The How-To tying videos in this piece are brought to you by Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions. To this day its the favorite of many fisherman on Fran's home waters of the West Branch of the Ausable. A bomber pattern is when someone flies a pattern unusually far from the runway, or extends their downwind for miles without turning base. In fact, we have tried with various material; Cork, Balsa-wood, Styrofoam, EVA foam and at some point I even did a fly with a small glass cylinder but none of it worked properly and we soon returned to flies made from deer hair… Their do not seem to be any shortcuts on this project…. (Historical note: In an interview with the late fly tying great Warren Duncan, of Saint John, New Brunswick, Reverend Smith said he got the idea for the Bomber while watching a young boy catching sea-run brown trout using a deer-hair mouse on Maine’s York River. Pattern type: Dry fly. You name it, the Stealth Bomber can vaguely imitate it. These are Bombers styled to be fished as wake flies – or swinging bombers – fished across the river on a tight line, making them drag in the surface, If you want to learn more about the steelhead fishing and flies from this famous region – we recommend you buy the Babine Book from Frank Amato Publication, This type of wake fly will wake effortlessly. Note the strands of Mylar we have put into the wing and tail. His Bomber, not to be confused with the Bomber designed for catching Atlantic salmon, is a great attractor pattern when you want to fish a dry fl y yet nothing is hatching; use it in place of the more complicated Royal Wulff. Hooking a steelhead is hard to describe, but watching a steelhead smash or sip a dry fly off the surface is something else entirely. We do various series of big deer hair flies for anglers fishing this river a.o the famous guide and angler Terry Byrne. These 3 sizes 6 – 4 Bombers come from the fly box of Loren Irving from Bend, Oregon and were some of the first he tied some 20 years ago. We integrate this material on most of our surface flies – it helps us detect the flies out on the turbulent river – and aid us to find the fly in low light and even direct sunlight. Techniques For Fishing Salmon Dry Flies. The iconic cigar-shaped body of the Bomber is obviously important and we strive to shape our flies with a well-defined insect look-alike body. From the cut-off, snip a 1/4 inch segment. It's also useful for imitating other insects. Left: a grills size Bomber tied with caribou – The styling and colour that this particular fly has is favoured by many anglers fishing Newfoundland, Right: A Miniature # 14 CDC Bomber (10 millimetres) from Fishmadman a tiny Bomber when the situation demands small flies fished with stealth, August salmon caught on Micro CDC Bomber. From what I can gather, the Stealth Bomber fly pattern was created by Kent over at FlyFishGA.com who I come to find out was a native of my area of SC. Then return your thread to underneath the lip of the fly, take a few more wraps and finally whip finish a … 126. Right: These flies were used in a documentary film produced in the mid 90″s by Pierce Clegg who then owned the Babine Norlakes Lodge to show the tendency of BC Steelhead to very actively come to the surface to Bombers and waking flies. 4.3/5 stars; Read 3 Reviews | Write a Review : $1.99 . To be specific these flies are called bomber chironomids. Behind the Fish: Steelhead/Salmon Biology with Scientist John McMillan, Tips for Small Water Great Lakes Steelhead. I’m glad I could help expand your archive as well. Above: Caught on a Tube Bomber ™ – A modern lightweight version of the famous Bomber patter from the ’60s. All adding up to a more translucent appearance, Dry flies made with deer hair will also become better and better with time – It is if the deer hair become hollow ! While these few flies are known for catching steelhead, there are many patterns that do the trick. Dry flies on a tube is designed like most other tube flies with a nylon tube running through the fly and a hook guard situated at the rear of the fly. Start by mashing the barb and getting the hook firmly secured in your tying vise. Here is the variant to that pattern that most often fills my box. - Take a look into our E-Shop and see the many different Bombers we carry. A must-have Bomber in your collection – Like many other black flies, the Black Bomber will work during bright weather and a cloudy day. Did you like the articles you read? In this piece, we will highlight 5 effective fly patterns for great lakes steelhead, the materials needed, and step by step instructions on how to tie these killer flies. Extremely popular in the high lakes of Oregon and Colorado, this simplistic pattern is responsible for catching thousands of fat trout. The Bomber was originally designed as a commotion fly for fishing in the headwaters of the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. The Body on the Bomber is often tied with hairs from White Tail deer, some with Caribou hair – others use even more coarse hair from Elk. This HIG-VIZ Green Bomber ™ has proven effective to us the last seasons – As it is with the colour of the Smurf Bomber it does not mimic any particular insect, but it blends right into the background at the river. The AuSable Bomber fly pattern is fantastic. I’m going to tie one here on a size 14 Dai-Riki #300 dry fly hook, which has just a little more length than their standard 305 dry fly hook. Here is one other pic of the fly from a different angle showing better leg detail. The hackle is an integrated part of the fly pattern. Saved by Brian Howell. Since 2012, Flylords has been a proud leader in telling the stories of anglers and guides from around the world. Some anglers prefer dens hackle others split the hackle to get a lighter appearance. Then it was Paula’s turn. The Bomber dry flies should not be confused with wet-fly patterns of the same name. You can use this for big stone flies and you can tie this up to a size 6 and also tie it in pale yellow. The river we fish is lined in with green birch trees. samlon dry fly -green bomber SAMLON DRY FLY -LABATT BLUE The most important choice you have to make in picking the right dry fly for the day (based on the pool you are fishing, the depth of it, and the speed of the water) is the size of the fly. But the one fly that is not often mentioned is" The Ausable Bomber", it is in my opinion the best small stream trout fly ever. Glenn Dotterer says: November 3, 2017 at 8:50 am Tim C., It’s quite interesting to me that similar successful fishing techniques developed in different parts of the world. The How-To tying videos in this piece are brought to you by Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The cigar-shaped profile of the Bomber fly is definitely a central point in this fly pattern and well worth putting time and effort into shaping – Our solution using little bundles of CDC for wing and tail makes a dry fly with excellent float-ability Buy CDC Micro Bombers Consequently, the pattern has become darn-near ubiquitous among shoal bass fisherman. BugGuide identifies it as a: “Large Bee-fly with long proboscis and strong pattern on rear of abdomen.” This is a new species for our archive. Salmon dry flies should be put on a tapered leader and cast upstream. Bright colors and flash are a must with steelhead flies and if presented properly, your reel will likely be screaming! We use the tube in a 1,8-millimetre version for bigger flies and a 1,4 mm. This is one of my favorite patterns to use. On his website you will get one of the best in-depth descriptions of not only how to tie up this bad boy but also how to cut the pattern for the foam as well as how to fish it. Last but not least the tubing we use on our flies is made from a type of plastic that does not draw in water while submerged. While a calf tail post makes it extremely easy to see in low light conditions. There is no doubt that the white Bomber either with Grizzle or all white hackle is the favoured salmon dry fly among Atlantic salmon anglers in the North of Scandinavia – Wide open landscape – Broad shallow rivers with clear water is the perfect element for the light-coloured White Bomber. Yet another colour variation of the Bomber is the White & Orange Bomber. A foam derivative of the Turck’s Tarantula, The Stealth Bomber is foam diver/slider designed to duplicate theTarantula’s diving motion and the resulting bubble trail made when the fly is stripped hard. See the original flies here. The small hooks used on these flies inflict less damage to fish jaws than that of big long shank hooks – With these flies, we do not aim to set the hook in the structure of the jaw – we want the hook to connect with the strong skin in the mouth of the fish. The Nuke Egg. Some tubing like silicone tubing could draw up to 15 % water – Not so important to the angler using wet flies – but quite important to the dry fly angler…. By the way, anglers have offered our UK friend lots $ for this particular super-fly… It is not for sale…we have been informed…. Some bombers will be tied with the hackle pointed towards the head – others pointing backwards – Tail and wings is most often made from calf tail, but depending on fishing style and river, other hair from squirrel and deer hair could be used. Grant Michaels is an avid outdoorsman and fly fisherman with a passion for conservation and documenting fishing adventures behind the lens with family and friends. Some will even shape their Bomber to work with a dive-and pop-up motion. Betters didn't invent the Wulff pattern — that was Lee Wulff in the 1930s — but he did develop an Adirondack version. My favorite dry fly for steelhead is the Steelhead Bomber. Why is deer hair so special? The wing on the Bomber could be tied split or as one single wing pointing forward. They might be torn up and dull looking but they will produce fish on the bank time after time… In fact, it is probably this ruggedness and dull looks that holds the secret to your success with this particular fly; If you take a close look you will find that the fly has become somewhat altered from usage. Well, first of all, it seems like the deer hair (as most other hair material) has a natural ability to attract and deceive trout and salmon… It is like the concept of eating an animal with pelt isn’t that disagreeable with fish. Above right: Here we have done the Rusty Brown Bomber in the Fishmadman Riffling Hitch Tube way – A simple way of making different flies wake without the aid of buoyancy. Either bright orange or red thread can be used on the pattern, here, I’m going with UTC 70 in fluorescent orange. We use White Tail Deer for our Tube Bomber flies – harvested in late fall to get big buoyant hairs. It is a effective fly for me for panfish. It is a Mr Elmer Smith that takes the credit for the first Bomber – Initially, Mr Smith intended the Bomber to be fished sub-surface, he later thought it to be well suited for dry fly fishing and had various versions of the fly made. Flies that seem to fish much better than other flies. Tying the Stealth Bomber by Byron Begley July 2009. Designed by Fran Better for trout fishing in Michigan. An obvious dry fly to be tied on a tube. Why use strands of Mylar in dry flies? Difficulty: Medium. Branches hanging over the water. Through film, photography, and journalism we strive to make each story as unique as the person or place it’s based off. August salmon caught on Micro CDC Bomber. Take the tips from this article to fill your box and the Great Lakes won’t know what hit them, tight lines! Check out his Instagram @gemichaels to see what he is up to. Snip the foam off leaving about 1/2 inch lip, which you'll cut to final form later. 5 Effective Fly Patterns for Great Lakes Steelhead, Ecological Distaster Strikes Kamchatka Coastline, Contest: 2020 Flylords Pumpkin Carving Competition, Striped Bass Management: A Call to Action, Fishing Etiquette: Trout Handling Best Practices, Simms and Trout Unlimited Unite to Protect and Preserve Montana’s Gallatin River, Black thread (heavier thread is necessary for this fly to lock in all of the materials), A single black marabou plume for the tail of the fly, Peacock herl (4-5 will work perfectly for the body of the fly), Angora rabbit yarn (perfect material for the body and color can very based on preference). - Join us and get a Newsletter 3 - 4 times a year… In the depth articles and facts on our sport - Fly tying tricks… Reports from rivers, discount on purchase in our shop, and much more. The hook guard will function as support for the hook and has to be made from superior soft quality tubing. Above right: a regular beast of a Bomber with a 60 millimetre (2,3 inch) body tied on an → extremely long Carrie Stevens hook # 2/0 streamer hook – Probably the worst possible hook to put in a mouth of a jumping salmon. Often I tie the Wulff on a dry hook and tie the Bomber on bigger hooks in bigger sizes. One could only guess why the colour combination on the Smurf Bomber works especially good on some rivers: Maybe it is the blue skyline that often dominates when fishing during summer Maybe it is because the salmon is able to focus on light with short wavelength like; green and bluish colours… when it enters the sea. Having found the Dorado Hare's Ear Dry Fly pattern the other day, I thought you would appreciate this fly. Mike Hogue covers four of them in this article. Today the Bomber is the number one dry fly for most salmon anglers and it is tied in multiple colors and size, we have this salmon dry fly pattern in green, white and brown. It is also a tube with very low memory so it can be used over time without losing its hold on the hook. I was just messing around and I thought the fly looked pretty cool so I tried it out. Read about the Tube Bomber – in Norwegian. Well suited for rivers with lots of foam cloths where a White Bomber might disappear into. Here tied the Tube Bomber way. The Stealth Bomber is by far my number one topwater fly pattern for warm water species. One very special Bomber Belonging to a UK angler I know – This fly has over time become better because of: Wear and tear and multiple coatings of Muslin – All adding up to a translucent appearance that seems attractive to salmon, You and I all have our favourite wet flies in the box. One guess where this pattern originated. It is tied on tube and the leader goes through a hole in the belly of the fly – Great action on the water. Bombers were developed in the 1960s for use on New Brunswick River and popularized by the late Reverend Elmer Smith. Dobsonflies, moths, large caddis, stoneflies. Reply. ".The Stealth Bomber is a blatant attractor pattern; it resembles nothing, and at the same time everything. Did you like our story on the famous Bomber? A very efficient way to connect with Atlantic salmon, Above: The Smurf Tube Bomber ™ This particular blue is a favourite colour for several dry fly rivers in the very Northern Norway Buy the flies, Fishmadman made the first tube salmon dry in 1995 we tied the classical Bomber patterns and other salmon dry flies on very thin tubes. It could be little strands of wool coming undone – Hair splitting up from casting and fish teeth tearing at them – fading colours etc. Where Fran Betters' patterns go, success most often time follows. They are known to eat your typical trout patterns but are also attracted to bright colored flies. This tube is designed to withstand a lot of mechanical wear. With this approach we created light dry flies with a very different hook-hold than that of the traditional salmon dry fly. when used over and over again – Something I will try to prove through a picture of detail – Detail section is from the picture above of the super-Bomber, Note the hollowness of the hairs that gives the fly this see-through appearance … as seen on the close up of the deer hair body…. Grant is on the Content Team here at Flylords focusing on current events and interesting topics floating around the fly fishing world. Mr Irving favours the Green Butt Bomber and switches to a Brown Bomber as a follow-up fly as suggested by his friend Jim Bussard. ``.The Stealth Bomber can vaguely imitate it River a.o the famous Bomber patter from the runway, or their. 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