Steelhead Fly Fishing: Fly Plate 2

Steelhead Fly Fishing - Color Plates (2 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from Steelhead Fly Fishing (1991) have been scanned from the originals at high resolution and are presented here as historical reference images suitable for close viewing and printing.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 2 moves in a noticeably different direction from Plate 1, and it reflects an important evolution in steelhead flies. The earliest flies used for California steelhead, particularly half-pounders, grew out of nineteenth-century feather-wing wet-fly traditions. Many were brightly colored patterns rather than the hairwing steelhead flies that would come later, with white, red, orange, green, and other vivid colors common in the early dressings. By the 1920s, many of these older patterns were being adapted into hairwing steelhead flies. Purple and black had begun appearing in important Pacific Northwest patterns by the 1930s and 1940s, but those colors became much more prominent in the new steelhead dressings of the late 1960s and 1970s. Frank Amato’s Night Dancer, with its black wing and purple hackle, is one example of that development. Plate 2 captures this later period especially well, with its remarkable concentration of purple, black, and darker Spey-style dressings.

The plate is also significant because it marks the end of the flies tied by Dave McNeese for this series. Beginning with Rows 5 and 6 of Plate 2, and continuing through Plate 14, the plates feature the work of a long list of well-known fly dressers who participated in the creation of these historically important collections. That progression makes the plates more than simply a record of individual patterns—they also preserve the work, style, and interpretation of many of the notable dressers represented in Steelhead Fly Fishing.

Rows 1–4 were tied by Dave McNeese. Rows 5–6 were tied by Steve Brocco.

Row 1: Deschutes Madness, Golden Demon II, Golden Heron, Hilton Spider
Row 2: Knouse, McNeese Madness, Pale Peril, Purple Brat
Row 3: Purple Hilton, Purple Polar Bear Matuka, Purple Prince, Purple Spey
Row 4: Spawning Purple, Spawning Spey, Stratman Fancy, Red Wing
Row 5: Black Witch, Orange Witch, Harlequin Spey, Purple Witch
Row 6: Rusty Rat, Hardy’s Favorite

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.