The Monteith

If you like swinging flies for steelhead or you like trout fishing the natural progression is swinging flies for trout. You get the same excitement and electricity of that ferocious grab but with a lightweight setup and you can do it anytime of year.

We are all enamored with the big flies and big grabs, but it’s been proven time and time again that big trout grab small steelhead flies. If you’ve ever fished the lower Deschutes river for trout you’ve probably experienced this first hand, I know I have.

I never really connected the dots until I spent some time on the Lower Deschutes fishing with my good friend Sam Sickles, he’s a guide on the lower Deschutes and spends a lot of time swinging flies for trout and steelhead. When we went out he kept telling me of the merits of swinging small hairwing flies for these trout. It finally started to sink in, how many trout have I caught swinging small flies for steelhead.

We definitely had some productive fishing and I can’t stop thinking about catching trout on small steelhead like wet flies. I’ve been working on a few patterns and this is one of them. It’s an homage to classic feather wing salmon flies, with a name that’s a nod to their Scottish heritage.

Recipe

• Hook: Daiichi 2421 Size 8
• Thread: UNI 8/0 Red
• Tail: Natural Pheasant Tippet
• Body: Peacock Uni Mylar Size 12
• Hackle: Black Strung Saddle Hackle 
• Rib: Gold Brassie (BR) Ultra Wire
• Wing: Bronze Mallard Flank
• Collar: Golden Pheasant Rump