Saltwater Shiner

Although St Mary’s River’s legendary angler Eddie Wadden passed on over 20 years ago, I can still hear him spinning his fantastic fishing yarns. One of my favourites was his tale about hooking a cow on his back cast while fly fishing for salmon on the lower Stewiacke River.

He told of playing the cow as they chased around the field and how, after several hours, he stood his ground until the cow was played right out. When asked what he did then, Eddie replied, “I did the only thing a true sportsman could do – I milked her and let her go!”

Those were the days when Eddie and a very few others learned how to catch large sea-run brown trout on artificial flies at Guysborough County’s Salmon River. Large streamers imitated the minnows found there in abundance and sinking fly lines fished their flies effectively in heavy tidal currents. Today we use saltwater flies to imitate baby mackerel, gaspereau, and herring, smelt, shiners, sand eels, elvers, and shrimp.

Here’s a fly for these browns, as tied by retired St. Mary’s River guide Ray Buckland of Newtown, Guysborough County:

Saltwater Shiner

Hook –             Stainless steel saltwater hook, size 1/0.

Thread –           White

Tail assembly -  A pair of dark feathers cut to a fish tail shape and tied back-to-back to a 4” piece
of 30 lb monofilament.
Slide a 4” piece of silver Mylar tubing over the mono & tie off at the feather tail.

Throat –            White bucktail, or synthetic hair such as Big Fly Fibre, tied on the underside of the hook at the tail position 

Body –             Tie the assembled tail section to the hook.  Finish the body with silver Diamond Braid.

Wing –              4 peacock herls, or dark bucktail, or synthetic hair over white bucktail or
synthetic hair such as Big Fly Fibre, to imitate the dark back of the shiner

Eyes -               Stick-on eyes

Gills -                Red permanent marker              

Head -               White thread with 5 Minute Epoxy over head, eyes, and gills

Please stay on the line …