Orange – Orange Black Disco Legs

Disco Legs Orange with Orange Black Fake Silicone Fly Tying Legs

Every June on Montana’s big rivers, grown men lose their minds over a bug the size of a cigar. I’ve seen a client fall out of my drift boat during the salmonfly hatch because he stood up to watch a trout eat his neighbor’s fly. He was fine. The trout was not impressed.

Nature’s Spirit Disco Legs in Orange – Orange Black are the leg for that kind of madness. A hot orange base with orange and black flake that copies the banded legs of big stoneflies and the glow of October caddis. Steelhead and salmon tiers know the other secret: orange triggers aggression in fish that aren’t even hungry.

Silicone stays soft in cold fall and winter water, so your Intruder legs breathe on the swing instead of hanging like wet noodles.

Best for: trout (salmonfly, golden stone, October caddis), steelhead, Pacific and Atlantic salmon, smallmouth bass, sunfish, and permit when tied on crabs.

Recipe 1: Grumpy’s Disco Salmonfly (trout)

• Hook: Partridge 3XL dry fly or streamer hook, size 4 to 6
• Thread: Semperfli Classic Waxed Orange 6/0
• Body: Orange foam strip, 2mm, extended past the bend and segmented with thread
• Underbody: Orange dubbing
• Wing: Elk hair over a few strands of pearl Krystal Flash
• Overwing: Brown or black foam strip, 2mm, folded over to form the head
• Legs: Orange – Orange Black Disco Legs, 2 strands per side at mid-body and 2 at the head
• Hackle (optional): Brown saddle, palmered through the thorax

Tying: Dub a short underbody. Tie the orange foam on top and segment it with thread back to the bend and forward again. Tie in the elk hair wing at the two-thirds point. Add the first pair of legs. Tie in the dark foam overwing and fold it forward to make a bullet head. Tie in the second pair of legs at the head tie-down. Trim legs to body length.

How to fish it: Slap it down tight to the bank. Real salmonflies hit the water like they’ve been thrown out of a bar, so don’t be delicate. Dead drift along undercut banks and willow edges. When a dead drift goes unanswered, give it a twitch so the legs jump. Run a 6- to 9-foot 0X or 1X leader. Trout don’t care about tippet during the hatch.

Recipe 2: Disco Orange Intruder (steelhead, salmon)

• Shank: 35mm or 40mm Intruder shank
• Trailer wire: Braided wire or 30 lb Fireline, with a size 2 octopus hook
• Thread: Orange 210 denier
• Rear hackle: Orange ostrich herl, wrapped as a collar
• Front body: Orange UV chenille
• Front hackle: Orange schlappen, then orange and black ostrich
• Legs: Orange – Orange Black Disco Legs, 3 strands per side at the rear collar and 3 per side up front
• Eyes: Small bead-chain or dumbbell

Tying: Rig the trailer loop and hook. Build the rear ostrich collar and tie in the first leg bunch so it sweeps back past the hook. Wrap the UV chenille forward. Add schlappen and ostrich, then the second leg set. Tie in eyes at the head and finish.

How to fish it: Swing it on a sink-tip, quartering down and across. Mend once to slow the fly, then let it come across the current seam slow and broadside. The legs pulse on every change in current. When you feel the grab, don’t strike. Let the fish turn and take line. Steelhead will hammer an orange Intruder in cold, off-color water when they ignore everything else.