Kingfisher Blue Mallard Spey

Kingfisher Blue Mallard Spey Feathers

Kingfisher blue is the light, bright blue that shows up in the throat of half the classic salmon flies worth tying. The Blue Charm, the Silver Blue, the Thunder and Lightning. A little bit of it goes a long way, and a fly without it sometimes just looks unfinished.

Twelve jumbo kingfisher blue mallard spey feathers per pack, hand-picked for steelhead and salmon tiers. Pull fibers for throats, wrap them as a collar, or strip them for a wing on a low-water fly.

Long, clean, barred, and all 12 are tying-grade.

Recipe 1: Blue Charm Spey

• Hook: Size 4 to 8 low-water salmon hook, black
• Thread: Black 8/0
• Tag: Fine oval silver tinsel and yellow floss
• Tail: Golden pheasant crest
• Body: Black floss
• Rib: Fine oval silver tinsel
• Collar: Kingfisher Blue Mallard Spey, two turns, swept back
• Wing: Bronze mallard or Natural Mallard Spey strips, low over the body
• Head: Black

How to fish it: The Blue Charm is the low, clear water fly for summer Atlantic salmon and steelhead. Fish it small on a floating line with a long, light leader. Cast down and across and let it swing just under the film. In bright sun and low water, go down a size before you change colors.

Recipe 2: Silver Blue Low-Water

• Hook: Size 4 to 8 low-water salmon hook
• Thread: Black 8/0
• Tag: Fine oval silver tinsel
• Tail: Golden pheasant crest
• Body: Flat silver tinsel
• Rib: Fine oval silver tinsel
• Throat: Kingfisher Blue Mallard Spey, a sparse beard of fibers
• Wing: Heron Grey or Natural Mallard Spey strips, short and sparse
• Head: Black

How to fish it:

A baitfish-flash fly for bright fish fresh from the salt. Fish it on a floating or intermediate line in tailouts and the lower ends of pools, where new fish stop to rest. A slightly faster swing works; fresh fish will chase a fly that looks like it’s getting away.