Van Sant Steelhead Fly

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Van Sant Steelhead Fly.

Van Sant Steelhead Fly | www.riverkeeperflies.com

The fly pattern is found in John Shewey’s Classic Steelhead Flies, page 178.

Shewey attributes this steelhead fly to Josh Van Sant, Jr. (1861-1950) of Eureka, CA.

The fly is remeniscent of popular trout wet flies of the early to mid-1900s, namely those found in Ray Bergman’s Trout. In fact, the fly is similar to the Scarlet Ibis, but tied with peacock for the body.

Materials

Hook:

Steelhead iron

Tail:

Red hackle fibers

Body:

Peacock herl

Hackle:

Red schlappen

Wing:

Red goose primary section

Tied on a size 6 Mustad 36980.

Enjoy…go fish!

(John Kreft is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.)

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