Mikael Frödin’s Black-Green Helmet Classic
The following is an excerpt from Flies for Atlantic Salmon & Steelhead (2023) by Trey Combs.
Mikael Frödin’s “Classic Series” of salmon flies pays homage to Hakan Norling, his close friend and the man he calls “Mr. Temple Dog.” Mikael refined these flies in ways useful and clever. The wing is tied in with ever-longer materials so that the finished wing will taper upward to the dorsal run, the longest part of the fly. During the final tying steps, hackle is wound around the head. Then a small bunch of winging material is tied in so that it splits the hackle. This prepares the fly for the Half-Turbo Cone that covers the hackle and honors the split, i.e. the current running through the dorsal opening in the cone, and producing greater turbulence on the ventral side to animate the hackle.
This refinement distinguishes Mikael’s Classic Series. Each of the series that follow—the Samurai, Nobody, Micro, Spey Fly and Surface Fly—have similar elements in their construction that makes them unique.
Mikael groups his flies by purpose, much as steelhead fly fishers do, to best fish the river whatever conditions encountered, from high and discolored, to low and gin-clear. But he also chooses a fly to fish with the water low and clear under a cloud cover, and the same river in sunshine. He’ll pick a fly for the hour or two of dusk, and a fly for “night,” hour of half-light on the rivers above the Arctic Circle. He also strips a Samurai on the swing to increase the speed of fly across the currents, or fishes far and fine with a micro fly to entice picky salmon. Even the parts of a run might demand a different fly for a different approach. Mikael Frödin describes the flies each in terms of characteristics in salmon flies. “If you fish a pool with just one fly the only thing you can be certain about is that you fished most of the pool with the wrong fly!” Mikael says. “The fly they see is everything!”
Black-Green Helmet:
Frödin: “Black and chartreuse colors are as classic for clear waters are for orange and brown for slightly colored waters. I fish this version from medium to quite big sizes. Litza, Gaula, Aa, Laerdal and many, many other classic salmon rivers have a tint of green to them. Here, black and green flies outfish most others. For me, it fishes the best on that quite bright but cloudy day.” Black over various shades of green scream Atlantic salmon as much as does black over purple and dark blue for steelhead. We stay in our lane so I haven’t caught steelhead on a fly like the Black- Green Helmut because I’ve never fished one. Today there is so much crossover that the steelhead lane gets ever narrower.
Dressing Notes:
Tube: Fluorescent chartreuse. Tail: Fluorescent Chartreuse SSS tail fiber. Body: Quarter bare tubing, quarter Mirage tinsel, quarter Sealice Silver SSS Holo Braid, quarter Charcoal Black SSS Dubbing or Glitz Dubbing. Ribbing: Twisted Alta Gold SSS Holo Braid. Body hackle: Black cock hackle. Front hackle: Soft black hackle. Wing: Hot Greenlander Green SSS Angel Hair HD, chartreuse soft hair, Gaudy Green SSS Angel Hair, soft black hair, Nasty Rusty SSS Angel Hair, three to five peacock herls dyed lime green. Sides: Jungle cock. Cone: Fluorescent chartreuse FITS Tungsten Half Turbo.
Flies for Atlantic Salmon and Steelhead by Trey Combs is available in two formats: a limited edition, oversized hardcover first edition (restricted to 1,500 copies), and a digital print replica version designed for use at the fly bench. Both editions are available directly from the author.
Limited Edition Hardcover — $119.00 (Amazon)
Digital Edition — $24.99 (Amazon - Kindle)