??? cardinal

[Glenn Parkin]

I was salmon fishing last week in New Brunswick on the Mirimichi river ( no luck unfortunately) and I was talking to a older gentleman who was saying that when the fishing used to be this light he always, as a last resort threw a fly he called "The Cardinal". Lost a few years ago to a salmon. It was given to him and all he remembers about it was that it was red with yellow in it. I have been trying to find info on it but can't. Does anyone know of a salmon fly called "The Cardinal"

Thanks in advance

[Sarunas_St]

Looks like this fly do not exist!
For fun I searched through all my known ways- there were no cardinals..

[Martin Joergensen]

Glenn,

The Cardinal implies that we're talking a red pattern. Everything that has to do with cardinals (clergymen, sports teams, birds) is red, and might the fly not be red also?

I dug into my books and looked for the Cardinal, and found a reference for it in Terry Hellekson's impressing Fish Flies. This encyclopedia refers you to the pattern Scarlet Ibis, which is tied like this:

Thread: red
Tail: red hackle fibers
Rib: embossed gold tinsel
Body: red wool
Hackle: red tied as a throat hackle
Wing: red bucktail
Head: red

The fly was originally a classical wet fly tied with Ibis feathers and had a feather wing. If you search the web for "scarlet ibis fly pattern" you will find several references.

Here's a link to the Orange Ibis, which is a lot like the Scarlet Ibis with a feather wing:
http://donbastianwetflies.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/42/

Here's a link to the fly named the Cardinal, still with a feather wing:
http://www.flytyingforum.com/pattern7692.html

Hope this helps

Martin

[Donald Nicolson]

I am a bit late with this info, having just got back to GFF.
This recipe for the Cardinal is in Bergman's 'Trout'.

Body: White chenille.
Hackle: White.
Wing: Cardinal red.

It is a typical North American wet fly and very simple to dress.
Bigger hook for salmon,
smaller for trout.