My First Take At A Steelhead Intruder

[Guest Jeremie]

I got the idea that blue, pink and black are good steelhead colors so i incorporated all of them into an intruder. I then took hot pink finger nail polish and painted the eyes and the thread.

 

 

any thoughts?

 

Jeremie

[Flytyer]

IMO you have too much material, sparser would be better

[BBBrownie]

Yep, what flytyer said. Think sparse and also think about trying for almost an umbrella profile. You need to use a ball of something stiff right behind you longer movement feathers to maintain a profile - think polar bear if available to you, I really like well combed arctic fox, Ed Ward uses spun deer hair. A pile of maribou will collapse when swung through anything with current. Less bulk = greater movement, plus a pile of maribou will soak water right up, making casting much more difficult than it needs to be. Color scheme is on track though. I would suggest either thinning the maribou to about 1/3 of that if you are limited to using maribou, or preferably using ostrich or rhea instead. Ostrich is much more cost effective and really you can spin a good number ouf intruders from just one feather. Good luck with these, part of the fun for me with intruders is learning with each iteration, what works and doesn't, then modifying the following batch. Good start, have fun with em!

[headscan]

Think sparse and also think about trying for almost an umbrella profile. You need to use a ball of something stiff right behind you longer movement feathers to maintain a profile - think polar bear if available to you, I really like well combed arctic fox, Ed Ward uses spun deer hair.

Ditto. Sparse makes them easier to cast and sink faster. I use polar bear spun in a dubbing loop to get that umbrella shape. Another tip to keep your fly sparse is that you should be able to see all the materials you used without having to push anything aside. Check out Todd Scharf's intruder tying video series for an example. Here's the first one of the series...

 

 

[Tungsten]

I gotta kick out of when he said that you have to make a lot of casts to fool these fish so they deserve a nice looking fly.

 

Great video thanks for posting that Marc,

[monger]

What line do you use to tie in the stinger hook?

[Jayhad]

monger it appears to be a tube

[headscan]

Lots of personal preference involved in the stinger hook connection. I usually use 50lb SpiderWire, but Fire Wire works too and plenty swear by slick shooter. In the video Todd uses 65lb Fire Line.

[BBBrownie]

I have broken slick shooter on a snag before, must have gotten a nick...I landed a nice hen on the Bulkely this fall on an intruder with a fire wire stinger, while pulling the hook out of the scissors I noticed the hok was holding on by a thread - must have frayed while bouncing along bottom...these observations have lead me to use coated 20lb wire from Micheals. Cheap, just stiff enough to hold the hook true, haven't had any durability issues yet.

[monger]

Thanks guys. Haven't had the chance to chase chrome yet, but gathering info. I like your modification Riley...sounds the most durable

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

i fint trailing hooks had a tendency to double over themselfs. I prefer tube truders, with the soft hook keep i have never had this problem.

[SilverDoctor]

either stiffen up your trailer material, like a 50 lb firewire or shorten the trailer loop. Should work great.

 

i fint trailing hooks had a tendency to double over themselfs. I prefer tube truders, with the soft hook keep i have never had this problem.

 

[BBBrownie]

I have also had fouled trailers, the key is to make the trailing loop JUST long enough to replace the hook if necessary. As long as your shank is longer than the loop plus the distance to the point of the hook, it will can't foul. Also, coated wire is stiff enough that the trailer stays true. When tying a long loop of braided lines fouling was always a problem as it isnt as stiff as coated wire. One fix to stiffen is to rub a thin coat of aquaseal over it.