Alder Fly

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Alder Fly.

Alder Fly | www.johnkreft.com

This fly is an old English fly pattern that is hundreds of years old. In fact, some quick Internet research suggests it may have been developed around 1496 when it was included in Dame Juliana Berners first fly fishing book Fysshe and Fysshynge.

I wonder if there is a similar fly in one of my Antique Fly Wallets. Other old fly wallets can be found at Antique Fly Wallets Revisited. I’ll have to check.

I have to be honest. I’ve never fished this fly. Found it and if I were to fish if, I’d do so during a caddis hatch.

I think it would catch fish!

Similar Posts

  • Sheep Creek Special TBT

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Sheep Creek Special. I found the fly was developed by George Biggs of Jerome, Idaho in the 1960’s where he fished it at Sheep Creek Reservoir on the Nevada/Idaho border. Some say the Sheep Creek Special imitates leeches is larger sizes and midges in smaller sizes. It might…

  • Freight Train

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is another steelhead fly pattern – the Freight Train. This fly was the creation of Randall Kaufmann. The Freight Train was developed along the Deschutes River where the railroad track follows the river for many miles. Other steelhead fly patterns were developed with the railroad theme…Coal Car, Signal Light, and…

  • Max Canyon

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Max Canyon steelhead fly. It was developed by Doug Stewart in the early 1970’s. Our fly club has an outing in Max Canyon on the Deschutes River next week to fish for steelhead and I thought it timely to highlight this fly. You may have seen it spelled differently…Macks…

  • Harrop’s CDC Rusty Paraspinner

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Harrop’s CDC Rusty Paraspinner. I hope you were able to read a recent post, Importance of Imitating Mayfly Spinners. Since I’ve been thinking about spinners for a few days, I thought I’d find one to feature in a TBT post. Harrop’s CDC Rusty Paraspinner was created by Bonnie…

  • Parachute Adams

    This week’s TBT fly is the Parachute Adams. I’m sure you’ve used this highly effective fly. It originally was known as a Gyro fly and sold by William Mills & Son of New York. I’ve read where it was patented by William Avery Bush of Detroit MI in 1934. One entry stated Bush patented a…

  • Black Gordon

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Black Gordon. I found this fly in one of my steelhead fly boxes and thought it would be a good candidate for a TBT Fly. The Black Gordon is a well-known steelhead fly pattern developed on the North Umpqua River in the 1930’s by Clarence Gordon, a…

2 Comments

  1. Hi John,

    The Alder Fly tied as a wet fly and also as a streamer has long been a favorite. Al’s largest river trout (in his life) was taken on an Alder Fly wet-style pattern from the Clark Fork River in north Idaho in 1988. We like to tie the streamer version with a brown or white calf tail wing. Take care & …
    Tight Lines – (Gretchen &) Al Beatty

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the comment Al!

      Your comment is EXACTLY why I enjoy posting older flies. It seems to strike chords/memories in fly fishers and I’m the recipient of their stories! I really enjoy them.

      Thanks again.

      John

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *