Fly Pattern Sandman's Pearl
For those of you thinking of fishing for searun cutthroat, I have a pattern you might want to try.

Sandman's Pearl

HOOK: #6 Mustad Salmon hook
THREAD: Orange
UNDERWRAP: Wire or dental floss
TAIL: Red hackle
BODY: Braided pearl
WINGS: Dyed orange polar bear
HACKLE: Red hackle

This is a very simple streamer pattern which has proven deadly in lower mainland streams for both cutthroat trout and coho salmon. Experienced fly tiers will undoubtable be able to figure out how to make this fly, but for the novice I will include instructions.

Start by placing the hook tip into the vice sideways and pinch the barb down. Since you will be fishing in the rivers and streams in the Lower Mainland this is required by LAW. Might as well do it now in case you forget your pliers later. Next place the hook in the vice in the usual manner with the hook pinched just below the start of the bend. Make sure the point of the hook is not exposed as this just leads to frayed and broken thread.

Next, start wraping the thread at the eye of the hook and work toward the bend with a single wrap of thread. This will keep the underwrap from slipping on the shank.

Next, tie on the tail hackle. Take a single hackle feather (dyed red) and grab a generous amount of hackle near the bottom of the feather (longer hackle) but avoid the downy fluff. Cut or pull the hackle off the stem of the feather. If you pull it off square the ends with scissors. Place this clump of feather at the bend of the hook so that the fat ends of the feather are above the shank and the thin tips in your fingers are behind the hook. Tie down the feather. The tail should be any where from 1/2 to 1 cm long.

Next, tie on some wire or dental floss just infront of the tail. The underwrap is designed to weigh the fly so it will sink faster and get down to the fish. Lead wire is the heaviest, but it is also toxic. Copperwire is fine, and dental floss works well too. The dental floss is dense, but not as heavy as wire so it requires more of it to get the same effect. Wrap the wire or floss about 3/4 of the way to the eye of the hook. Tie off the wire or wrap the floss back over the shank back to the tail and tie off the floss.

Next, tie on the braided pearl just infront of the tail and finish with a whip knot or half hitch. Using a knot each time you tie material onto the hook will decrease the likelyhood of your fly coming unravelled after the first strike. Wrap the thread to the eye of the hook. Wrap the braided pearl up to the end of the underwrap. Tie off the pearl with a half hitch.

Next, take a clump of red hackle feather, about half as much as used for the tail. Tie this hackle to one SIDE of the fly so that it extends from the end of the pearl body about 1/3 of the way back to the tail. Repeat for the other side and tie off with a half hitch.

Next, take a clump of dyed orange polar bear hair about the length of the hook (1"- 1/4" depending on the size of the tail you tied). Tie this down just infront of the hackle feathers on the TOP of the shank. The wing should extend back to the end of the tail. Tie off with a half hitch.

Next, wrap a medium size head with a nice taper to the eye and tie off with three half hitches or whip finish.

Next, apply copious amounts of head cement to the head of the fly. To ensure the eye remains clear of cement pass a hackle stem butt through the eye a couple of times before the cement dries..

Next, go catch some fish.

Tight lines! `<

PS: Please see my posting in General Discussions for my tips on Catch and Release techiniques so we can ensure continued successful trout fishing in the Lower Mainland.

Sandman:
thnx for the fly pattern,
p.s. what's the best way to fish it?

The best way to fish this fly is on a sinking tip or full sink line with a 9 foot leader. If you are targeting coho go with a 6 to 7 pound leader to avoid losing the fish on the sometimes savage take. For Cutthroat use a 4-5x tippet 3-4 pound test as they are more leader shy. The best method I have found is to cast across and slightly upstream of the current. Mend the line to allow maximum sink and minimum drag on the drift. As the fly nears the end of the drift and begins to sweep across the current begin to retrieve in quick jerks. For coho you might want to try jerking the rod tip and then stripping the slack line, jerk and strip, jerk and strip, as this can produce more strikes. For Cutties a steady strip retrieve is usually effective. Look for the fish in river and cast so that the fly either sweeps past their noses or comes up from behind them on the retrieve. I get almost all of my strikes on the retrieve so casting to them on the drift will likely not be as effective. It is best, therefore to position yourself where the fly will be in the "sweet zone" for as much of the retrieve as possible. Good luck and let me know how it works for you.

Nice simple fly, just the way it should be. But please tell me why you use a 9 ft leader on a sink tip, or worse, a 9 ft leader on a sinking line, in a river? Where is the control? How do you mend a sinking line? How do you cast a #6 salmon hook on a 5x tippet? If I fish a weighted fly on a 9 ft leader with a sinking line I'd call it flossing, especially on salmon.
Okay. I reread your post and you said you caught most of the fish on the retrieve, so I guess they were following the fly. I'll keep my mouth shut.

Sandman - your fly is very similar to one that was sold by Roger Turner out of his shop on Kingsway. That fly had a white hackle palmered over the pearl braid. Using either a red or orange wing, it was popular on the Vedder about 15 years ago.

Yes, fishing with a sinking line in a river is odd, but I have found this to be the best way to get the fly down to the fish. I have tried this fly with a floating line with a longer leader and found that I did not get as many strikes. Most of my strikes, in fact, come when I am fishing just above the bottom. I usually try a number of timed drifts until I hit bottom and then fish just above that. Since I am concentrating on the retrieve, the control is not as important as when fishing a drifted fly. I use one hard mend as soon as the line hits the water, and a few smaller mends to feed out more line. And I have had no problems with using the 5x tippet, but if you are concentrating on cutties, you could always try a smaller hook.

Yes, Ralph, my design was inspired by Turner's fly about eight years ago. I originally tied it the same as Roger, but did not have much success until I tried the red hackle. The red colour seems to give the fly a certain je ne sais quoi. I also prefer to tie it in two slashes, rather than palmered, as it gives the appearance of gill rakes or perhaps par marks on a minnow. Anyway I got more fish with the red hackle than the white, so I have tied it like this ever since.

I think that's great you took a pattern that had a brief 'splash', modified it and made it work for you. So many patterns arrive in a burst of light to be forgotten next season. Myself I've relied on the largely forgotten "Something Else" first tied by Richard Forest for Stave River cutts, for about 15 years. I've tried to make people aware of this reliable fly which for me, easily outfishes the rolled muddler. I even had the pattern published in the FlyTying column of the FFF magazine in the states - where some people now use it for bass and pan fish. modifying an established pattern is always a good strategy. Start with what works and improve it! Often you come with something that out fishes the latest crazies being produced with glue and luminescent plastics. Keep on fishin'!

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