Published Mar 8. 2019 - 5 years ago
Updated or edited Mar 8. 2019

Pacific Northwest Streamer Conversions

A small series of flies from Roy Patrick's pattern book converted into streamers

Roy Patrick conversions
Roy Patrick conversions
Dean Endress

"Pacific Northwest Fly Patterns" was a charming fly pattern book self published by the late Roy Patrick, original owner of Patrick's Fly Shop in Seattle, Washington state.
Patrick opened the shop in 1946 and it is still in business.

The book was a comb bounded

paperback, and the original manuscript is hand typed and is accompanied by somewhat crude ballpoint pen drawings of a number of the patterns.
There were a number of editions, the first one from the 1950's and continuing into the early 1970's. The first edition from 1953 contained a mere 50 pages. The 1970 enlarged edition, which I own, has 142 pages, so it's obvious that Patrick updated it over the years. The 1970 edition is divided into five chapters: Nymphs, Regular Flies, Steelhead Flies, Argentine Flies and British Columbia.
As crude as the book seems by today's standard of professionally printed fly fishing books, in its day it was considered a mainstay for fly fishers in the greater Northwest and beyond, and that lasted well into the late 70's.

The book
The book
Patrick's Fly Shop

I acquired my first copy

in the mid 70's. It was great, as it listed so many patterns, many that I heard of, but a great deal more I never knew about. I tied up a number of the patterns and found that they produced well for me in my fishing of the day. The trout I targeted in the Sierra Nevada liked many of the patterns, and nearer my home in Los Angeles I found that the bass and bluegill in Malibu State Park (where the TV series “MASH” was filmed) loved many of the patterns as well. It was a handy book to have then – and it still is today.

I'm following a tradition

first started on Raske's Streamer page prior to its merger with the Global FlyFisher. There Raske wrote an article about converting traditional and popular Atlantic salmon patterns into streamer form. This “converting” theme continued after joining GFF with an article about converting Ray Bergman wet flies into streamers. I thought it would be fun to convert a number of the patterns featured in the “Regular Flies” chapter of the above mentioned book into streamers.

The patterns I chose

are all called Wetflies in the book, The patterns I selected are mostly hairwings, a couple have Saddle Hackle or Marabou wings. I choose not to tie any pattern where the original called for a quill wing, and I switched it to a hair wing or saddle hackle wing. I did take the liberty of switching to Bucktail or Squirrel tail if the pattern called for calf tail or polar bear. I did do simple changes in materials to keep a slimmer profile on some of the patterns.
The hook listed is the streamer conversion choice, thread choice is my personal preference. Other than those changes, I stayed as true to the original dressings as possible.

In no particular order

here's the 10 patterns I converted to streamers:

Ebb Fly

Ebb Fly
Ebb Fly
Dean Endress
Ebb Fly
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 79580, sizes 6 thru 12
Thread
Danville 70 Denier (6/0) Flymaster Plus, black, waxed
Body
Peacock herl, medium to full
Wing
Red bucktail over equal amount of white bucktail. The wing should be almost 2 times shank length


The pattern is listed as good for Rainbows and Cutthroats.

Black Wag

Black Wag
Black Wag
Dean Endress
Black Wag
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 3665A or Daiichi 2340, sizes 6 thru 12
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster plus, black waxed
Body
Fine or medium black chenille, depending on hook size
Hackle
Black saddle, 4 turns
Wing
Black marabou plume, body length


Designed by Leon Wagner of the Washington State Flyfishers, for Lenice lake in eastern Washington. A leech type pattern (but works well even with no leeches around). Said to be good for rainbows (and I can add browns and bass).

Pass Lake

Pass Lake
Pass Lake
Dean Endress
Pass Lake
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 3665A or Daiichi 2340, sizes 4 thru 10
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster plus, Fl. Fire orange , waxed
Tail
Yellow hackle fibers
Rib
Flat silver tinsel, fine or small
Body
Fl. fire orange floss, slight taper
Hackle
Yellow saddle hackle, 4 turns
Wing
White marabou, full plume


Designed for Pass lake, Washington State. Pass Lake was the first fly-fishing only lake in the state. An interesting note: the dressing lists the hackle prior to tying in the wing, yet the crude drawing shows the hackle looking like a collar tied in after the wing. I have always tied my Pass Lakes with the collar version. The photo shows the collared version.

American Lake

American Lake
American Lake
Dean Endress
American Lake
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 3665A or Daiichi 2340, sizes 4 thru 10
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster Plus, Black, waxed
Tail
Red hackle fibers
Body
Peacock herl , with a red floss center a la "Royal Coachman"
Wing
White saddle hackle, 2 each side
Hackle
Yellow saddle, 4 turns, fibers longer than normal


Perfected at American Lake in Washington state, though it works elsewhere. Basically a Royal Coachman streamer with a Yellow hackle collar.

Peacock Streamer

Peacock Streamer
Peacock Streamer
Dean Endress
Peacock Streamer
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 79580, sizes 4 thru 12
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster Plus, black, waxed
Tail
Brown hackle fibers
Body
Peacock herl, medium size
Hackle
Brown saddle, 4 to 5 turns
Wing
Peacock sword, 10-12 fibers tied over back
Skill level/difficulty: 
Easy


A neutral pattern that works well. Good for rainbows and cutthroat. Browns like it as well.

Black Demon

Black Demon
Black Demon
Dean Endress
Black Demon
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 3665A or Daiichi 2340, #4 thru #10
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster Plus, black, waxed
Tail
Golden pheasant tippet fibers
Body
Hot Orange yarn (I use Uni Yarn Orange)
Hackle
Hot orange saddle, 4-5 turns
Wing
Black bucktail or black squirrel
Cheeks
Jungle cock


Said to work great for large trout in lakes or rivers.

Dorris Special

Dorris Special
Dorris Special
Dean Endress
Dorris Special
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 3665A or Daiichi 2340, #4 thru #12
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster Plus, black, waxed
Tail
Golden pheasant tippet fibers
Hackle
Black saddle, palmered over body
Body
Flat gold tinsel, medium or small depending on hook size
Wing
Natural brown bucktail


Apparently first used on Oregon’s Deschutes River, but effective in other rivers and streams. Resembles the Picket Pin patterns a good deal.

Little John

Little John
Little John
Dean Endress
Little John
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 3665A or Daiichi 2340, sizes 6 thru 12
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster plus, black, waxed
Body
Medium or small flat gold tinsel
Wing
Red squirrel tail
Cheeks
Jungle cock (not called for in the book, but I like them)


A very simple pattern, but very effective. I’ve caught browns, rainbows, brooks, bass and quality bluegill on this pattern. I will often omit the jungle cock and paint eyes (yellow iris/black pupil) on the thread head. Either method is good.

Yellow Hammer

Yellow Hammer
Yellow Hammer
Dean Endress
Yellow Hammer
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 3665A or Daiichi 2340, #4 thru #10
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster Plus, yellow, waxed
Tag
Flat silver tinsel
Body
Yellow chenille, fine or medium
Hackle
Red hackle, 4 wraps
Wing
White bucktail


Originated by Everett & Mary Bundt of Arlington, WA. Designed for Stilliguamish River sea run cutthroat.

Thunder Mountain

Thunder Mountain
Thunder Mountain
Dean Endress
Thunder Mountain
Pattern type: 
Streamer
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 3665A or Daiichi 2340, sizes 6 thru 12
Thread
Danville 70 denier Flymaster Plus Black, waxed
Tail
Red hackle fibers
Rib
Flat silver tinsel, medium or small per hook size
Body
Red floss, medium taper
Hackle
Red and black, 2 turns each
Wing
White bucktail


Recommended for fast streams. Effective on rainbows and cutthroats.

Comments

Streamer Conversions...

I've done this for years and it's a lot of fun to convert flies from one usage to another. One of my favorite sources of inspiration was the book "Fly Patterns of Alaska" , a compilation of the Alaska Fly Fishers from Amato Publications. Many of those salmon ad saltwater patterns can be tweaked into wonderful, down-sized largemouth bass streamer patterns for Pennsylvania lakes.

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