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Steelhead Fly of the week – Purple Peril

3K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  flytyer 
#1 ·
Many people credit the McLeod’s, father Ken and son George, with introducing the color purple to steelhead fisherman. And this is the fly that they did it with. Now it is one of the dominant colors in the sport. The fly was made from some purple materials they received in error (they had ordered claret) from Herter’s. The fly is still used today in various forms from the rivers of the west and the great lakes.


Hook: Up eye salmon hook.
Tail: Purple hackle fibers.
Rib: Oval silver tinsel.
Body: Purple chenille.
Hackle: Purple hen hackle.
Wing: Brown bucktail.
Head: Red.
 

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#2 ·
Charlie,

This is a fly I turn to in summer/fall when there is some color in the river, just like George McLeod does himself. Not enough to completely color it up; but enough so that it is not gin clear on to about having 4' of visibility.

Johnson's DEEP PURPLE SPEY was tied by Walt to be a spey style fly with the colors of the PURPLE PERIL. It could be considered to be a spey version or variant of the well-known McLeod's purple fly.
 
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