Bodkin / Patterns

Frances

Salmon/Steelhead · Salmon · Steelhead · Intermediate · 1 version

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Salmon single/double, 4-12
  • Thread Red or black 8/0

Materials

  • Feelers Boar bristles or stripped hackle stems (3-4, long)
  • Body Red or black chenille/dubbing, carrot taper (cone-shaped)
  • Rib Oval tinsel (spiral)
  • Hackle To match body, palmered rear (sparse)

How to tie it

  1. Mount the salmon hook and start red or black thread at the rear.
  2. Tie in 3-4 long boar bristles or stripped hackle stems as feelers, sweeping back well past the bend. Long and mobile is the key.
  3. Build a carrot-shaped body of chenille or dubbing, thin over the bend and thickening steeply toward the head into a cone.
  4. Before the body, catch in oval tinsel and spiral it forward in open turns as a rib.
  5. Tie in a matching hackle at the rear of the body and palmer it sparse and back-swept.
  6. Build the thick shoulder at the front, whip finish and varnish.

Tying videos

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