This month's featured skater is my newest color blend. I had some purple foam and purple cow elk laying around and finally decided to experiment until I got colors together that make these components pop. I tied various combos incorporating chartreuse, blue, pink, cerise, etc. By the time I had these variations done, I had about a dozen flies so I decided to gift them to Dave Fineran, communications director for the Fly Fishing Collaborative, for his bachelor fishing weekend on the North Umpqua beginning on March 18, 2016.
When Dave looked through the assortment of flies, the purple and chartreuse immediately spoke to him. The only thing he noted was that the version I had used blue holographic flashabou and he thought using purple holographic flashabou would make the ultimate color blend to his eye. His confidence colors for summer steelhead tends to be combinations of purple and chartreuse.
When I got home later that day, I decided to tie the fly with the purple holographic flashabou as Dave had suggested and that did it, I realized that I found another color blend that I would stick with where the colors just pop the way I like. With Dave's input and the incredible work that FFC does, I decided to name this version "The Collaborative", in honor of Dave and the Fly Fishing Collaborative.
April is "tweener time" for me with winter steelhead winding down and summer steelhead just barely starting. I'm spending some time tying some micro skaters for trout as I transition into spring.
Wishing you all a great spring season. The "skater season" is around the corner!
