Silvenator

We couldn't host one of our favorite river guides here in the shop without featuring his one of his flies in the newsletter so we reached out to see if he had something new to share. He didn't. Well, he does have some new stuff he's working on, but it is mostly top secret and he would have to kill us if he told us what it is. The fly biz is terribly competitive.

I just happen to have my collection of fly boxes handy and a quick survey shows that the Silvenator outnumbers most of the other fluffy creations 2 to 1. I'm sure that statistic comes from the number of fish I have fooled with this very simple pattern. No fly strikes fear in the hearts of Steelhead like the Silvenator. Simple-but-deadly is its claim to fame. The perfect guide fly. The perfect pattern to chase mid-day summer fish or chilly winter Chromers.

Created by our friend, Brian Silvey, the Silvenator has become a standard found in many fly boxes across the Northwest, not just mine. While commercially available in several popular colors to match the water conditions and whims of the angler; the Silvenator is the ideal pattern for the beginning Steelhead fly tyer with its short list of materials and basic techniques. 

Materials:
Plastic tube with junction tube
1/4 Bead (Gold, Pink, or Blue depending on the color of the fly)
Straight-cut rabbit strip
Marabou
Flashabou
Ostrich
Dubbing to match

Start with a plastic tube cut 3/4 inches long and place it in your vice on a tube fly needle or mandrel.

Lay down a layer of thread and tye in a short strip of straight-cut rabbit about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches long.

Hackle with marabou, then tye in a few strands of flashabou. Add another wrap of marabou.

Add a few ostrich herls to a dubbing loop and wrap in front of the marabou.

Slide a 1/4 bead over the tube and melt tube to hold in place.

Finish with dubbing behind the tube in complementing color.

Slide junction tube over the back of the tube and add your hook of choice.

Now, take it out for a swim….