Salmon/ Lake Run Trout Flies

i love the "popsicle" type flies for kings, like ive said before chucking a popsicle fly at a king till he snaps at it is alot of fun. I plan on sometime next week tying up a few big and obnoxious creations. but with flies i always say its not how good it looks, its how effective it is.

wow- we gots a comidian. iI expected dt to post this so now you gotta tell him sorry.

i was sure db would have loaded about 1000 of his flies up here by now. 

As far as being a comedian-no. I just get obnoxious sometimes after a few beers (sometimes don't even need the beers), mostly tied to moon phases.

very nice

    Back in the bad old days sometimes I didnt use any fly at all- Just the hook. Completley cut out all the time wasted tying stuff.
    In the snaggin areas upriver it was actually legal then.

Steelhead are rainbows, and bows respond well to flash alot  of the time. There's flies used on the west coast that are nothing but estaz and they are very effective. I've fished lots of spring creeks and very clear stillwater in Northern California and watched big bows respond to flies like chartreuse bunnies and estaz nymphs. I've also observed this liking for striking at flash reduces as the water temps drop and their metabolism does the same. I noticed on really cold days in the SR, the  caddis pupae that are small and sparse work the best.They work other times, too.  I'm still trying to figure out how many  of mine are flossed , and how many are eating the larvae. The caddis and midge pupae  population in the river is off the charts. All that bio-mass from the dead sharks has made the insect life as good as any river I've seen. With light, long  tippet and a small fly, the steel won't move much out of the way if they suspect a bogus offering. Much easier to snag or floss. I've watched steelies eating midge emergers and watched them actively eating nymphs. Still, flossing is happening. I've gone to shorter tippet and using indicators that are set for depth and let the fly hang nearly straight as the current will allow. More work, but I'm trying to be honest.That doesn't mean I won't C and D on a  zero day in Jan. I want to catch fish, not just frig around.  I also got some good fish on red San Juan worms, kinda like the flesh worms found on the rotting carcasses. My best fly so far, by far, has been a pink piece of chenille yarn coated with Aquaseal on a size 6 heavy nymph hook with a couple of turns of pink estaz up front. The Aquaseal makes it just as wiggly as the pink worms the CPer's do so well with. That fly certainly falls under the attack and eat mode; nothing natural looking about it. I'll put some flies up soon. Be worth a laugh at least.
 
Charlie

What do you guys find the Hos hitting and does it change as the season progresses?

I imagine sameapplies for them in winter for the most part bright patterns; even not so big... remember at that time between late salmon, browns and steelhead (skamania); eggs are floating around... I personally have never targetted the super late hoes myself; I prefer to leave them alone... but i'll take one it strikes...

About ten years ago I had a mid teens hoe slammo my estaz fly at the end of my drift on the deep side of the boss hole... the fish more or less broke water on it.... 1000+ cfs and 5 lb test lasted about 5 minutes until snap off... it was a beautiful fish; but definitely the one that got away...

Wrapping estaz around a hook does not a fly make my book in db, sorry.
Post pics. peoples!
Fitchy- the char. bunny sounds good. I got green any yellow char. ready to wrap.

Drake- those flies are no things of beauty. Just quick stuff.

I guess so. When I make estaz flies I don't even use thread- just crazy glue on the shank and wrap a couple times.

DB- a simple dubbing nymph, if the right color like light Hare's ear will rock the house on lots of days places I fish, esp. if picked out to look buggy.

oops too small...

heres a pretty one that is pretty simple...