Learn To Tie Great Salmon Flies

By Jock Monteith 14th April 2023

If you want to start building up a salmon fly collection that'll work for you on the riverbanks of Scotland then the patterns you need to pay close attention to are the ones the professional Scottish ghillies are mostly using!

Learn To Tie You Own Salmon Fly

My own personal advice is you should learn to tie your own salmon flies as you'll be able to get exactly what you want and even add in a few subtle 'faith based' additions to enhance even the most popular salmon fly pattern. Most of the mass produced flies tend to be a bit on the over dressed side for my liking and it's always better for fishing 'faith' if you're fishing a fly that's 'exactly' the way you want it both proportionately & for precise material colours and sparkle. There's also significantly more satisfaction involved in catching a salmon on a fly you've tied for yourself than there is from using someone else's fly.

Mass Foreign Produced Salmon Flies

While there's some lovely salmon flies being imported into the UK that are well enough tied the unseen area is that they're mass produced therefore usually tied in a 1 stage 'rapid speed' process. This translates into the angler purchasing a salmon fly that will work for a limited period of time before it starts to fall apart and needs binned. If you're paying £3 to £5 for a salmon fly my advice to anyone would be to make sure you're buying a 2 stage salmon fly. What I mean by that is make sure the body has been tied, double coat varnished (if applicable) and dried before the fly is finished off. If you buy a fly that has been tied properly like that it will last you 10 times longer even if it's being regularly exposed to salmon teeth!

Where To Buy Your Salmon Flies

If you've got exact patterns you love and have complete faith in them or you're new to this business and have consulted with the serious Scottish ghillie brigade as to what patterns are worth having in your salmon fly box then you only really need to be carrying a dozen well selected salmon flies with you in a few different sizes. While mass produced fishing shop salmon flies are convenient if you're taking this pursuit seriously you should be planning your salmon fly box just as carefully as your salmon pool fishing approach. Professional salmon fly tyer Danny McLaughlin daniel.mclaughlin2001@gmail.com Tel; + 44 (0)7446 353058 has been my personal tyer for the last 20 years when I've struggled for time to sit down at the vice and Danny knows exactly how to tie a proper salmon fly in the correct 2 stage process for swim time longevity!