The ultimate quest: 100 cm (39.4 inches) of Atlantic salmon caught on a July day on a medium size Dark  Green Tube Bomber – Leader 0.25 mm. Maxima (8 lb.) –  Hook a small # 14 Owner St BC 

Danish salmon angler par excellence; Mr Henrik Mortensen with a bright dry fly salmon from the Bonaventure River – caught on a medium size  Monster Tube Caddis ™

Right: The Monster Tube Caddis is a modern salmon dry fly tied on a tube – and designed to imitate the caddisfly insect that salmon and trout depend upon as food when they live as parr in the river system

Salmon dry fly 1840’s

Mr. Wood was not the first Briton to recognize the potential of fishing for salmon on the surface. Descriptions of this technique can be traced back to early English fishing literature dating as far back as 1846.

One such example is found in the book “A Manual of Modern Farriery: A Popular and Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Horses and Other Domestic Animals… with a Sporting Section and UK Game Laws” by Thomas Brown, published by George Virtue around 1846.

Left: The accompanying plate displays a diverse selection of trout and salmon flies, while the text provides detailed instructions on fishing on the surface for salmon. These instructions could very well describe fishing with a salmon dry-fly, but they could also pertain to other techniques such as dibbling, dapping, or the Riffling Hitch method.

For further details and images, refer to A Manual of modern farriery 

Major J.R Fraser’s salmon dry fly patterns 1909

The earliest documentation of salmon dry-fly fishing that we have encountered originates from England: Major J.R. Fraser’s salmon dry-fly series, listed in a 1909 Farlow and Co. catalogue, along with descriptions of his fishing techniques and recommended tackle. While there is limited information available about Major J.R. Fraser and his remarkable salmon dry-fly series, we do have an introduction provided by Mr. Fraser in the Farlow fishing tackle catalogue.

Left: It is widely acknowledged among angling historians that the British were likely the first to write about salmon on the dry fly. Although Canadian angler Mr. George M. La Branche is often credited as the first to describe salmon fishing with the dry fly, the technique’s origins are frequently attributed to UK anglers. The color plates featuring Fraser’s flies to the right are from a 1919 Farlow catalogue, but Farlow had the same series of flies and writings by Mr. Fraser in earlier catalogues dating back as far as 1909.

We received invaluable assistance with details on early salmon dry-fly fishing from the Farlow 1909 catalogue from a Nova Scotia angler. Mr Perry Munro 

See the text and images from the 1919 Farlow catalogue

La Branche visits the Dee –

In 1925, La Branche journeyed to the Dee in Scotland, invited by the renowned angler, Mr. A.H. Wood. Wood was intrigued to witness the application of the Canadian salmon dry fly technique on Dee salmon. Unfortunately, unfavorable weather conditions and a scarcity of fresh-running fish posed significant challenges for La Branche, who failed to land a salmon that week. Nonetheless, La Branche managed to entice approximately 20 fish to his salmon dry fly, with two of them hooked but ultimately lost. Undoubtedly, under better conditions, he would have found success in landing fish.

Right: Pictured are Ambrose & George, attired in what appears to be a 1920s sports-casual ensemble, ready for a day of sport. These anglers share the same passion for salmon dry fly fishing as you and I.

To learn more about these salmon adventures, visit: dry fly pioneers

One can only guess on how much different the world of salmon fishing would have looked had their been – fresh water and fish in the Aberdeenshire Dee that  jinxed week in 1925..

The Wulff flies 1950

Another couple of decades came to pass when salmon dry fly yet again made the headlines.

With the book, The Atlantic Salmon – published in the late ’50s, author and famous angler Mr Lee Wulff made the salmon dry fly sport popular in North America. In his book, Lee Wulff presented a new line of dry flies named the Wulff series that he and fellow angler Mr Dan Bailey had designed. The flies were big bushy cartoon-like imitations of mayflies and was originally intended for trout fishing – but soon proven to be just the right dry flies for Atlantic salmon. The Wulff series was designed almost 50 years ago – but still today these flies are closely linked with everything concerning salmon dry fly

Tribute to Lee Wulff

Lee Wulff has greatly influenced the fly fishing sport as a whole and salmon dry fly fishing in particular. Without his dedication and profound insight into the world of the Atlantic salmon things like salmon conservation, fly fishing equipment and fishing techniques would have looked much different from what they do today – We recommend reading Lee Wulff’s book: The Atlantic Salmon

Right: A selection of original Lee Wulff Surface Stonefly as described in the 2nd edition of The Atlantic Salmon.

A salmon fly Lee Wulff produced with a cast resin body.   Lee Wulff used this cast resin technique on other types of flies for salmon and trout and he even did a do-it-yourself kit for anglers wanting to try the cast resin technique on their own fly patterns.

The Bomber’s 1960

The Bomber dry fly was originally designed as a commotion fly for fishing in the headwaters of the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. It was a Mr Elmer Smith that allegedly tied the first Bomber  – Initially, he intending the fly to be fished sub-surface he later thought it to be well suited as a salmon dry fly and had various versions of the fly made. Today the Bomber is the No. one salmon dry fly for most salmon anglers and it is tied in multiple colours and sizes.

The story goes: that Mr Smith got his inspiration to the Bomber fly after seeing a salmon rise to the cigar-butt he had just thrown in the river…

The Bomber: Probably the most versatile salmon dry fly ever made. Here a bright summer fish caught on a white Tube Bomber ™

White Tube Bomber ™ a favourite patter among many Scandinavian salmon anglers fishing clear rivers in Norway – made in 3 sizes it will cover the season and all kinds of rivers. See our flies in the E-Shop

In 1979, Lee Wulff discussed his experiments with dry flies and skaters tied on plastic tubes in his book “Lee Wulff on Flies.” Intrigued by the potential of crafting flies in sections, Wulff aimed to design flies of the appropriate size directly at the riverbank, eliminating the need to change hook sizes.

We at Fishmadman took the concept of tube dry flies further in 1995 by tying classical Bomber patterns and other salmon dry flies on extremely thin tubes. This innovative approach resulted in lightweight dry flies with significantly different hook-holding capabilities than traditional salmon dry flies. We achieved superior hooking abilities by fitting our flies with small, wide-gape hooks without adding considerable weight. Our inaugural tube salmon dry fly, the Tube Bomber™, was designed explicitly for fast-flowing waters of large rivers—a substantial, over 2-inch dry fly that would have been excessively heavy if tied on single hooks.

Positioning the dry fly correctly – is a great part of the success of dry fly fishing

An integral aspect of salmon dry fly fishing is precise fly positioning. Just like with wet fly fishing, anglers depend on the salmon to rise and intercept the fly as it drifts by the spot where the salmon is holding. Rarely will a salmon move far from its lie to take the fly, emphasizing the importance of accurate placement. To delve deeper into this topic, we’ve collaborated with a skilled 3-D animator to create a film illustrating the dynamics of fly positioning. Additionally, our newsletter offers in-depth insights into fly positioning techniques and explores the concept of Snell’s Window.

Take a look here