Bright Purple Bomber Saddle

Bright Purple Bomber Saddle | Ewing Hackle for Leeches & Poppers

Ask anyone who swings for steelhead in Alaska or the Pacific Northwest what color they tie on when the water turns dark, and you will hear purple. Fish see it as a solid silhouette against the sky, yet it holds a glow that black does not.

The Ewing Bomber Saddle carries that color on genetic rooster feathers long enough to palmer a #2 leech in one feather. The barbules are thick at the base for push and fine at the tip for movement, so the hackle pulses on a slow swing.

Use it for Egg-Sucking Leeches and Woolly Buggers, steelhead and Atlantic salmon wets, bass and peacock bass poppers, and pike and musky collars.

Recipe 1: Purple Egg-Sucking Leech (steelhead, rainbows, salmon)

• Hook: Partridge, #2–#6
• Thread: Semperfli Black 6/0
• Weight: 10 wraps of .020 lead-free wire (optional)
• Tail: Purple marabou, one shank length, with 4 strands of purple Flashabou
• Body: Purple medium chenille
• Hackle: One Bright Purple Bomber Saddle feather, palmered through the body
• Head: Fluorescent pink or orange chenille, 3–4 wraps to form the “egg”

Tying notes: Leave the front quarter of the shank bare for the egg head. Strip the barbules off one side of the hackle before palmering so it lays back and swims instead of standing straight up like a dry fly.

How to fish it: Swing it on a sink-tip through tailouts and walking-speed runs. Cast 45 degrees downstream, throw one upstream mend, then let the line come tight and swing slowly. In Alaska, dead-drift it under an indicator behind spawning king and sockeye salmon, where rainbows and Dolly Varden sit downstream eating eggs and flesh. Let the fish take line on the swing before you lift.

Recipe 2: Purple Night Popper (bass and peacock bass)

• Hook: Gamakatsu B10S or Partridge popper hook, #1/0–#2
• Thread: Semperfli Purple or black 210 denier
• Tail: 4 Bright Purple Bomber Saddle feathers, splayed outward two per side, with purple Krystal Flash
• Collar: One Bright Purple Bomber Saddle feather, wrapped 4–5 turns at the back of the body
• Body: Pre-shaped foam popper head, black or purple, glued with Zap-A-Gap
• Legs: Black or purple rubber legs, 2 per side
• Eyes: 3D stick-on eyes

Tying notes: Splay the tail feathers so they kick outward and quiver on the pause. Wrap the collar thick: it seals the gap between the tail and foam so the popper sheds water and sits low. That low ride gives a deeper “bloop.”

How to fish it: Fish it from dusk into full dark on a floating line, close to lily pads, docks, laydowns and weed edges. Pop once, let the rings settle completely, then pop again. Purple gives bass a clean silhouette against the night sky. Wait until you feel weight before setting; night bass often miss the first strike. For peacock bass, speed it up and make it spit.