FLYMPH FORUM

http://www.jackgartside.com/art_pheasant_feathers.htm

Excellent article by late Jack Gartside.

Been busy fishing the upper headwaters of the Kenai river, no salmon
have arrived yet in one of my favorite headwater streams. Its catch and release for trout and
closed for salmon year round. The hare's ear and pheasant neck collar is quite
effective on the shallow riffles. Been probing the deep holes and pocket water
with a wire bodied and pheasant neck collar creation.
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from a different angle
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Yesterday had the time to explore many of the tying suggestions, who knows where this
will lead at the vise and on the water ...
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Above is a typical dolly varden resident of Ptarmigan Creek, Chugach National Forest.
Thank you all for the guidance and suggestions ...

Nice dolly! We don't see many of those on the forum. And that fly, that'll catch fish anywhere.

Dolly varden are on my bucket list.

Lovely fly, by the way.

They are protected here out west. Well sort of. We have Bull Trout. Which are basically the same thing but with a little different life history. Luckily there are a couple watersheds in Oregon where you can legally target Bull trout do to higher populations. They are all catch and release. We can target them here in the NE corner of the state and as well in the central part of the state. The Metolius River gets monsters that come up from Lake Billy Chinook where the Crooked, Deschutes and Metolius Rivers merge. They work their way up in the winter months and the common fly is a white or white and olive bunny streamer about 6"-8" long. More chucking than casting a wet one of those. They are not all the exciting to catch. I've never had one fight much. Usually a quick run at first, then it's like hauling in a boot. Still wherever you are they are a nice treat for a change of pace from the rainbows or cutthroats.

We have river systems here in WA where dollys/bulls can be kept. I had one day steelheading where I landed no steelhead but did land 11 dollys/bulls. WA state has questions whether our anadromous population is dolly varden or sea going bull trout. In any case I have caught them up to 26 inches while out steelheading or fishing for river coho. The Cascade river would be an easy one to fly fish for dollys/bulls, steelhead and/or coho. Only issue is the the dollys prefer a bigger hunk of something.

I suppose a person could fish a 5/0 soft hackle in a flesh fly pattern.