Tuesday 18 June 2013

Salmon Flies, From Old To The New.

 Here is a selection of salmon flies going from the oldest at the top of the picture to the most modern at the bottom. The older flies were very large and tied on big single hooks then it moved on to the tube patterns which were tied on either copper, aluminium, brass or as in the picture plastic tubes, Then came the treble or double hook shrimp versions and on to the Possum cascade patterns and finally we have my modern size 15 double salar switchfly patterns which i now catch most of my salmon on.
                                               The large salmon fly is bigger than any 28gr Toby.
                                          Plastic Tubes are great when used on a sinking line.
                                          Possum Flies have the most life of any salmon fly.
And in the last picture we have my Switchfly salmon flies which catch most of my fish. Some of the bigger salmon that i caught last year fell to these patterns in size 15 salar doubles and once the fly went in there was never any issue with hook strenght or holding capacity. To think that they were using such large patterns years ago and successfully catching salmon and now we are using small shrimp flies or tubes to catch them makes me wonder whether the salmons diet has changed or the food that it is feeding on at sea is now smaller.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Paul, What sizes of PAUL'S FAVOURITE POSSUM would you use usually? Rgds Arek

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  2. I think larger flies were successful because that's what's was used plus a lot more fish in the rivers = a lot more takers .i know of one angler who uses very large singles all year round and gets his share of fish even in low water ! Salmon's diet hasn't changed I don't think but what we offer them has in smaller flies etc ,we use cascades in smaller sizes because there popular and have taken a lot of fish so we use them above all else ,In Russia larger flies are commonly used ,I don't think the salmon knows want size he is,I often thought to give larger flies more use in summer .....thoughts ?

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    1. It pays to chop and change fly size and colour when fishing in summer, i still catch most of my salmon on small flies and still use them in early season for springers, the video i made a few years ago when my buddy and me caught twenty springers in two days i was using a size 14 Ahilles hot orange shrimp fly and that accounted for all my salmon on the fly, even one of the biggest salmon caught in Russia was caught on a size 12 green highlander. I think it boils down to your confidence, if your fly has caught salmon on a regular basis then you fish better and end result you get salmon.

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  3. Convince also as larger flies fish lower in heavier water although I have taken springers on small 14 flies in heavy deep water

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    Replies
    1. True, but with sinking lines and sink tips the smaller flies have more life and move around quite a bit in the boils and eddies and that can spark aggressive takes. At the moment i am trying out some new colours on small hooks and getting results so by end of season i should have some new successful patterns to show on the blog.

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