Silver Doctor Salmon Fly

I am a big fan of trawling through a cracking website called Feathers, Flies and Phantoms which is dedicated to classic salmon flies and their history. I am fascinated by the stories behind these flies and find myself harking back to the days of old and imagining the anglers who would be out on the rivers fishing with them. The website is a wealth of knowledge and it is out in an easy to follow way. I'd highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the traditional salmon flies and dressings.

My 2nd attempt at a married wing Silver Doctor. 

My 1st attempt at a Sliver Doctor I tied a few weeks back.

I have always wanted to tie classic salmon flies myself so I set out to attempt to tie a Silver Doctor first as it is one of my favorite patterns. The first one I attempted was tied only using the materials I had to hand but with the help Phil Glendinning and advice from Kenny Maciver, I have got to this stage. This tying is a vast improvement on my first tying of the fly as you can see but there is still along way to go before I can confidentially say I managed no problem. This fly took about 5 hours to tie. It took me numerous attempts to tie in the married wing. They guys on the videos on YouTube make it look so simple. I can assure you it not! I'm only too aware that there is still plenty of room for improvement but overall I am quite pleased with how this fly turned out given that it was only my second ever try at a married wing fly. We shall see what the salmon think of it later on in the season when it will be going for a swim in the River Dee.

Classic Salmon Flies

I recently received some Classic Salmon Flies for fishing from a fantastic tier and gentleman based in Canada called Marc Le Blanc. He sent me some Silver and Black Doctors, White and Cinnamon winged Akroyds, a Jock Scott and a Lady Caroline. All are tied to a fantastic standard and in my opinion would look better in frames than tied to a leader! Enjoy!

White Winged Akroyd with Invercauld Bridge in the background.

Cinnamon Winged Akroyd on the Suspension Bridge at Mar Lodge.

Silver Doctor perched on a rock with Linn O' Dee bridge behind.

Black Doctor on the Mar Lodge bridge with the River Dee in the background.

Jock Scott with Mar Lodge house. Probably one of the most famous fishing flies of all time?

Lady Caroline sitting on a Silver Birch tree at Linn O' Dee. This fly is believed to be named after Lady Caroline Gordon Lennox of Gordon Castle situated on the banks of the River Spey near Fochabers. I'm fishing on the Brae Water this coming March so she will be getting a swim on the waters of her origin.