Colorado Yellow Sally

The guy who turned me on to Bass fishing a little over a year ago comes to me a couple of months ago and says, “I’m going fly fishing in Colorado in September”.  I was a little upset at first that I wasn’t invited. I mean he knows I was obsessed with fly fishing for years before he talked me into buying a bait caster, some plastic worms, and some spinner baits.  

 

Small Stream Addict.  Photo By Joel Tomaszewski

I’m the bigger man though (this is my self-assessment others are not so kind), so I offered to teach him what I know and put some of my equipment out there for loan.  He decided on some practice with another friend’s rod at a lake house and what his buddies couldn’t supply they bought for him.  If those are the kind of guys going on this trip, I was really jealous.  The fly fishing trip of a lifetime with a good group of guys, what more could a man ask for.  

One day he lets me know that he ordered all the flies from the list that his buds gave him except for the Yellow Sally.  The Little Yellow Stone fly was out of stock.  This was my opportunity and I wasn’t going to let it slip by.  It was my obligation; No, it was my duty to make sure that my friend had the flies that he needed for his trip.  One of my hand tied flies could go on a trip to Colorado and if I was lucky there might even be a picture of a trout with my fly in its mouth, where do I sign up. 

Yellow Sally

I know a thing or two about the Yellow Sally.  It’s a versatile fly pattern that can be fished matching the hatch or blind.  The fish, especially the browns and small stream brookies in our northern Michigan Rivers, just can’t pass one up when presented just right.  Presentation is another beauty of the Yellow Sally, it never has to be “Just Right” or completely drag free.  You can often twitch it, skitter it across the top, drag it, or sink it and it will still get a rise; the perfect fly for the novice.  

The Yellow Sally is also a good fly for me to tie because I tie ugly flies.  My body dubbing is never quite proportional, the wings are usually off a little, and the hackle is never really turned right.  The Yellow Sally is a bushy fly though and the fish never seem to notice.  I usually do a little stream side, scissor surgery to get the fly to ride high on its hackle.  

I pulled out my fly tying gear, that’s been in storage for almost two years, and tied up a half dozen little yellow stones for my friend.  It took me three innings of a good Detroit Tigers game and two cold beers to tie those flies.  My friend thanked me and put them in his fly box.  Those flies are in Colorado right now, probably making their way down a pretty little mountain stream.  And the only way I could get more joy out of those six flies is if I fished them myself.