The Rainbow Smelt

It’s Groundhog Day, sunny, and we all know what that means. Snow is already piled high in Stillwater, but more winter gives us more time to get ready for spring fishing. Even today, folks, flies are being tied in Stillwater.

Meanwhile there’s ice fishing for our rainbow smelt, a tasty little delight for a fine meal or a smoked delicacy. Great numbers of smelt shacks are seen in our shoreline coves and inlets, and life is good in Guysborough County.

The rainbow smelt is also a favourite of large trout in both fresh and saltwater, and many fly patterns have been designed to imitate them. My favourite is inspired by the Ultimate Smelt, a very realistic synthetic pattern developed by Michael Martinek, Jr. of Franklin, Maine, USA. Mike says, in the Art of Angling Journal, Vol. 1 Issue 4,  “Through trial and error, I have produced a smelt imitation that is most life-like and seductive to the fish, and very simple for the angler to tie.”

Mike’s Ultimate Smelt is tied as follows:

Hook               Mike Martinek Rangely streamer, size 1 or 2, 8XL

Body:              Pearl “curling” ribbon. Start at the head & return. Coat with Sally Hanson Megashine. For an interesting variation, wrap holographic ribbon over the curling iron ribbon.                                   

Belly:               Small bunch of fluorescent white “Unique Hair”,
                         extending to the hook point

Wing:              Pale pink “Super Hair” extending just beyond the hook bend. Over this a small bunch of rainbow “Tie-Well Sparkle Flash” as long as the “Super Hair”. Over this, a small bunch of dark green “Unique Hair”. Trim, shape head.

Eyes:              Gold or silver “Stick-On” eyes. Coat with Sally Hanson Megashine when in place. Apply a second coat of SHM in about 1 hour.

Throat:            (Optional) Red nail polish.

Since I lacked some of Mike’s materials, I devised a knock-off, the Stillwater Smelt, using similar ingredients. The fly proved very effective in hooking big sea-run browns, though not in landing them, in 2008. Since these brown trout are notoriously dirty fighters, a similar tube-fly design using a small hook might improve the fly’s holding ability, minimizing hook leverage. The fly should also be effective in freshwater, trolled, or tied in smaller sizes for fly casting.

The Stillwater Smelt is tied as follows:

Hook               Partridge Carrie Stevens CS15, size 2, 10XL.

Thread:           White

Body:              Silver Lagartun Flatbraid, one layer, wrapped back to head.

Belly:               Small bunch of white “Supreme Hair”, or “Big Fly Fibre”,

                        extending to the hook point

Wing:              Pink “Big Fly Fibre” extending just beyond the hook bend. Over this a small bunch of pearl Flashabou, turquoise then olive “Supreme Hair”. Trim, shape head.

Eyes:              Holographic stick-on “Miracle Eyes”. Coat with Dollorama 5-Minute Epoxy, turning until  dry.