By Ray Schmidt

Like most of us that began Steelhead fly fishing in the Great Lakes region back in the early 1970's, frustration was the order of the day. Watching bait anglers using spinning gear catch fish after fish, when we went on for days with nothing lead me to rethink my method. Methods are a whole other story. What I observed was anglers using a bait that they called "wigglers". In reality the wiggler is a giant mayfly nymph know as "hexagenia limbata". Steelhead and other fish love them; they're a mouth full and then some. Lake Michigan tributary streams are loaded with this mayfly and Steelhead grew up in their natal streams eating them. When they return to those streams they remember "imprinted" the nymph and eat them as adults. Bingo! The Hex Nymph was born.

Well it's just about salmon and steelhead time here in the Great Lakes. Late summer salmon are already invading some of our great rivers and dawn and dusk is the time to target them. In low light conditions the salmon and steelhead are very active. Dark patterns create the best profile for the fish to see as they actually stand out better then light colors. That's why we usually don't fish white at night.

The Dyna-King "Kingfisher" vise, included in this new Kingfisher fly tying kit, was produced for the budget minded person with quality on their mind. They didn't sacrifice quality for the price. This new Dyna-King vise will hold a hook as good as any of the other models in their line-up! Dyna-King has always been known for outstanding hook holding capability and high quality to boot. With 21 years experience it is no wonder. This is no cheap toy here.