Sunray Shadow : Fly tying at it`s best

The Sunray Shadow ones tied with hair from monkey – Today anglers will substitute monkey hair with material like goat (like the Sunray Shadow shown on picture) Goat will work just as well – Here tied with Kashmir goat dyed black – Numerous + 20 kilo salmon has been caught on the Sunray Shadow a.o a; 25 kilo (55 lbs.) giant from the Alta River – and a 21 kilo (46 lbs.) fish caught in the Lærdal River by Mark Brooks the son of Margit and Ray [hr]Buy flies 

Almost half a century has gone by and still today the Sunray Shadow fly stands as a unique example of fly tying at it´s best – simple and efficient – And a fishing tribute to the angler Raymond Brooks

The Collie Dog fly

Collie Dog and Sunray Shadow is names closely linked with long winged flies, and you will find variations of these famous salmon tube flies in fly fishing shops around the world.

The Collie Dog fly is a old Scottish fly pattern designed in the late 18´century.  It was probably one of the very first, if not the first hair-wing salmon fly ever, to be deployed on a salmon river.

Still today it`s argued whether or not it is UK or US anglers who rightfully can take the claim for the salmon hair-fly project ?

The Collie Dog was originally designed to be tied on double or single hook`s – Today most Collie Dogs is tied on tube – with or without the silver body. As hair from Collie (Border Collie) can be hard to obtain, most anglers will settle for quality hair from goat like the Kashmir Goat

Fishing tube flies with long hair

These flies with their long wavy wing can have a hypnotic grip on salmon. Presented correctly the salmon will go to great length to intercept a fly like the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog, often chasing the fly across the river – hitting it in a spectacular manner much in the way they attack a wobble, spoon or spinner – When fishing keep your eye on the fly and bring it all the way in to the bank…this is one fly that salmon will stay with all the way – and it might hit it the last second.

When fishing close to the surface with long-winged flies anglers often see the salmon reacting to the fly by splashing or waking, something that can be quite useful – when you actually want to determine if the pool holds fish or not. Flies like these are also named: lifters or Reaction flies…

Here a Small Pearl and Green Sunray Shadow Buy fly 

In Iceland the Sunray Shadow will also be used as a Attention fly, fished over lies that might be unproductive or over-fished – The Sunray Shadow is then replace with a much smaller pattern and salmon will very often come to the surface.

Speed kills

When fishing in colder water it is advisable to fish the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog fly slow and make sure to present it to the fish for a longer period. Use intermediate lines with sink tip or even full sinking lines to fish productive fast water.

Working with size

Big is not always better and particularly not when it comes to salmon. In relation to this it is well worth keeping different sizes of these special flies in the box – Although a 2 inch Collie Dog or Sunray Shadow might seem big when other anglers work with tiny # 10`s – 12´s in hot water – it can still be surprisingly efficient to use these flies fished very close to the surface.

We use a selection of flies in the range from 2 to + 6 inches. The 3 1/2 inch version being the regular fly on most rivers, and the smaller versions for low water summer conditions – The bigger flies are made for early season fishing and even in low temperature; 5 – 6 degrees Celsius (41 – 43 degrees Fahrenheit) – salmon will come right to the top to grab them

We also bring out the big Sunray Shadow flies when summer turns into autumn, in those precious hours when everything starts turning dark… Here the big Sunray Shadow might be the best choice for those local salmon becoming restless and agitated in the dark See other big Sunray Shadows in the E-shop 

What does these big flies represent ?

Anglers often wonder why such and such fly is efficient ? – Some flies like; prawn-flies and nymphs are more obvious than others.

Long winged flies like the Collie Dog and the Sunray Shadow is often mentioned  in relationship with glass eels or juvenile eels – a food sours that the Atlantic salmon could meet in the sea on its way to and from the river (in European waters often in size 40 – 45 millimeters  – 1.6 – 1.8 inches)

In terms of food look-alike`s we believe that these big flies could represent a broad spectra of critters that the salmon could meet throughout it´s entire life at sea,  like; sand eels, herring, sprats, prawns and juvenile eels – All erratic moving food that the salmon will have to react to very decisively.

[approved]It is also with these – straight in from the sea aggressive salmon, that the Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog is most productive. It is like their recent feeding behavior at sea still is set to full speed when they enter the river. See Brooks Zebra Shadow in shop 

The parr fly

Another big wing fly we have had success with throughout the years is a version of the classic Blue Charm. The wing of the fly is tied up of sections of silver tippet squirrel – with its contrast marked body it is to give the impression of a salmon parr – Fly is fished slowly over freshly arrived salmon that often will attack it ferociously.

Actually the salmon parr know quite well that it will have to keep clear of these fresh aggressive salmon – Ones giants arrive from the sea…all salmon parr have gone into hiding.

Here we have designed a big Sunray Shadow in a contrast marked version – We have humbly named it the Sunray Zebra Shadow

Buy Sunray Zebra Shadow  

The recipe to success

We have all our long-winged Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog flies tied on our Flexible plastic tube   with the exception of the occasional fly tied on an aluminum tube. If we need to fish further below the surface we rather use a sink tip or full sinking line, than use weight on the fly – It is as the fly looses some of it´s fish catching abilities when weighted down to much.

Hooks for long wing flies

Fishing with these special flies is an action filled sport and you will feel fish hitting and pulling the fly during a fishing session – Ever so often these same fish will have a go at the fly more than one time – as long as they haven’t touched the hook.

We use both single, double and treble hooks on these flies and recommend that you set a small blob of glue in the fork of the double and treble hooks. This will to some extend, prevent the hairs from getting seriously entangle in the construction of the hook. Getting the wing caught up in the bend of the hook is an inevitable part of fishing flies with long soft hair and to make sure everything is working as intended, one has to check the fly on a regular basis – Obviously an annoying hassle – but it is well worth the effort to put the time into the long wing project. See our range of hooks 

Good things for big flies

See our NEW fly tying material for Sunray Shadow flies: Sunray Zebra Shadow ™ 

NEW Sunray Shadow box

The perfect dimensions – strong and inexpensive

☛ Support Mr. Orri Vigfússon and NASF in rescuing the Atlantic salmon – Go to NASF page ! ☚

Translucent flies are killers

* Now that we have touched the subject, I might show you something interesting about deer hair.

Many people ask us why we don´t make our Bombers with foam or other floating material. We have tried this with different fly patterns made with; Cork, Balsa-wood, Styrofoam, and EVA Foam, and at some point, I even did a fly with a small glass cylinder, but none of it worked properly, and we soon returned to flies made from deer hair… There do not seem to be any shortcuts on this project…

Why is deer hair so special? First, deer hair (like most other hair material) can naturally attract and deceive trout and salmon… It is like the concept of eating an animal with a pelt isn’t that disagreeable with fish

One very special Bomber Belonging to a UK angler I know – This fly has, over time, become very good due to: Wear and tear and multiple coatings of this dry fly with silicone – All adding up to a translucent appearance that’s seemingly attractive to salmon.

Formed by dry fly silicone

You and I all have our favourite wet flies in the box. Flies that seem to fish much better than other flies…They might be torn up and dull-looking, but they will produce fish on the bank time after time… It is probably this ruggedness and dull looks that hold the secret to your success with this particular fly; If you take a close look, you will find that the fly has become somewhat altered from usage. It could be little strands of wool coming undone – Hair splitting up from casting and fish teeth tearing at them – fading colours etc. All add up to a more translucent appearance.

Dry flies made with deer hair will also improve with time – If the deer hair becomes hollow! When used over and over again – Something I will try to show through a picture of detail – The detail section is from the image above of the super-Bomber

Note the hollowness of the hairs that gives the fly this see-through appearance … as seen on the close-up of the deer hair body…. By the way, anglers have offered our UK friend much $ for this particular super-fly… It is not for sale…we have been informed.

Don’t get dry fly silicone on your leader

Avoid getting products like Mucilin onto your leader the leader will end up showing up like a neon-sign on the surface – and salmon will stay clear of your fly… A good idea is to prepare the flies with the Mucilin past before your fishing trip. When you have impregnated your flies leave them in a tempered area – so the Silicone can set in the flies and the solvent in the past can evaporate.

 

☛ Support NASF in rescuing the Atlantic salmon – Go to the NASF page! ☚

Smurf Bomber: This distinct blue coloured Bomber is a sought after fly pattern by Atlantic Salmon and anglers from Canada.  One could only guess why the colour combination on the Smurf Bomber works especially good on some rivers in Canada: Maybe it is the blue skyline that often dominate when fishing during summer Maybe it is because the  salmon is able to focus on light with short wavelength like; green and bluish colors… when it enters the sea.. It could also be that the contrast colour of the Smurf Bomber stick out like other contrast Bombers

Smurf Bomber – Green Bomber – White Bomber. It blends right into the landscape.

This the Hig Viz Green Bomber ™ has proven efficient to us the last season – As it is with the colour of the Smurf Bomber, it does not mimic any particular insect, but it blends right into the background at the river. The river we fish is lined with green birch trees. Branches are hanging over the water.

Nr. 1 Nordic Bomber

There is no doubt that the white Bomber, either with Grizzle or all-white hackle, is the favoured salmon dry fly among Atlantic salmon anglers in the North of Scandinavia – Wide open landscape – Broad, shallow rivers with clear water is the perfect element for the light-coloured White Bomber.

The White & Orange Bomber

Yet another colour variation of the Bomber is the White & Orange Bomber. It is suited for rivers with many foam cloths where a White Bomber might disappear. Here tied the Tube Bomber way.