No doubt, there are many effective ways to fish for steelhead; fly-fishing is but one and no better or no worse than any other. However, to those that choose to fish with flies, swinging for these hallowed creatures may be the panacea of experiences.

While I teach techniques in addition to the wet fly swing, I have "gone back" to fishing "that way" in exclusion to all others when I have time to myself. As Dec Hogan once explained, and I loosely paraphrase, to feel the fly and the current against it as I fish the water is the experience to which I choose to commit my energy. For sure, the exhilaration of a steelhead taking the fly is awesome-but the entire package is fitting enough. It is hard to explain unless you have the same affliction. It's not about you, or what you may think of me. No, it is solely about what makes me giggle inside. The water, the cast, the swing, the fly, the fish-in that order. Period.

Swinging flies for steelhead is different, very much different, than fishing streamers for resident trout. A swung fly depends entirely on the tension of the line against the current to make the fly come alive enticingly enough to make a fish come to it, track it, and hopefully take it. Conventional streamer patterns are often designed to be stripped and twitched, not swung. In addition, I do not feel the need to imitate anything with my swung flies as it is a reaction bite that I am seeking. These two characteristics change the way I go about selecting or creating a fly to swing.

This tutorial shows the steps I take to tie one of my more successful patterns-the Richland Skunk. The recipe is obviously based on the traditional Skunk pattern of the Pacific Northwest. In my research, I cannot find any indication of the originator to credit the pattern to. The tried and true hair wing skunk works just fine on the waters I fish, especially in the summer, however when winter sets in I prefer a pattern which is much larger and more active in order to interest the lethargic fish. The framework I depict was shown to me by one of the finest spey casters and steelhead anglers on New York's Salmon River-Zack Brooks. Utilizing a traditional hook allows for a sturdy tying platform. The rear mono loop, a la Ed Ward, mimics the rigging of a Waddington shank so we can use a smaller stinger hook. The stinger hook will penetrate better and since it is not fixed to the shank, the fish gain no leverage. Tying the stinger directly to the tippet, which runs though the loop eye and rear mono loop, allows us to change hooks easier than if it were looped to a piece of braid affixed to the shank. It's like having a tube fly, but tying on a regular hook. A small piece of junction tubing over the exposed shank stub will secure the hook to the shank.

My choice of materials and design of this fly incorporates the size and action I wish to see in my flies. Light, active fibers supported away from the shank by a firm body hackle keeps them alive while under tension. I feel that support body hackles are one of the singularly most important features of a large steelhead pattern. The color scheme of the skunk has been proven over decades-so why mess with success!? Swing away!

MATERIALS

Hook: Up-eye salmon hook (shank only)

Thread: black 8/0

Tail: fire orange marabou under fine black saddle hackle tips

Flash: rainbow mosaic

Loop: 25#-40# Monofilament

Rib: medium copper wire

Body: black trilobal hackle under black saddle

Collar: black saddle under black marabou

Throat: black ostrich (or rhea)

Wing: white marabou under white saddle hackle tips

Place hook firmly in your vise.

Attach black thread just behind the loop return and run it back to a spot even with the point.

Select a fire orange marabou blood quill. I use this color in tannin stained waters like the Salmon River; I'd use traditional red in freestone or glacial waters. Separate the center stem from the barbs in an amount at least equal to the length of the shank.

Remove that section os stem. This will ensure maximum movement of the tail as the stem would cause the tail to be stiffer than desired.

You can see how we are left with supple marabou barbs to form our tail.

Gather the barbs in a bunch and secure them to the shank with some tight wraps of thread.

Cut the excess marabou well short of the eye...

...and secure the butt ends to the shank. By precutting the ends we prevent crowding the hook eye or building a unpleasantly bulky head.

Find your rainbow mosaic flash (or whichever flash you desire).

Select 3 or 4 strands (I try to select a myriad of colors). Secure then at the base of the tail so the tips are about 1.5 times the length of the tail.

Bind them part way up the shank.

Fold the excess across the shank and to the rear on the far side of the tail.

Bind the excess back to the base of the tail.

Trim the far side to equal the near side.

Select some stout monofilament.

Advance the thread to the end of the return loop.

Bind a short section of the mono along the top of the shank from the return back to the base of the tail.

Fold the mono forward creating a small loop, begin securing the tag end of the mono back to the front.

After several wraps, push the loop forward to make it stand up a bit, this will make rigging easier.

Clip the excess mono even with the return

Secure it fully to the shank with many tight thread wraps.

Select two very thin and straight black saddle hackles.

Measure the tips to be about as long as the flash.

Expose the stems at that point.

Clip off the bases.

Tie one tip on the near side of the tail.

Tie the other on the far side. I do not tend to care if they roll a bit when being secured. If you do then flatten the stems with a pliers before securing.

Find some medium copper wire amidst your messy bench.

Secure a section to the near side of the hook. Advance the thread forward to the 1/3 position of the shank.

Tie in a section of Trilobal Hackle (or Palmer Chenille).

Locate a long, stiff black saddle hackle whose barbs are about at long as the synthetic hackle.

Prepare it by exposing the stem and removing the base.

Tie it in just in front of the fake hackle.

Pull both forward.

Take the thread to the rear.

Wrap the fake hackle back to the thread in an open spiral, pulling the fibers forward every few turns.

Secure at the rear with 3 thread wraps.

Pull the fake hackle back...

...and make a wrap of real hackle in front of it.

Then reverse palmer the real hackle through the fake hackle. This body will act to support the hackle/marabou collar so they do no collapse against the shank while swimming-this will allow the hydraulics to move each fiber of the collar. Secure with 3 thread wraps and cut the excess.

Advance the thread forward through the body. This will strengthen the body.

Pull of the fibers to the rear and make a few thread wraps to build a solid shoulder.

Rib with the copper wire to add more strength.

Secure and trim.

Find a black saddle hackle with very long barbs-schlappen is great!

Prepare as with the body saddle.

Tie in just in front of the body.

Be sure all the body fibers are pulled out of the way...

and make 3 to 4 wraps of the collar saddle. Each turn in front of the previous.

Secure and trim.

Dig out that black Ostrich (or even better-Rhea) feather and select a bunch of feathery barbs.

Invert the hook and tie them in as a throat so that the fibers are as long as the tail flash.

Remove the excess after securing with 3 wraps.

Put the hook back to it's upright position.

Find a black blood quill marabou feather and remove the tip and strip off the base fibers.

Tie it in by the tip stub just ahead of the collar saddle.

Wrap the marabou as you did the saddle, pulling the fibers to the rear as needed. It will look horrendous-just hang in there! Try to get 3 good wraps, one in front of the previous.

Secure and trim the excess.

Pull it all back and wrap back on it a bit with thread. Try to get it all up against that stiff shoulder we built.

Tie in 3 strands of flash on the near side top.

Fold across and back down the far side top.

Select a white marabou blood. Section off the tip quill in an amount equal to the length of the fly from head to end of marabou tail.

Remove it-this will keep your wind soft and lively.

See!

Gather the marabou into a bunch and secure on top with a few thread wraps.

Clip the excess (you will want to hold the marabou wing as you clip the excess).

Select two wide white saddle hackles and measure to be just a bit longer than the marabou wing.

Prepare as we did with the other saddles.

Tie them in, one on each side of the marabou. I usually tie them in together with three wraps and then pull each one down a bit on it's respective side.

Begin to build a neat little head.

Get the black fake hackle again and secure it just ahead of the wing.

Make one turn, secure and trim.

Pull it all back and build a small, tight head. Whip finish and cement.

With wire cutters, remove the hook bend, leaving a short stub of exposed shank to affix the junction tubing. You are left with a very deadly winter steelhead pattern!

To rig this style fly...

Feed the tippet through the front and back loop, slide on your junction tubing and tie on your hook.

Slide the tubing onto the exposed hook shank where it will tighten the tippet against the shank.

Slide the knot at the hook into the other end of the tubing and orient the hook point as desired. You can tailor the length of the juntion tube to seat the hook as far rearward as you like.