The silver salmon, or coho, fly is used extensively in the coastal waters of the Pacific, from southern Oregon to Alaska, in Pudget Sound and other inland tidal waters of Washington and British Columbia. The fly is a popular one among the fishermen who go after the fighting silvers and is productive of many fine catches each season. The reason we are tying the fly in this lesson, however, is because it demonstrates the use of tinsel alone as body material and, shows how to apply a three-color wing on top of the shank of the hook.

For this fly I use a large hook, usually from No. 3/0 to No. 5/0. The hook has a straight ball eye, and is either 3X or 4X long in the shank. The reason for the long shank is to permit the fly to be constructed with a long streamer wing which extends only slightly behind the barb of the hook.

The tying silk for this large fly should be size "A". Cut about 2 feet of the tying silk from the spool and wax it thoroughly, to give it a good base for all of the materials that you will tie on the hook. Attach the tying silk to the shank of the hook, close to the eye, and wrap it to the bend of the hook and, then, back to the point where the materials are to be tied on, 3/8ths of an inch from the eye of the hook.

On this fly the body is made of silver tinsel. I much prefer the embossed tinsel to the ordinary flat tinsel. The gimping, or squeezing of the tinsel between rollers, gives the tinsel an uneven surface which, I believe, has more refractory powers and gives better fishing results. The embossing on tinsel reminds me of the facets of a diamond. If a diamond is cut in a square or rectangular shape it does not have the glitter, blaze and fire of the diamond that has been cut with 64 different facets. The embossing on tinsel is comparable in effect. It gives a fire, glint and brilliance to the tinsel when viewed from almost any angle.

On a hook of this size I use the largest tinsel I can buy. It is known as No. 10 tinsel. When you order tinsel for use on this type of fly specify that you want embossed tinsel, size No. 10. Cut about 16 or 18 inches of this tinsel from the spool and tie it on the shank of the hook at the point where the tying silk is now attached, 3/8ths of an inch from the eye of the hook. When making a full tinsel body I generally tie the tinsel on at the front of the hook. With the tying silk attached near the eye and wrapped to the bend and back to the eye, as I have directed, you have a full, solid and non-slipping base for the tinsel. Take hold of the tinsel between the thumb and forefinger of your right hand and wrap it over the top of the shank of the hook and down on the far side; when you have carried it around to the point below the shank of the hook take hold of the tinsel between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand and continue the wrap, alternating hands as you wrap—using the right hand to carry the tinsel over the top and down on the far side and the left hand to bring the tinsel under the hook and up on the near side. In this manner you can lay the tinsel on the hook firmly. Be careful in wrapping on the tinsel; place the wraps so they touch each other and fully cover the hook. When you have reached the bend of the hook, wrap the tinsel back over itself, in spirals, until you reach the spot where the tying silk is attached to the hook. At this point cross over the tinsel with the tying silk, make 3 or 4 turns around the tinsel and a half-hitch. Cut off the unused portion of the tinsel. You may take the hook out of the jaws of the vise and check the wrapping of the tinsel. The tinsel should completely cover the tying silk which was wrapped on the shank of the hook. Whenever you use heavy materials, such as No. 10 tinsel, you want to be sure that you have tied the material down firmly, making good wraps of sufficient number followed by a good half-hitch, so that it cannot come loose. Large tinsel can unwind like a watch spring.

After wrapping the tinsel on, I suggest that you dip the end of a round toothpick in your flyhead lacquer and, apply the drop or two of lacquer which adheres to the toothpick to the tinsel, which you have wrapped on the shank of the hook. Spread it over all of the tinsel with your toothpick. This will prevent discoloration of the tinsel and stop oxidization which gives a rusty appearance to the tinsel. It may require 2 or 3 coats of lacquer for a covering which will fully protect it. Tinsel is frequently advertised as tarnish proof and, after buying it, you are disgusted when it discolors. When tinsel is constantly immersed in water, especially salt water, and then brought out into the air, one should not be too surprised that it discolors. Unless it has a protective coating both silver and gold tinsel will discolor in a very short time, turning a very dark color, almost a brownish-black. You may also notice that if your system is quite acid the tinsel you use changes color very fast but, if your system changes, the tarnish on the tinsel is less.

The Coho fly that we are going to tie is called the "Coronation" pattern. It is so named because of the colors in the wing. The colors are white, red and blue. The white hairs lie next to the shank of the hook; this is called the underwing. The red hairs are in the center; this is known as the median line, or the red line. The blue hairs, which represent the back of a herring, are on the top; this is called the overwing.

Pick up your piece of white bucktail and look at it carefully. You will notice that at the base of the tail, at the spot closest to the body of the deer, the hairs are quite coarse. Toward the tip of the tail the hair gradually becomes finer and at the tip it is quite fine in texture. On some, but not all tails, there is a slight curve, or waviness in the hairs. For this fly you may use white hairs from any portion of the tail. You will find that the hairs from the base of the tail, when tied on, will spread more than hairs from the center portion of the tail; and those from the center portion will spread more than those from the tip of the tail. Grasp about 35 or 40 strands of hair and cut them off at the base, next to the hide. Hold the tips of this bunch of hairs between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand, and in the same manner as explained in earlier lessons, remove the short hairs, pulling them out with the fingers of your right hand. The shorter hairs which you remove by this process may be either thrown away or saved for later use on smaller sizes of bucktail flies.

Holding the bunch of longer hairs in your right hand, measure the wing for length. The tips of the hairs should not extend much beyond the bend of this large hook. When you have them in place on the hook, held between the thumb and forefinger of your right hand, place the thumb and forefinger of your left hand over the hairs, grasping them as close to the fingers of your right hand as possible. Lift the wing slightly and rub the thumb and forefinger of your left hand together to thin out the line of hairs. Place the hairs on top of the hook, in the proper position; and hold them there with your thumb and forefinger extended down over the shank of the hook. Wrap the tying silk around the base of the hairs and the shank of the hook, with the up and down sweep between your fingers and the shank of the hook, tying the hairs down at the point 3/8ths of an inch from the eye of the hook. Make 4 or 5 wraps with the tying silk before releasing your fingers, and after this make a good tight half-hitch. This places the wing on top of the shank of the hook; but you will notice that the hair fibres in the wing will spread out. To bring the hair fibres closer together on top of the shank of the hook, take hold of the wing between the thumb and forefinger of your right hand and lift the wing up, away from the top of the shank of the hook, and hold it there. Now, with the tying silk in your left hand, carry the silk underneath the wing and over the top of the hook to the far side of the shank of the hook. Then carry the silk forward and around in front of the wing and again around to the back of the wing and across to the far side of the shank of the hook, in doing this you make a complete circle with the tying silk around the base of this portion of the hair wing. When the circle is completed carry the silk to the front of the wing and make 3 or 4 more wraps over the original wraps of the tying silk, and then half-hitch. This will hold the wing in a more rigid position. Cut off unused portion of white hair fibres. Cut close to tying silk.

Take your piece of red bucktail and from it cut about 15 or 20 hairs. Separate the long hairs from the shorter hairs, as you did with the white bucktail hairs. Place the red bucktail hairs on top of the white hairs which make up the underwing of the fly. Tie the red hairs on with 4 or 5 turns of the tying silk and a half-hitch. Lift up the bunch of red hairs, which form the median, or red, line of the wing of the fly, and wrap the tying silk around these hairs in a circle, as you did with the hairs in the underwing. Then make 3 or 4 more turns with the tying silk, in front of the wing, and a half-hitch. Cut off the unused portion of red hair.

Next, take your piece of bucktail dyed royal blue. Cut off from 30 to 35 hairs of the blue hairs, as you did with the white and red hairs. Separate the short hairs and place the longer ones on top of the hook, over the red bucktail hairs that you just tied in place. Tie the blue hairs on and then lift the blue hairs to an upright position, make a complete circle around them with the tying silk as you did on the two previous colors, make 3 or 4 more wraps at the front of the wing over all three colors of hair and then a half-hitch. Cut off the unused portion of the blue hairs. In cutting off these hairs you should, if possible, cut them on a taper so that you will have the large portion at the wing, where the tying silk is attached, and the small portion near the eye. Cut the hairs away from the eye of the hook to the full extent possible. Now wrap the tying silk around the hook to form the tapered head. On this size of hook, with the large amount of material used on the wing, it takes a large number of turns to form the head, which is necessarily a large one. After tapering the head, make a half-hitch and put on a whip finish.

The fly is almost finished. To doubly insure against the wing slipping much more lacquer should be used on this fly than is usually used. The lacquer should penetrate into the hairs at the front of the wing. Tip the fly up, with the bend straight up and the eye down. Dip a toothpick into the lacquer and place the lacquer at the base of the wing, just in back of the head. 2 or 3 drops of fly head lacquer applied in this way will help to hold the wing together as well as sealing off the head. After you have placed 2 or 3 drops of lacquer at the head of the fly and 2 or 3 more drops at the base of the wings, again completely cover the head of the fly with a coating of lacquer. This will go through the tying silk to the base of the wing. The fly is now finished.

This method of tying can be used on any pattern which has more than one color of hair in the wing.

COHO FLY, CORONATION PATTERN (Wet)

Hook:               No. 5/0 - No. 2, 3X long
Body:               Silver tinsel, heavy; embossed preferred
Ribbing:            Silver rope; optional
Wing:               White bucktail hair, red bucktail hair and royal blue
                        bucktail hair. White (the lighter color) in underwing, red in
                        median line, and blue in overwing. *
Eye:                  Painted on head of fly; optional

*Polar bear hair in same colors may be used instead of bucktail hair

Coho flies are made in a great many combinations of colors. In my pattern book, "Pacific Northwest Fly Patterns," I list sixteen different combinations of colors that are commonly tied. The flies are tied in combinations of two, three or four colors. The following combinations are listed as typical of those which are in common use:

Blue Olive Blue                         Blue Brown bucktail
Green Red Green                     White Orange polar
White White Yellow                 White polar
White

In the past few years there have been many changes In the Coho fly pattern. The number of color combinations have greatly increased. The materials have changed. The material originally used in the wing was feathers. This material was replaced by polar bear hair. With the great increase in the price of polar bear hair many tyers use bucktail. Long calf tail hair may also be used.

The Coho fly, tied with either polar bear hair or bucktail, has been proven in fishing for silver salmon, or coho salmon as they are called in British Columbia, as well as for blackmouth and king salmon. The fly, however, is used chiefly for silver salmon, or cohoes, from which it derives its name.

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