Storm Day in Stillwater

As I write this, on Saturday evening, we’re being warned by the weather service of an approaching snowstorm. After a run to the liquor store we’re prepared for the worst, we think. We’ve all committed those checklists for storm survival preparation to memory, and, like most Canadians, we’ve come through some epic winter storms in our time. If experience is the most important requirement for the job, Canadians are well qualified!

My rule is, make good use of a storm day. When we were school kids we certainly enjoyed an unscheduled holiday, so why not now?  We can do some of those things we never get the time to do otherwise, inside, at home, of course.  My plan is to tie a classic salmon fly, something I rarely get a chance to do, but thoroughly enjoy.

When Sunday arrives, the storm isn’t really bad, by our standards. But bad enough to call it a storm day and proceed with the plan. The fly I’m tying is an Atlantic salmon fly called the Beauly Snow Fly. Its pattern is found in a very old British book by Francis Francis called A Book on Angling, published in 1867. It was Francis Francis who said, “Some fishing is better than others, but there is no such thing as bad fishing.”

Mr. Francis writes “There is a singular fly used on the Beauly (Scotland), which is termed the Snow Fly, and as long as there is any snow water on the river that fly kills well; far better indeed than any other.” A Mr. Snowie of Inverness is credited as the originator of the fly. In my opinion, it should work well for our late autumn salmon fishing in Nova Scotia. A simple fly, though a “classic”, it shouldn’t intimidate anyone from tying it for fishing, using a modern eyed hook, of course. All materials required are inexpensive and available locally, and the fly has certainly stood up well to the test of time. So, as the snow flies in Stillwater, here’s the Beauly Snow Fly.

The Beauly Snow Fly:

Thread:          Wapsi GSP thread, 50 Denier, white

Hook:              Partridge Bartleet Traditional size 2/0, made about ½” longer than normal by heating and straightening the looped hook eye.

Hook Eye:      Silkworm gut twisted, 2 heavy strands.

Ribbing:         Seven turns of large flat silver tinsel followed by gold twist.

Body:              Light blue seal fur (Francis used pig’s wool)

Body Hackle: From the fourth turn of tinsel, black Spey hackle as long in fibre as the hook or longer. The new Whiting farms Spey hackle is a perfect substitute for Francis’ heron hackle.

Wing:              A large bunch of bronze peacock herl.

Head:             A ruff of hot orange seal fur (Francis used mohair), giving a brilliant and unusual look to the fly. The head, forward of this, is finished with black 8/0 Unithread and 2 applications of Angler’s Corner wet head cement

Please stay on the line …