The range of salmon fishing flies used today include:
* salmon single hook fishing flies
* salmon double hook fishing flies
* salmon treble hook fishing flies
* Irish shrimp salmon fishing flies
* salmon fully dressed fishing flies
* Ally Gowans - Allys Shrimps and Cascade Fishing Flies
* salmon copper tube fishing flies
* salmon copper tube Pot Bellied Pig (PBP) fishing flies
* salmon nylon tube Pot Bellied Pig (PBP) fishing flies
Author Resource:
Andy Kitchener is a keen fisherman. Managing Director of The Essential FlyThe Essential Trout & Salmon Fly Fishing Fly Company a world-wide manufacturer of salmon flies , trout fishing flies , fly fishing tackle and fly tying materials. Andy Kitchener is never more happy then when fishing or by the water