A winter and spring fly

A winter and spring fly

I know this is an extremely popular fly, but I had a ton of success with the Rainbow Warrior this winter and early spring.  It seems to work well for me in the darker water of freestone streams in MA, and I often tie them in sizes 20 or smaller.

In many cases, I don’t have even have all the materials to tie a by-the-book warrior, so I’ll just use what I have.  I find that it works just as well with different materials.  I used to be so concerned about having all the proper materials, but these days I work with whatever I have on hand until I can get to my local fly shop.

 

Here’s an example of the “Rainbow Warrior” I recently tied a few of with the recipe below.  I find that the fire orange thread really shines through the opal tinsel and serves as a good attraction for feeding trout.

Recipe:

Hook:  Size 22 with silver/gold bead

Thread: 8/0 Fire Orange

Body: Mirage Opal Tinsel

Collar: Peacock Dub

That’s it!  I’ve never tried one larger than a #20 hook, but I supposed they’d work just as well on certain streams.

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