Pollock!

Earlier this week, I found a few CDs with pictures from when I lived in Ireland. I was very excited to see that among pictures of family and friends there were also a few photos of fish. Very exciting! Here are two pictures of pollock that were both taken on baitfish flies. Pollock are one of my favorite fish to target; they are strong fighting fish that make deep dives when hooked. I have broken at least two rods that I can remember on fish that were above 8 pounds. Much like carp, when you get them near shore and are ready to lift them out of the water they typically have one last run in them. If you have the line clamped tight and you are not expecting this last run, it can spell disaster if you have a large fish hooked.

Schools of pollock will attack just about any baitfish that swims close by. A selection of streamers in sizes 2 through 1/0 will cover most situations. The two color combinations that I have had the most success with are red/yellow and blue/white. 

Deceivers, whistlers, sliders, hollow ties, epoxied flies, not epoxied flies, pollock are not biased; they'll hit patterns without discrimination! And so fly selection is not as crucial as presenting the fly at the appropriate depth. The fly needs to get down quickly, so a lead core sinking line is the best option. Armed with a fast sinking line, a selection of baitfish patterns and a stripping basket you will be prepared for battle.

When pollock are close into shore, they prefer the deep rocky reef and cliffs that overhang on the water. They school up underneath these areas and ambush their prey. Cast out and allow the fly to sink to the appropriate depth then retrieve in short strips or long fast pulls. To find the right depth, I would count down the sink line until I found the depth the fish were at. Takes often occur right at your feet a few feet below the surface of the water, and rest assured that these takes are very hard. It is extremely exciting to be pulling your fly out of the water for a cast only to have a pollock that was chasing your fly leap out of the water and take the fly in the air! That is an awesome experience!

Just to note, pollock are cousin to the cod and are lovely tasting fish! Their flesh is a bit softer and more flakey but nonetheless gorgeous for fish and chips or fish pie. They were a favorite in my household and I really do miss fishing for them! So if you're visiting or you live in Ireland or the UK, do put some time into fly-fishing for these fish, you will not regret it! I miss being in Ireland and fishing for these fish, so write and tell me your pollock stories! 

Tight Lines!

Nikki

The Executioner

Here in northeast the spring steelhead run is in full swing and in the UK and Europe the salmon season is also happening. A great fly that is well worth tying is the Executioner. Tie it on hook sizes appropriate to the waters that you will be fishing. I have seen dressings of this fly where a black cock hackle is palmered over the body, a great way to create a fuller body for the fly. Typically I use red Danvilles flymaster (70 denier) thread to tie this fly and use the floss as I indicated in the dressing below. You can of course tie the entire fly with hot orange thread or floss. The Executioner is such a great and versatile pattern, it can be fished on floating or sinking line. It's also a very good low water pattern. Tie a few and let me know how you get on, or better yet send me a pics :)

The Executioner
Hook: Salmon or spey, single or double. (I tied the one pictured here on a Alec Jackson Spey #3)
Thread: Red
Tag: Fine oval silver tinsel
Tail: Yellow cock hackle fibers
Rib: Oval tinsel
Rear body: Glo-bright floss #4 or hot orange floss
Front body: Flat silver tinsel
Shoulder hackle: Black cock
Wing: Black squirrel or black fox tail
Cheeks: jungle cock
Head: Glo-bright floss #4 or hot orange floss

Fly Tying Tutorial – Extractor Dabbler

Fly Tying Tutorial – Extractor Dabbler

Hook: 6-12 heavy wet
Thread: Black
Tail: Red golden pheasant feather
Rib: Small oval gold tinsel or small gold wire
Body: Flat medium gold tinsel
Shoulder Hackle: Lemon yellow
Throat Hackle: Red golden pheasant feather
Wing: Bronze mallard dabbler style
Eyes: Jungle cock (optional)

The Extractor was created and tied by Michael Rogan of Ballyshannon, and a large number of people still refer to the fly as Rogan’s Extractor. It is a superb fly but sadly, for one reason or another, it has fallen through the cracks and is not as commonly used as it once was. Which is a real shame as the fly will produce fish on those awful days when nothing else will work. After all, Mr. Rogan did name it the “Extractor”!

The fly that I am presenting here is tied dabbler style (the dabbler created by Donald McClearn of Co Down, Ireland), the original fly is dressed standard wet fly style. Either way, the dressing calls for the yellow hackle to be long and “sweeping back”. Regardless if tied traditional or dabbler style it still is a beautiful fly. view full tutorial…