You never forget your first time. For me, it wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties. I had been stood up often, but I persisted, and finally, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, on December 11, 1987, the consummation that I had yearned for so long finally occurred. She was breathtaking — 30 or maybe 32, dressed in silver lace. She had a beautiful, round nose. A faint blush of rose delicately colored her cheeks. She had played hard to get, but hooking up with her forever changed my life.
Those memories of my first adult hen steelhead will brighten my days all the way to the grave. We were brought together by the Boss — a fly called the Boss, that is, not by Bruce Springsteen. I still carry the pattern in my fly box, and you should add it to yours. Here is how to tie this classic.
Place a size 8, 2X-long extra strong down-eye hook in the vise and mount black 3/0 thread a little behind the eye. Tie in a pair of bead chain eyes and figure-eight them in place. Be careful to leave a space between the hook eye and the bead chain. Cut about a five-inch length of silver tinsel, attach it to the hook a little behind the bead chain eyes, wrap over it rearward back to the bend, secure it, and leave the extra tinsel hanging. Advance the thread forward again to just behind the bead chain eyes and tie in the tail — a small bunch of dark purple or black (the classic color) calf tail long enough to extend beyond the hook bend about one and a half times the length of the hook shank.
To make the body, cut about six inches of medium black chenille and strip off a shank’s length of the fuzz, exposing the thread underneath. Attach the naked chenille core a little behind the bead chain eyes and secure it with thread wraps back to the bend. Then tightly wrap the chenille forward to a little behind the eye and tie it off. Spiral the silver tinsel like a barber pole up to the bead chain eyes and tie it off. Leave the bobbin hanging there.
Choose an orange saddle hackle and strip the lower barbules away from the stem. Tie in the bare stem behind the bead chain eyes, wrapping the thread back a little and then forward over the stem. Now make four or six turns of hackle forward to tight against the bead chain and secure it with a few turns of thread. Snip away the excess feather. Advance the thread in front of the eyes to the hook eye, whip finish, cement the head, and you’re done
You are now face to face with the Boss. It’s good at arranging hookups. Give it a chance during the next steelhead run. Be persistent, and you, too, might encounter a beautiful girl who will steal your heart.
— Andy Guibord
