Intruders

[voodoofly]

Hi,

Can anyone share how they tie up an Intruder? I couldn't find anything while searching. I did see Neil's GLs again. A very sweet fly I want to try out this fall.

Thanks in advance,

Gary

[o_clarki_clarki]

Howdy Gary,

I believe the Jack Cook has a step by step on his website (www dot irishangler dot com, if not there, he has a package with detailed instructions on how to tie them as well as the materials needed.

Vinnie

[MJC]

Can anyone share how they tie up an Intruder?

After I get-em cornered with a 12 gauge, 44 mag, and a bright flashlight I like to use plenty of parachute chord so I can really truss them up tight while we wait until the law arrives.

Sorry, I just couldn't help it :lildevl:

[kush]

Here are the instructions for the Intruder - have fun!

The Intruder
by Ed Ward

Hook:

I tie this on a tube - usually 21/2 - 3” long and use a short-Shanked
Partridge Nordic Single Spey #4

Ed uses quite a complicated but ingenious method. The fly itself is tied on a straightened and cut-off 2/0 Mustad 36890 and the trailer hook is a #1 or 2 Diachii 2451. He then ties a loop of 25lb mono 1/4” from the tip of the hook. Tie in oval gold tinsel and take 2 wraps in back of the loop and 1 in front (this flares the loop out).

Rear hackle:

Tie in a long, soft, black hackle and take 3 wraps

Feelers:
Tie in 9 strands of dyed orange ostrich plume on each side of the fly. Tie in dyed orange ringneck pheasant tail and take 3 or 4 turns.

Body:
Tie in a long skinny badger hackle and leave hanging. Tie in burnt orange chenille and wrap forward to within 1/2” of the eye of the hook. Wind the badger hackle forward ending with 3 successive turns at the point at where the chenille ends. Spin a small clump of black deerhair (this flares the front hackle) trim butts flush with the shank. Tie in orange ringneck pheasant tail and take 3 or 4 turns.

Shell:

Tie in 2 cree hackles on each side of the shank for “wings.” Tie in dyed orange guinea hackle and take 4 or 5 turns.

Head:

Tie in a small ball of black chenille. Tie in lead eyes. Whip finish. Cover head with Aquaseal thinned with Cotol.

Tying note 1:

Ringneck pheasant tails are split down the stem with a single-edge razor, so they can be wrapped as a hackle. Soaking the tail for 10 minutes in warm water can aid in the splitting and wrapping process. Now I soak my tails in water with a dollop of hair conditioner in it overnight. Then I start at the top and strip the fibres from each side of the stem - it works great - the conditioner keeps the feather supple enough to wrap even after it is dry.

Tying note 2:

Other species of pheasant tail produce different appearances. Amherst is striking and I have used Silver pheasant.

Tying note 3:

Try any colour combinations you like!

Rigging the Intruder

Ed rigs this like the British “needle-fly.” Pass your leader through the eye of the hook, then through the mono loop, then through a 1/4” long piece of 16 gauge electrical wire from which the wire has been removed. Tie the leader to the hook with a non-slip loop knot. Push the electrical insulation up onto the end of the hookshank and slowly pull on the leader to draw the knot snugly into the other end of the insulation, making everything pulls together with the hook point riding up.

I tie on tubes and it eliminates the complicated rigging, the same could be accomplished on a Waddington shank. Originally Ed tied this on a large regular hook but was unhappy with the holding power as well as the potential for injuring fish and went to his present method.

I think that this is a brilliant pattern. It has a great profile and fantastic movement. As a steelhead pattern it is not a pattern everyone like - almost solely because of its huge size. I have always been partial to big flies for steelhead so it was not tough for me to accept!

I have begun to experiment with various colours and feathers, Ed himself says he rarely ties 2 the same - so have at it!

[kush]

Poppy - I forgot to add - after you do all this then grab a 12 ga. defender - just in case it tries to make a move on you! :eek:

[mattzoid]

Is it intruder time again? I've got the mag with the article somewhere. I put it under my pillow at night when we get closer to fall.

[voodoofly]

Thanks for the info Kush. That's quite the list of material. No wonder I can't figure it out by looking at pictures.

I see I'll need to make a trip to a fly shop and/or make some substitutions.

Are your tubes plastic or metal?

I am thinking of using aluminum.

Thanks,

Gary

[Bee]

You can tie them on cotter keys from the hardware store (come in all weights and lengths, and are easily reshaped to the appropiate shape with a pair of pliers prior to tying)l) and using thread and glue, cinch in a backing material loop in them for the trailing hook. Plastic tubes are very easy to use and the other tubes work too..I found that the tubes and cotter keys are just as effective as the waddington shanks(Jack will shoot me for saying that) , and the tubes are much faster tying ...the materials(rhea feathers) are quite beautiful and the flowing action in the water is attractive. Jacks instructions on the web are also at www.isomedia.com/homes/celestev/ I think...these things are a pain to cast at times...they are effective fish takers though.

[speyman]

Step by step instructions, with photos, are available in the patterns section at www.irishangler.com. Have fun!

[voodoofly]

I've been to your site to look at gear, didn't realize you had a fly section. Great stuff. I'll be getting an order to you soon.

Thanks

Gary

[sva01]

Gary-
Since you'll already be tying you might as well just keep those fingers busy for Jamey and me. We ought to be able to lose a few of those on grocery carts downtown...

[Jamey McLeod]

Gary-
Since you'll already be tying you might as well just keep those fingers busy for Jamey and me. We ought to be able to lose a few of those on grocery carts downtown...


True, and I already have a full box of VooDoo flies. I need to get down there and see that way lower stretch you guys hit last weekend.

[voodoofly]

I have fished the intruders off and on this fall. Mostly I've been fishing Willie Gunns, black GP and black voodoos. My last time through a run (after the posse' left) I had a good solid take on a black intruder. Got a nice buck to the shore, intruder hook planted firmly in corner of mouth (pix will need to be developed). Cooooool. What made this extra special is that a well known spinner thrower and author just fished through the same area 20 minutes before.

BTW, I tied these on 35mm waddingtons.

Gary

[Norseman]

Nicely done....always great to follow up and bang one......good stuff'

[watershed]

Do you look for any particular river conditions before fishing these leviathans? Down on my end of LM we're still in drought conditions, 14 inches below normal last I heard. Just curious on your thoughts about swinging something the size of an small bird in these conditions (low and cleeear!). I'm sure there are tons of opinions on this (dominant males, targeting agressive takers, yada yada) but what are your thoughts. Other opinions are always welcome of course because everyone has one ;) .

[Jamey McLeod]

SVA01 is loving the Intruders right about now, bet he has one on his pillow next to him tonight. Were pretty low in our neck of the woods, but he cleaned up with them tonight. I think water temp is more a priority than water level. There has to be a deep spot some where.

[voodoofly]

for sure SVA01 had one of these tucked away under his pillow last night.

It was reported by a reliable source (if you trust Jamey) that SVA01 actually hooked up and landed some steel swinging a Jamey tube intruder.

I am fishing these in quicker tempo water (at least thigh deep) or deeper slots. I don't have alot of water time with them yet. My tie follows what Jack Cook lists on his web site (with some substitutions).

Gary

[Glen]

if you go to www.irishangler.com and scroll down the page there is step by step instructions for ed ward's intruder

[Peter Terndrup]

Hi;

Anyone who had succes with Intruders for Atlantic Salmon?

It looks as a good fly for seatrout in Argentina. I will tie up some and try them down there in febuary.

[Neil]

Hi Peter.
Toni just arrived from Finland this afternoon.
He will be taking a few boxes back home with him to try out on the Atlantics,I'm sure!!!
Check it out with him later.
Speyladdie :smokin:

[Jamey McLeod]

I have hit Lake Run Browns here in west MI on flies very similar to intruders back in the day before I knew what an actual "Intruder" was. I don't know the habits of Salar, or salty Trutta, but the Seeforellen strain that runs from Lake MI really like dark buggy looking flies on the swing.

[beau purvis]

I caught Atlanics on intruders last june on Kharlovka up to24 lbs.I also had good luck with a Skagit minow[very intruder like+ articulated and long].I also caught searun browns to 21lb with string leach intuders on Rio Grande last march.Beau

[David Dornblaser]

I have hit Lake Run Browns here in west MI on flies very similar to intruders back in the day before I knew what an actual "Intruder" was. I don't know the habits of Salar, or salty Trutta, but the Seeforellen strain that runs from Lake MI really like dark buggy looking flies on the swing.

Jamey,

Funny how the other side of the Lake is different. I, few others, often use white flies for Browns in WI.

David

[beau purvis]

BTW,for the purists out there,I also hooked Atlantics on Solduc speys tied on Alec Jackson gold hooks and a 20 lb hen searun brown on a Alec Jackson 3/0 hook tied in a very classic way[DecHogan pattern]in olive.I love classic styles ofGlasso,McNeese,Veverka,Garret,Burden.However,lik e Kush,I have always been attarcted to large flies.I dont like the leverage aspect of large flies when fighting fish or the possible injury aspects.therefore, I have gravitated towards setups that place a smaller ,better hook farther back towards the tail of the fly.Beau

[Rambo]

Hey Beau
Do you happen to have any picts of this Skagit minnow. I would love to see one if you have one.
Thanks
Rambo

[ChromeFever]

I fish mostly WI and MI rivers and find that my favorite colors are black, white and chartreuse. The two flies that I use 95% of the time are intruders and skagit minnows. All tied on tubes or two piece flies consisting of a tube fly and a regular style fly tied on behind the tube. I dont seem to have any problem getting salmon, lake run browns or steelhead to cooperate. Black is my all time favorite color except for browns. Then I go to Chartreuse or chartreuse and white. I have been tinkering with a sculpin style skagit minnow pattern that consists of the two piece system. Seems to be pretty promising so far. For steelhead it seems that black, orange and pink seem to be the colors that these fish prefer. I just have a really hard time throwing a pink 6 inch intruder! :confused: :Eyecrazy: :roll: But thats just me!

[beau purvis]

I am under impression that Mike Kinneys skagit minow is an Umpqua pattern.However,I can not find it listed on their website.her are a couple of pictures.obviosly the minnow is the black.the other is one of many intruder posibilities.Beau

[beau purvis]

dont know what happened to pictures.tried twice?

[sinktip]

Beau,

If you like, e-mail them to me at sinktip@speypages.com and I will put them up for you.

Duggan

[Mark Vegwert]

ww.theflyshop.com/33.htm

[crobarr]

my first attempt at tying an intruder. had to substitute materials, but i think it looks ok.

[speyman]

I think that one looks very good.

For those interested in trying one they aren't as hard as you think.
Step by step instructions are available on my web site, www.irishangler.com, in the patterns section.

[JDJones]

You can tie them on cotter keys from the hardware store (come in all weights and lengths, and are easily reshaped to the appropiate shape with a pair of pliers prior to tying)l) and using thread and glue, cinch in a backing material loop in them for the trailing hook. Plastic tubes are very easy to use and the other tubes work too..I found that the tubes and cotter keys are just as effective as the waddington shanks(Jack will shoot me for saying that) , and the tubes are much faster tying ...the materials(rhea feathers) are quite beautiful and the flowing action in the water is attractive. Jacks instructions on the web are also at www.isomedia.com/homes/celestev/ I think...these things are a pain to cast at times...they are effective fish takers though.

I have a question about tying on cotter pins. A cotter pin is made of half round wire, flat on the inside. I have tried tying intruders on roller pins, which are huge oversize hair pins. The problem is, these things are made of flat wire. No matter how I tie it to the tippet, it will cut through the leader after a dozen or so casts. I am left with the knot intact but the leader having what looks like a "Y" at the end. So how well do cotter pins do in that respect?

[crobarr]

use the little soldered metal rings. slip it onto the cotter pin before you tie the fly. maximum movement without a loops knot. better than split rings imho, but they will work too. i also know a guy who uses swivels for the same purpose. not traditional by a long shot, but very effective.

[watershed]

After following this string and visiting your site, I noticed you carry kits to tie up intruders. I've never tied them or fished them for that matter, but I'm intrigued. I fish Lake Michigan for steelhead and it seems from the posts on this forum that intruders will work here on my home waters. What size intruders will the kit tie up? Great Lakes guys what size(s) do you recommend?

[speyman]

Out here we usually use 35mm shanks for 5 inch flies but they look just as good on 25mm, 20mm or 15mm if you need something smaller. Just specify in the message section which size you are looking for.

[voodoofly]

had more hookups this weekend. the Intruders i'm tying are on the 35mm waddingtons. the fly measures a true 4" long. it's pretty much what jack has on his site. thanks jack!

btw, and fwiw, why use cotter pins?? that's pretty ghetto. give poppy a call and he will set you up with some waddingtons.

do it right!

gary

[David Dornblaser]

So what are you boys doing over in W MI? It sounds like you are slaying them with the intruders. Since the rivers on the other side of the Lake are very low, I may have to take Jamey up on his offer for us to go fishing together. :smokin:

David

[Bee]

ghetto? I like to think of it as innovative. Perhaps inexpensive. Believe me, Poppy understands INEXPENSIVE.... :>). What ever happened to the american way:"if you can build a better mousetrap cheaper , you win" ??? ALL in jest fellas. Hey JD: have found some round cottter keys..shoot me and address by pm and I will send you some, although they are proabbaly not different than the half round ones you describe.....for the leader tie in I have done much experimentation...the swivels are available in super small sizes from kmart(ghetto) and the small metal rings work too but I think the intruders can "spin" sometimes and the swivels help there to avoid leader twist..I try to work in the ring or swivel by tying it in to the the same material I use to attach the stinger hook(ie, twisted flat mono or gelspun backing material) and positioning it on the shank so you have the front leader tie in square centered on the front of the tyed fly to avoid twist...most of the small swivel and small rings will not go over (read"fit") the diameter of the metal diameter in the cotter keys(waddington shanks have same problem ). I ask my sources in BC if the additon of the swivel took this thing from the fly category to the lure category on fly only streams..I was assured it did not but you can do your own legal analysis here on that one...

[wrx_canoe]

Everyone speaks of Intruders being largish size flies. Curious if anyone has tried tying mini-intruders. That is, total length being less than 2".

The Intruders I have tied are about 3.5" and I love the movement...and given my most recent steelhead hit a size 7 fly I think the mini-intruder might be deadly.

Anyone have experiences?

Thanks,
Preston

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SpeyPages Contributer

[Jamey McLeod]

my first attempt at tying an intruder. had to substitute materials, but i think it looks ok.


The pic looks great! I tie the eyes on the bottom of that shank then build a small head with 5min epoxy. They seem to track true. Not saying yours don't, I never tied them with the eyes on top, but it seems like they would roll, or want to.

[crobarr]

well.... so far i've only tied up that 1 intruder that is pictured. i gave it a fling yesterday just to see how it looked in the water. i tied dirrectly to the eye with a uni knot and it seemed to track just fine, but i was wondering if the eyes on the bottom might be better, especially in faster flows. speaking of the eyes... i was thinking about just using bead chain. i use sink tips, and they get the flies down just fine on the river i fish most often. a little less weight on the fly to pick up would be a bennefit to me just learning to whip the water to a froth with a spey rod i would think :D .

while i'm rambling on here, i just gotta say WOW!!! after throwing the intruder yesterday, i decided to tie on a cone head "pixies revenge" marabou fly (there where only salmon in the river). i had no idea just how hard i had been working to get those flies out of the water. the intruder seemed to have the same "presence" in the water, but it's about 10x eisier to lift it out on the cast. this may seem odd to those of you throwing 9/10 spey rods, but it's a world of difference with my 7/8 using a 6/7/8 windcutter. does anyone have other patterns that "fish big" but cast well?

[Jamey McLeod]

I use ball chain eyes that each ball is about the size of a pea. Got some black ones form somewhere, can't rememeber now. I bit of epoxy and it makes a really good head. I also use small lead ones on some of them, but the ball chain eyed ones cast easier.

I don't think I have ever tied two exaclty the same, little differences here and there.