Parks' Salmon Fly

By Merton Parks, Parks' Fly Shop, Gardiner, Montana, 1950s, submitted by Mike Cline.

Description

The Parks Salmon was created by Merton Parks of Parks Fly Shop, Gardiner, Montana as an alternative pattern to the Sofa Pillow Salmon Fly (Pat Barnes, 1940s). The pattern improves on the Sofa Pillow pattern with a ribbed, beefy yarn body instead of floss, buoyant deer hair for the tail and wing instead of feathers and squirrel tail. The pattern was widely acclaimed by angler Dan Bailey of Livingston, MT. Although the original was tied with Tangerine yarn, yellow can be used on smaller hook sizes to replicate the Golden Stone Fly (Photo #3). Moose or Elk can be substituted for deer body hair as well.

Materials

• Body: Furnace hackle clipped rib
• Body: Tangerine yarn
• Hackle: Furnace Hackle
• Tag/Tail: Stacked deer body hair
• Thread: UTC 140 Black
• Wing: Stacked deer body hair

Hooks

• Firehole 718 #4 - #8 Barbless

Target species: Trout

Fly types: Dry Fly