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Fly Fishing Guide Service- Killer Fly Patterns!

What you need to catch fish...

Hot Fly Recipes

One of many well stocked boxes ready for battle...

Cotton Candy 'Truder

Back Section

  • Large Senyo Hookshank
  • Sanyo Light Intruder Wire
  • Black 3/0 Thread
  • Hot Pink/Yellow Tarantula Leg Brush
  • Pink Craft Fur
  • White Barred Lady Amherst Fiber Hackle Loop
  • Pink Guinea Fowl

Pearl Flash wrapped up hookshank for thorax

Front Section

  • Hot Pink/Yellow Tarantula Leg Brush

  • Barred Orange Saddle Hackle Feathers (2)
  • Pink Craft Fur
  • Strands of Pearl Flash
  • Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Pink Guinea Fowl
  • Bead Chain Eyes

Notes: Tie materials facing forward, then fold back over the fly to create a good profile. This pattern is especially effective on early run fish in slower water. I like to fish it on an intermediate tip or light (light MOW or a type 3) sink tip. This is also a great pattern in west coast rivers for steelhead and literally any salmon species that swims. Overall Length 3-4.5 inches.

Tied by Daren Niemi

Midnight Intruder

Back Section

  • Black Pro Tube
  • Blue Arctic Fox Fur
  • Black Hackle
  • Red Guinea Fowl
  • White Lady Amherst Fiber Hackle Loop
  • Blue Guinea Fowl
  • Tie off

Front Section

  • Black Arctic Fox Fur
  • Blue Guinea Fowl
  • Red Guinea Fowl
  • Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Glue and Tie Off
  • Black Tube Cone
  • Burn Tube End

Notes: When tying in Lady Amherst Fibers, spin them in a dubbing loop. Be careful because the fibers will try to marry. This pattern is a cold water pattern to be fished deep and slow. You can add a bullet weight to the leader if you believe you are not penetrating deep enough. Overall Length 3-4.5 inches.

Tied by Daren Niemi

Pot Bellied Pig

Back Section 

  • Black Pro Tube Mini

  • Bullet Tube Weight
  • Black Arctic Fox Fur (Guard Hairs Left In)
  • Black Hackle
  • Blue Pearl Flash

Blue Dubbing Thorax wrapped with silver wire

Front Section

  • Blue Pearl Flash
  • Blue Hackle
  • Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Glue and Tie Off
  • Orange Cone and Burn Tube End

Notes: This is a favorite pattern of Fly Tyer Stu Foxall. To quote him, "you can never have enough in your box." Simply put this pattern catches pretty much every fish that swims in any sort of water any season of the year. So we use it too. Overall Length 2 inches. In colored water, stack two together and you got a big nasty intruder.

Tied by Daren Niemi

Purple Skunk 

  • Medium Senyo Hookshank

  • Light Senyo Intruder Wire
  • Green Dubbing Ball
  • Purple and Pink Hackle
  • Purple Dubbing Body
  • Spin Hackle Feathers Forward
  • Purple Fin Raccoon
  • Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Glue and Tie Off

Notes: Great pattern for fall steelhead. Once the fly soaks, it will sink on its own so it can be swung in slow water on a floating line and long leader or with a sink tip in faster water. Overall Length 3 Inches.

Tied by Daren Niemi

Autumn's Glory 

  • Medium Senyo Hookshank

  • Light Intruder Wire
  • Yellow Fin Raccoon
  • Orange Barred Hackle
  • Peacock Hearl Body
  • Spin Hackle Forward
  • Orange Arctic Fox Fur
  • Yellow Fin Raccoon Fur
  • Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Black and White Guinea Fowl
  • Glue and Tie Off

Notes: Another pattern to be fished near the surface. Fish this pattern when the leaves are falling. Overall Length 3 Inches

Tied by Daren Niemi

Egg Sucking Shiner

  • White Pro Tube

  • Pro Tube Bullet Weight
  • White Cactus Chenille
  • White Craft Fur
  • White Hackle
  • Rainbow Pearl Flash
  • Orange UV dubbing
  • Glue and Tie Off

Notes: This is a must have pattern for early fall. It fishes well in the lower reaches and estuary where there is not much current. It can be stripped in slow pools or at river mouths as well. Overall Length 3.5-4 Inches. 

Tied by Daren Niemi

Purple Bunny Leach

  • Partridge Salmon Hook #2

  • Purple Bunny Strip
  • Orange UV dubbing body
  • Pink Guinea Fowl

Notes: This Fly is easy to tie and a standard for steelhead and salmon boxes. Anywhere steelhead swim, they will eat this. Overall Length 2.5-3.5 Inches. 

Tied by Daren Niemi

The Flash

  • Small, Medium, or Large Senyo Hookshank
  • Light Intruder Wire
  • Rainbow Flash
  • Hot Pink/Yellow Tarantula Leg Brush
  • Green Mallard Flank
  • Blue Arctic Fox Fur
  • Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Orange UV dubbing head

Notes: Steelhead love this pattern. It works especially well during the spring smolt stocking period. It is also a one of the best flies for Alaskan Silvers in clear water and has taken its fair share of stout Alaskan Trout as well. May be tied with weighted eyes as well. Overall Length 3-5 Inches.

Tied By Daren Niemi

Did I mention steelhead love this pattern?

Copper Stopper

  • Small, Medium, or Large Senyo Hookshank
  • Light Intruder Wire
  • Copper Flash
  • Brown Tarantula Leg Brush
  • Black and White Guinea Fowl
  • May be tied with Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Orange UV dubbing head 

Notes: Good pattern for mid-late fall once fish have settled in. It works well in and around boulder fields due to the sculpin-like profile when wet. It's a good go to for lake run browns and a consistent smallmouth producer as well. 

Tied by Daren Niemi

Blackbeard's Ghost

  •  Daiichi 2421 Size 12 Salmon Hook
  • Golden Pheasant Nape Feather tail
  • Peacock Hearl rump
  • Gold Wire wrapped body
  • Orange UV Dubbing Ball throat
  • Black Deer Hair for wings and clipped to form head

Notes: The muddler is one of if not the most overlooked streamer for Great Lakes steelhead. Long a standard for summer run fish on the west coast, the muddler is a staple for western anglers. Though our streams lack summer run fish, our first runs of the year returning anywhere from mid September through mid October can be fished exactly like western summer runs. With the water generally low and clear, it's the perfect time to swing smaller streamers on floating lines with long leaders. Once soaked this sparser tied muddler rides in the middle of the water column, and the smaller size allows for fishing through shallow pocket water otherwise unsuitable for for swinging streamers without fear of catching too many snags. Overall Length 1-1.5 Inches.

Tied by Daren Niemi

Pumking

  • Senyo hookshank, small or medium
  • Light intruder wire
  • Peach cactus chenille
  • Polar chenille pearl large
  • Olive craftfur
  • Gold flash
  • Black craftfur
  • Two tone burnt yellow and black spun rabbit fur head
  • Weighted eyes

Notes: Can be tied with jungle cock swords along with the weighted eyes. When tying, tie the palmer chenille in first, then the peach cactus chenille. Wrap the peach chenille up the shank, then use the palmer chenille like hackle. Great all around pattern. Olive and black. Can't go wrong. Overall length: 3-4 inches.

Tied by Daren Niemi

Olive Caddis Spey

  • Size 2-8 Partridge Salmon Hook
  • Olive Thread
  • Gold wire
  • Black UV dubbing
  • Olive Polar Chenille
  • Yellow Mallard Flank
  • Turkey Quill Fibers
  • Jungle Cock Eyes

Note: Like Muddlers, traditional steelhead patterns have their place in Great Lakes Anglers' boxes. In early to mid fall as water levels are generally low, often times deeper water where fish hold has little to no current. This pattern allows an angler to fish those deeper, slower areas. When fishing this pattern, the heavy traditional hook allows the fly to sink well, even on a floating line, making it a good pattern to swing through slower tailouts where a sinktip will result in too many hangups.

Tied by Daren Niemi

This pattern is a Catt Killer!

Chromer from the Grand in February on the Hangover!

Whiskey Hangover

  • Large Hookshank

  • Light Intruder Wire
  • Pearl Polar Chenille
  • Peach Cactus Chenille
  • Pink Craft Fur
  • Blue Craft Fur
  • Rainbow Flash
  • Black Craft Fur
  • Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Black & Hot Orange over Yellow Spun Rabbit Fur Collar
  • Weighted Eyes

Note: This is probably the best fly in my arsenal, and is another great cold water or stained conditions pattern. It also always seems to take fish on the Catt, and is almost always the first fly I tie in the morning when fishing her. The fly finishes out around 4-5 Inches so it has a good profile with enough color and undulation to entice even the most sluggish fish to bite. Plus the weighted eyes help it sink in a hurry so it can be fished effectively through heavy or deep water, exactly the conditions winter steelheading often presents. Expect most grabs just as the swing begins to straighten below.

The pattern can also be tied in a muted color variation. This color scheme is tied without the pink craft fur and with a black over burnt orange spun rabbit fur collar instead of black and hot orange over yellow. This variation produces much better in the Ohio tributaries.

Tied by Daren Niemi 

Check out the Ohio Tribs Color Scheme below:

The Spawn-Truder

  • Partridge Size 2/0 Salmon Iron cut before tied
  • Light Intruder Wire
  • Orange Marabou
  • Pucci 8mm Orange Pearl Beads x3
  • Grizzly Hackle Feather
  • Peacock Sword Fibers
  • Rainbow Flash
  • Orange Ice Dub
  • Chartreuse Ice Dub
  • Bead-chain Eyes

Note: This is a tricky fly to tie. You must first tie on the intruder wire, glue or whip finish and cut the thread, then cut the hook above the bend. Slide on the 3 beads over the wire and onto the cut shank. The beads will not fit over the hook bend. Once on the shank, the beads will slide up to the eye of the hook and allow you to tie in the marabou tail and glue and cut the thread again. Slide the beads back to the tail while the glue is still wet, so the last bead is glued in place and will not slide off during casting. Then tie in the front half.

This is an incredibly effective early season fly. It is responsible for taking back to back steelhead in back to back casts on the Catt, along with countless fish all across the GL region. The high-viz colors are perfect for fishing when the water is a bit high and stained, and the weighted eyes and bead body really helps it sink so it can be fished on a floating line with a long leader. It is also a killer Alaskan Trout and Silver fly. Finished length is 3.5-5 Inches.

Tied by Daren Niemi 

Starry Night

  • Medium - Large Hookshank

  • Light Intruder Wire
  • Purple EP Brush Fiber Tail
  • Copper Wire
  • Purple Diamond Braid
  • Purple EP Brush Fibers spun in dubbing loop
  • Purple Pearl Crinkle Flash
  • Black Saltwater Hackle
  • Jungle Cock Swords

Note: This pattern has been very effective for steelhead in the Great Lakes and both steelhead and salmon on the Pacific Coast. The sparse body makes casting easy and it sinks well even without added weight. Plus it is a relatively quick fly to tie. Catches fish, looks nice, and is quick on the vice makes it a solid guide fly. Finished length is about 3.5-4 Inches.

Tied by Daren Niemi 

Black Egg Sucking Bugger Tube

  • Black nanotube
  • Black Arctic Fox with guard hairs
  • Pearl Crinkle Flash
  • Black Saltwater Hackle
  • Black Cactus Chenille
  • Jungle Cock Eyes
  • Orange, Pink, Chartreuse, or Red Cone

Note: Pretty much everyone has fished the good old egg sucking leach woolly bugger. And rightly so, they catch lots of fish. The problem with most woolly buggers is that the hook gets dull, bent, the fly gets snagged and lost, or the material gets so destroyed by fish teeth once a few fish have been hooked. All of this can be avoided by tying the pattern on a tube and fishing the hook back from the fly using a loop knot. This way you can change out the hook as needed, use a lighter wire stinger that bends out easier than sturdy streamer hooks, and the fish teeth stay away from the actual fly. Plus I like to tie them a little larger for swinging and this way I can fish it with a smaller hook that increases hooked to landed percentage. Finished length is between 2.5 and 3.5 inches. 

Tied by Daren Niemi

Though we focus on swinging, when targeting browns specifically or when conditions call for other approaches we also carry boxes and boxes of egg patterns, beads, and nymphs. I guess you could say they work... 

Buggers and Bunnys are great crossovers that can be swung or fished under an indicator. They constantly produce. Seems like olive is a theme...

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