Clark's Stonefly Salmonfly - RiverKeeper Flies

Here is the fly pattern sheet for the Clark’s Stonefly Salmonfly version.

Clark's Stone - Salmonfly | www.johnkreft.com

Bottom view

Materials

Hook:

Daiichi 1270, TMC 5212 #8 – 4

Thread:

Danville 6/0, fire orange

Body:

Gold flay mylar or tinsel

Underwing:

Variegated rust poly yarn

Wing:

Deer hair

Hackle:

Brown, 6 – 10 wraps

Description

Start the thread behind the eye and lay down a thread base on the shank to just above the barb of the hook.
Tie in a length of tinsel at the barb and spiral the thread forward to the 1/3 position. Wind the tinsel forward using touching turns. Tie off the tinsel and trim excess. (Optional – add head cement or super glue to hook before wrapping forward for additional strength.)
Comb and blend poly yarn and tie atop the hook at the front of the body. Trim the yarn about a hook gape beyond the bend of the hook. Trim the tag end of the poly yarn at the front. (I used 4 strands of poly yarn for a #4 hook.)
Select and clean a bundle of deer or elk hair. Stack hair if you like, but Lee Clark recommends not stacking. Place the hair wing over the poly yarn with the tips of the wing extending 1/4 inch beyond the end of the yarn. Secure the wing in place with thread wraps and trim the butts down to a taper. Cover the tapered butts with thread wraps to form a smooth, tapered base for the hackle.
Select a hackle feather sized to the hook and tie it in at the front of the wing. Wind the hackle feather forward 6 – 10 turns. Tie off and trim.
Form a neat tapered thread head and whip-finish.
Cut a V-notch at the bottom of the hackle to give a lower profile when the fly sits on the water.

Here is a link to my RiverKeeper Flies YouTube channel where I demonstrate tying Clark’s Lady Stone. The only difference is an added tail. The fly shown in the video imitate a Golden Stone.

Note: This is a style of fly that can be used for any stonefly (e.g., Little Yellow Stone, Little Green Stone, Salmonfly). Coordinate the thread and body color, changing the thread to match the underwing. Use Variegated Rust, Gold, Orange or Green underwings to match these flies.

This fly is designed to sit low in the water. To help float the fly in faster water, add an extra turn or two of hackle.

Check out Lee’s new version of the Golden Stone…Clark’s Lady Stone or the original Clark’s Golden Stone.

Lee gave me this pin from the 1988 Sportsman Show during the 50th Anniversary of the IFFF.