Steelhead Fly Fishing: Fly Plate 1

Steelhead Fly Fishing - Color Plates (1 of 14)

This fly plate is part of an ongoing project to publish Trey Combs’ classic Steelhead Fly Fishing chapters and fly plates online, free for the public to read, study, and enjoy. All plates from Steelhead Fly Fishing (1991) have been scanned from the originals at high resolution and are presented here as historical reference images suitable for close viewing and printing. Viewing note: On mobile, pinch to zoom for a closer view. On desktop, right-click the image and open it in a new tab or save it to view the full high-resolution version for printing.

Fly Plate 1 is one of the strongest collections of classic steelhead flies you will find anywhere, and it remains Trey’s favorite. It brings together patterns from several different strands of steelhead fly history: old Atlantic salmon and Spey influences such as the Lady Caroline, major Pacific Northwest standards such as the Purple Peril and Silver Hilton, and regionally important patterns such as the Skykomish Sunrise and Green Butt Skunk. The Skykomish Sunrise, tied by George McLeod for his father Ken in 1936, became one of the best-known steelhead flies in the sport, while Ken McLeod’s Purple Peril became another enduring Northwest standard. The Green Butt Skunk, meanwhile, grew out of the North Umpqua tradition and became one of the most widely recognized steelhead patterns of the modern era.

Every fly on this plate was tied by Dave McNeese, and that alone makes the plate special. McNeese has spent decades tying, studying, and refining classic steelhead and salmon flies, with particular attention to materials, color, proportion, and historical style. Trey has long admired the refinement of Dave’s work, especially his ability to take familiar standards such as the Purple Peril and Silver Hilton and dress them with an elegance rarely seen in older working flies. Dave also became known for custom-dyeing materials and for developing his own steelhead patterns, including the Purple Spey and Purple Prince.

All flies in Plate 1 were tied by Dave McNeese.

Row 1: Black Gordon, Brad’s Brat, Brown Heron, Burlap
Row 2: Fall Favorite, Golden Demon, Green Butt Skunk, Lady Caroline
Row 3: Macks Canyon, Orange Heron, Orange Shrimp, Purple Peril
Row 4: Red Ant, Silver Hilton, Skykomish Sunrise, Sol Duc
Row 5: Del Cooper, Skunk, Thor, Umpqua Special
Row 6: Blue Boy, Bronze Brad’s Brat, Green Butt Silver Hilton, Pale Peril

Explore our Fly Pattern Dictionary for dressing notes and additional information on the flies shown on this plate. The dictionary is continually expanding as the archive grows.