Bodkin / Patterns

Golden Girl

Streamer · Salmon/Steelhead · Steelhead · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook 3x long streamer or heavy steelhead hook, #2/0-8 (size 6 tied in the video)
  • Thread Black 140 denier

Materials

  • Hackle fibers Orange hackle fibers (A small bunch for the tail, the same again for the throat)
  • Flat tinsel Gold (holographic mylar used here) (One length for the body)
  • Calf tail (or dyed orange polar bear) Orange, or white hair (A thinned small bunch for the underwing)
  • Golden pheasant tippet feathers Natural pheasant tail fibers (Two whole feathers, glued together, for the wing)

How to tie it

  1. Lay a black 140 denier thread base on a size 6 3x long streamer hook back to the start of the bend.
  2. Tie in a small bunch of orange hackle fibers (cheap strung saddle is fine) as a tail about one hook-gap long, and bury the butts forward with tight wraps rather than cutting them.
  3. Tie in the flat gold tinsel at the rear, taking an extra wrap back if any black thread shows under the tail, then run the thread all the way up to just behind the eye and drop a half hitch.
  4. Optional but recommended: put a small drop of super glue on the shank and spread it, then wrap the tinsel forward in slightly overlapping turns all the way to the front. Tie it off with a couple of wraps before snipping.
  5. Flip the fly or work underneath and tie in a throat of the same orange hackle fibers, short of the hook point, coming straight off the bottom. Snip the excess and add a couple of locking wraps.
  6. Take a small bunch of orange calf tail (or dyed orange polar bear), thin it by at least half, measure it to the bend of the hook, and tie it in on top with a pinch wrap as the underwing, keeping it on top of the shank. Snip the butts.
  7. Prepare the wing by laying two golden pheasant tippet feathers together and gluing them with a drop of UV resin where the fibers meet, then curing. Do a batch at once if you plan on several flies.
  8. Cord the thread up, lay the glued tippet wing right on top and down in the middle of the calf tail, and take a couple of loose wraps. Check that it is standing in the plane of the hook, adjust, then lock it down with tighter wraps.
  9. Trim the wing butts, cord the thread, take it back to the eye and build a good-sized streamer head.
  10. Whip finish with four turns and coat the head with UV resin or lacquer for a hard, shiny finish.

Tying videos

← All fly patterns