Orange Scott Biron Signature Series

Orange Scott Biron Signature Series Ewing Streamer Hackle

Orange is the color of a spawning brook trout’s belly and the color of the oldest tarpon flies in the box. Both fish eat it for reasons nobody fully understands, and both eat it hard. Orange Scott Biron Signature Series hackle gives you that color on long, straight Ewing streamer saddles with a slim profile and enough web to move.

New England streamer tyers have leaned on orange for fall patterns since the Rangeley era. Orange and yellow saddles have been a standard tarpon color scheme in the Florida Keys for decades. One patch covers both traditions.

Use the long feathers for streamer wings and tarpon tails. Use the short ones for throats and wound collars.

Recipe 1: Fall Brookie Streamer (Rangeley style)

• Hook: Partridge 6X–8X long streamer, #4–#8
• Thread: Black 8/0
• Tag: Flat gold tinsel
• Body: Orange floss, thin
• Rib: Flat gold tinsel
• Belly: Sparse white bucktail, then sparse orange bucktail over it
• Throat: Orange and white hen fibers mixed
• Wing: 2 Orange Biron saddles flanked by 1 black saddle each side
• Cheeks: Jungle cock (optional)
• Head: Black with an orange band

Tying note: Orange, white and black mirror a fall brook trout’s fins. Big brookies attack it out of aggression, not hunger.

Recipe 2: Orange & Yellow Splayed Tarpon Fly (saltwater)

• Hook: Saltwater stainless, 2/0–3/0
• Thread: Fluorescent red flat-waxed 210D
• Tail: 2 yellow saddles inside, 2 Orange Biron saddles outside, splayed outward, 2–3 times hook length
• Flash: 4 strands gold flash between tail feathers
• Collar: 1 Orange Biron saddle and 1 yellow saddle wound together, dense
• Head: Red thread coated with UV resin

Tying note: This is the classic orange-and-yellow tarpon color scheme. Splay the feathers so they kick on every strip and close on the pause.

How to fish Orange

Fall brook trout: From September through spawning, swing the streamer through riffles and pocket water near spawning redds. Strip it fast across the current. Brookies hit out of territory, not appetite, so cover water and keep moving. Release spawning fish quickly and stay off the redds.

Tarpon in clear water: Orange and yellow works best on bright days and clean flats. Lead the fish by 5–10 feet, let the fly settle to its level, then strip in long, steady pulls. Don’t trout-set. Strip-set, then bow to the fish when it jumps.

Bass and steelhead: Orange on a sink tip in off-color water pulls smallmouth and steelhead off the bottom. Swing it slow and deep through runs.