the most popular fly for atlantic salmon
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Season? Water quality?
Those are two important factors; I have favorites for each season, and for what the water is doing in terms of cfm and color.
Having said that, for day in-day out summer season: glitter bear and cutty sark.
You might check out my blog...quite a few salmon flies on it.
Gary
Those are two important factors; I have favorites for each season, and for what the water is doing in terms of cfm and color.
Having said that, for day in-day out summer season: glitter bear and cutty sark.
You might check out my blog...quite a few salmon flies on it.
Gary
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A simple enough question, but the answer(s) [opinions] will depend on a number of factors:
Where you are fishing for Atlantics - Eastern Canada, Iceland, Scotland, Norway, Russia etc
The conditions of the waters when you will be fishing - the high & cold conditions of spring, the lower & warmer levels of summer, or the cooling but thronged waters into the autumn nearer spawning time.
Who is doing the fishing - Canadian, Icelander, Scot, Norwegian, Russian, other etc
Then there are slightly important factors such as confidence in a fly pattern, style of fly, the way that fly is fished, etc.
No simple answer then, and it can be seen that personal preferences will play a huge role (I have never even heard of the two flies mentioned above, but I've only been fishing for Atlantics for 40 years, so what do I know?)
Once you have a couple of thousand opinions from the broad spectrum of Atlantic salmon fishermen from right across the globe, then you may be able to come up with a reasonable guess at "the most popular....."
Mike
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I like bugs and bombers; green machines have worked well for me on the Miramichi and Upsalquitch, also shady lady. Copper killer in fall.
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With all of those VERY important factors Speyducer elucidated, still in all, its likely that people have favorite flies and can answer your question. And you sure will get lots of opinions. I'm assuming that's why you asked.
I think wannafish1 gave a nice simple answer to a nice simple question. Life can be easy or life can be complicated, I guess. Good news is, we get to choose how we go about things. No right or wrong in this instance.
And Mike, it would APPEAR that you fish not in Canada. I'm of course probably wrong since you've been fishing atlantics for 40 years, but here's what a glitter bear and a cutty sark look like. They've fooled more than their fair share of fish (I've done a little about the Cutty on my blog in the last week or so):
I think wannafish1 gave a nice simple answer to a nice simple question. Life can be easy or life can be complicated, I guess. Good news is, we get to choose how we go about things. No right or wrong in this instance.
And Mike, it would APPEAR that you fish not in Canada. I'm of course probably wrong since you've been fishing atlantics for 40 years, but here's what a glitter bear and a cutty sark look like. They've fooled more than their fair share of fish (I've done a little about the Cutty on my blog in the last week or so):
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thats not a cutty ,this is a cutty:chuckle:
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Gary
The Glitter Bear I knew of but the Cutty Sark I wasn't familiar with ( Neither version)
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Nice blog BTW.Glad the Sneaky worked for you and in the size and conditions that Mike Boudreau ahd shown it to work. Love the GP Spey and I'll definately be tying some up . BTW don't hold your horses for the Saranac. it was good for a couple of days or so 2 weeks back but now is blown out as is the Chateauguy . Going to be a week or so before it becomes fisheable again . Tomorrow the season starts here in Quebec and the region I do my LL fishing in had 20+ cm of snow yesterday and the lakes are all still frozen over.
Cheers
The Glitter Bear I knew of but the Cutty Sark I wasn't familiar with ( Neither version)
.Nice blog BTW.Glad the Sneaky worked for you and in the size and conditions that Mike Boudreau ahd shown it to work. Love the GP Spey and I'll definately be tying some up . BTW don't hold your horses for the Saranac. it was good for a couple of days or so 2 weeks back but now is blown out as is the Chateauguy . Going to be a week or so before it becomes fisheable again . Tomorrow the season starts here in Quebec and the region I do my LL fishing in had 20+ cm of snow yesterday and the lakes are all still frozen over.
Cheers
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Nice fly and sorry for hijacking the thread ! Kinda like the Gagné here in Québec .There's 4 all very different versions ,and 2 named for Gagné Pool on the Petite Cascapedia !
I really like black,blue,green,yellow,orange, & silver in the flies I fish here in Eastern N. America.
One thing to keep in mind is timing. If you fish for Atlantics only a few days a year, then make sure you go in primetime when there are lots of "fresh" fish coming in.
For me, the most important factor is presentation.
I can't tell you which are the best flies, but I could give a list of "My" prefered flies for the waters I fish.
I can't help you past North America.
Good luck!
I completely agree with Hitcher.
When the fish are fresh, aggressive, and territorial, I tend to go larger and more gaudy with my dressings. Colors are very dependent upon the waters you are fishing and the lighting conditions.
As the fish begin to settle in after some time in the river. I inevitably go smaller and use more natural tones. Bright colors during this period are usually restricted to small "hot spots" on my dressing.
Two of my favorite scenarios are having hens competing for "redd rights" and males vying for prime positions behind them. Also it can be fun when a "new batch" of fish attempt to invade previously taken waters
A "Rat" variation with plenty of peacock herl and orange accents is my starting pattern on my home river
dave
When the fish are fresh, aggressive, and territorial, I tend to go larger and more gaudy with my dressings. Colors are very dependent upon the waters you are fishing and the lighting conditions.
As the fish begin to settle in after some time in the river. I inevitably go smaller and use more natural tones. Bright colors during this period are usually restricted to small "hot spots" on my dressing.
Two of my favorite scenarios are having hens competing for "redd rights" and males vying for prime positions behind them. Also it can be fun when a "new batch" of fish attempt to invade previously taken waters
A "Rat" variation with plenty of peacock herl and orange accents is my starting pattern on my home river
dave
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For many UK anglers the default setting is a Cascade, but the original Ali's Shrimp is still popular along with the Stoats Tail or Silver Stoat in small sizes for low water & of course the Willie Gunn [either the traditional version or the gold bodied variant] is a very popular dressing, particularly for tube flies; the Munro's Killer is effectively a Willie Gunn but usually dressed on hooks rather than tubes & is a popular & successful pattern.
Recent popular patterns include the Park Shrimp & the Dee Monkey, & the Francis Fly &/or Snaelda is gaining support amongst many anglers as is the Posh Tosh. On Tweed the Eternal Optimist is popular & on the Beauly the Sheila is widely used; many rivers will have their own patterns or variants to take account of relative water clarity & the colour of the river bed etc & this will also often determine the size of fly & amount of dressing used, i.e. a large presence or thin & ethereal.
Regards, Tyke.
Recent popular patterns include the Park Shrimp & the Dee Monkey, & the Francis Fly &/or Snaelda is gaining support amongst many anglers as is the Posh Tosh. On Tweed the Eternal Optimist is popular & on the Beauly the Sheila is widely used; many rivers will have their own patterns or variants to take account of relative water clarity & the colour of the river bed etc & this will also often determine the size of fly & amount of dressing used, i.e. a large presence or thin & ethereal.
Regards, Tyke.
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September on the Matapedia
In doing some research for my first trip for Atlantics (Sept. 2013) I stumbled across this thread and have some questions of my own for those of you who fish eastern Canada.
1) Would I be correct in assuming that September conditions mean low and clear water with a chance of the river being a bit high and off color?
2) Dark flies early and late, and more natural and/or brighter colors at mid-day?
3) Does the size of fly used correspond to what time of day you're using it?
It's very possible that I'm WAAAAY over thinking this (a friend told me he's heard of a successful older angler that uses nothing but rusty rats in one size or another), but I'd appreciate any and all advice offered. I'm trying not to tie up three extra boxes of flies that I don't really need, but that'll probably happen anyway; they're so pretty!
In doing some research for my first trip for Atlantics (Sept. 2013) I stumbled across this thread and have some questions of my own for those of you who fish eastern Canada.
1) Would I be correct in assuming that September conditions mean low and clear water with a chance of the river being a bit high and off color?
2) Dark flies early and late, and more natural and/or brighter colors at mid-day?
3) Does the size of fly used correspond to what time of day you're using it?
It's very possible that I'm WAAAAY over thinking this (a friend told me he's heard of a successful older angler that uses nothing but rusty rats in one size or another), but I'd appreciate any and all advice offered. I'm trying not to tie up three extra boxes of flies that I don't really need, but that'll probably happen anyway; they're so pretty!
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Brian, I have some thoughts on a couple of your questions, particularly the first one...make no assumptions whatsoever about what the river will be like in September. I've seen it, as my friend and guide Renate Bullock calls it, "terrible low" and I've seen it high and way off color. The good news is, this means you get to tie a zillion flies to cover all the bases.
Regarding question #2...ask one more angler that question and you'll get one more opinion. My friend Bob Warren essentially fishes one fly, his Cutty Sark, and he hooks as many, if not more, salmon than anyone I know.
My 2 cents on #3...size of fly more dependent upon water level and speed than time of day. Way.
Your skunk is pretty and nice and dark green...returning it to you tomorrow along with a couple other little goodies.
Gary
Oh, and I forgot something!! My posts early in this thread were made before I developed the Celtic Beauty, absolutely my favorite fly (until the next one, lol) !!
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Regarding question #2...ask one more angler that question and you'll get one more opinion. My friend Bob Warren essentially fishes one fly, his Cutty Sark, and he hooks as many, if not more, salmon than anyone I know.
My 2 cents on #3...size of fly more dependent upon water level and speed than time of day. Way.
Your skunk is pretty and nice and dark green...returning it to you tomorrow along with a couple other little goodies.
Gary
Oh, and I forgot something!! My posts early in this thread were made before I developed the Celtic Beauty, absolutely my favorite fly (until the next one, lol) !!
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Funny joke i heard, or at least i took it as a joke.
"Any fly will work, as long as it's a Jock Scott."
"Any fly will work, as long as it's a Jock Scott."
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I know. I'm a tinkerer, and I'm always fooling around with something, but there's always another project on deck too. The project of the moment gets all my excitement and attention until I'm done with it, and then it's on to the next exciting thing. I'm harboring no illusion that this trip will be one for the record books, but I also don't want to get up there and feel unprepared. Many thanks again Gary for your help.
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Rather than a joke, here is a truism...
Any fly will work.....as long as it's in the water!
The very best of flies, however, for any fly swinger fishing in Eastern Canada/USA, Norway, UK, Ireland, Russia etc is the one he has most confidence in, and therefore, ties onto his leader more often.
I'm sure if we all did a strict swap-around, such that Glitter bears & Celtic Beauties were only used in Scotland, and Stoats tails and Willie Gunns were only used on the Gaspe rivers, and the anglers stuck to using these flies for a season or two without going back to their "ol' faithfuls", then, on average, I don't think the salmon catch rates would alter much.
Mike
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No simple answer then, and it can be seen that personal preferences will play a huge
Wow.....how old does that make a person? I mean, are those 40yrs of experience written down so that you can pass on helpful knowledge to someone that has a question? 40yrs is a lot to forget! Or do you just think it helps jockey for cool points on public forums?
Wow.....how old does that make a person? I mean, are those 40yrs of experience written down so that you can pass on helpful knowledge to someone that has a question? 40yrs is a lot to forget! Or do you just think it helps jockey for cool points on public forums?
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