Martin Joergensen
Steelhead fly
A little difficult
- Do not trim the shank, but leave the surplus to mount in the vise.
- Position the shank so that about 3 centimeters stick out in front of the jaws.
- Cut an 8-10 centimeter piece of wire.
- Thread the wire double through the hook eye and loop around the shank to form a straight wire connection.
- Start wrapping thread on the rear of the shank.
- Lay the doubled wire along the shank and tie down in the full shank length with touching turns and return the thread to the rear of the shank.
- Trim off the excess wire.
- Varnish or glue the thread, wire and shank and let dry.
- Cut a number of 1 centimeter pieces of red yarn – 6-8 pieces should do.
- Tie them in so that they protrude to the rear, distributing them around the shank.
- Pull them back in a bunch and trim them.
- Brush the yarn open and fluffy with stiff brush or a Velcro stick.
- Tie in 8-10 single barbs of red Amherst pheasant, forming a very open collar of “feelers”. These can be fairly long and reach the hook or beyond.
- Tie in the herl right in front of the tail.
- Twist the tying thread and the herl to form a rope, clockwise when seen from above.
- Grab both thread and herl and wrap forward in touching turns. If the rope gets too tight, let it unravel a bit before wrapping on.
- Tie down the herl and trim excess.
- Prepare the brown hackle by removing the fluffy barbs. The barbs should be about the shank length.
- Tie in by the stem, curved side forward and wrap 2-3 times forming a swept back collar.
- Tie down and trim.
- Tie in 8-10 single barbs of tan Amherst pheasant, distributing them around the hackle, forming a very open collar. The barbs should be longer than the hackle.
- Form a head, whip finish and trim.
- Varnish to give a glossy surface.
- Remove the shank from the vise and cut off the part of the shank sticking out under the wire using a pair of side cutting pliers.
sea trout (sea run)
steelhead (sea run)
| Shank | DIY hair pin shank |
| Wire | Red intruder wire |
| Hook | Stinger size 4 |
| Thread | 8/0 black |
| Tail | Red wool yarn |
| Rear collar | Lady Amherst pheasant fibers dyed red |
| Body | 6-8 peacock herl |
| Front hackle | Light brown cock hackle |
| Front collar | Lady Amherst pheasant fibers dyed tan |
