Skater Of The Month For September 2017: Rick's Gold (Natural Version)

My good friend Rick Fielder is a big fan of utilizing gold in his surface flies stemming from his long term success with muddlers.  Rick felt that the gold tinsel body on a muddler was strike trigger so he is always confident when there is some gold in his flies.

Rick introduced me to his gold skater last year and with the success he experienced on our trip to the North Umpqua, I decided to tie some gold skaters of my own.  Sure enough, I found immediate success using gold on both the NU and on my homewater.

I faded away from using gold when other color combos like the Ninja came into play, but after a fellow orderd some gold skaters from me recently,  I started revisting tying more gold skaters for myself.

I recalled Rick's confidence in muddlers so I decided to try using natural cow elk and tan foam.  The combination of the flash of gold with somber natural elk and tan foam looks like a winning blend to me.  Will see if the fall season provides any data.