Alaska Trout Flies Session 3: How To Tie An Articulated Flesh Fly

When salmon spawn out, reaching the end of their life cycle, they still have not completed their full purpose. Salmon spawn and die right? These dead salmon provide nutrients for an entire ecosystem, including trout. Trout in Alaska have a limited feeding period of about six months. They are very opportunistic when it comes to food, and one of the opportunities a trout has to feed on is flesh from dead salmon. As a salmon carcass breaks up in the water, pieces of the rotting flesh float down stream becoming food for other animals, including trout. It sounds gruesome, but it really is not. If you can get a flesh fly in front of a trout, I bet you it will eat it.

Today I will show you how to tie one of my favorite flesh fly patterns. It is the articulated flesh fly. There are many variations to this fly. I try to have a few different kinds of flesh patterns. Which one I use will depend on what salmon species are in the area. Bristol Bay boasts the largest sockeye salmon run on earth, so naturally there are lots of them around. So I will tie the pattern I use when rotting sockeye are around. When Sockeyes enter freshwater both males and females begin to go through a chemical change that takes weeks to play out, but the first sign of change is they begin to turn red. This is the color they will be until the end. So my flesh fly will have a reddish/white piece of bunny strip, some orange marabou, and tan cross cut bunny strip. Let's get started...

Materials List: 1. Gamakatsu BS10 stinger hooks size 2 or 4
                      2. Danvielle's 210 pink thread
                      3. Fish skulls articulated shank 35mm
                      4. Two tone rabbit strip, fleshy pink
                      5. Orange or pink marabou 2 or 3 feathers
                      6. Cream cross-cut rabbit strip
                      7. Flashabou tinsel flash, ice pearl blue or pearl
                      8. DNA's holo flash, shrimp color
                      9. Lead wire .035
                     10. Super glue

                 

1. Run the thread down the hook shank and stop when you are even with the point of the hook. Tie in a tail section of two tone rabbit strip about 2 inches long, and secure in place. Wrap the thread to the eye, add super glue to the shank, wrap the rabbit to the eye and tie in and secure.

2. Tie in a few pieces of flashabou, making sure that it runs down both sides of the fly about the same length as the fly. Secure in place, whip finish, and add head cement or super glue.

3.. Insert the fish skull articulated shank into the eye of the hook. Put the fish skull shank into the vice and wrap the thread to the back and close the gap on the shank making lots of wraps.









4. Tie in a finger full section of DNA's holo flash, halfway down the tail section. Try to tie half on top, then pull the other half to the bottom and wrap, securing it and holding it towards the back of fly.




















4.Tie in the marabou, turn the fly over and tie in another piece of marabou and secure.

4. Flip the fly back over, wrap lead wire almost to the eye of the shank, tie in the cross cut cream colored rabbit, wrap the thread to the front, securing the lead wire, add super glue, and wrap the rabbit to the front and secure with a dozen wraps or so.

5. Tie in a finger full group of DNA's holo flash, try and spread it out on all sides, secure with many wraps to form a nice head, whip finish, and add cement or super glue. All done.