Spring along the west coast signals the annual emergence of billions of tiny salmon fry in rivers from California to Alaska. Some, like chum and pink fry, are tiny and begin their downstream journey to the ocean almost immediately. Others, like chinook and coho will call the river home for another year or two. By the time they reach smolting size, they'll be several inches long, perhaps a little more predator-savvy and will eventually move towards to sea to feed and get even bigger over the next several years. These larger smolt represent a couple of extra servings at meal time for larger trout and char and are particularly worthwhile to imitate from spring through early summer on our local rivers.
Jeff Hickman's Skiddish Smolt is one of my favorite smolt imitations that works equally well to mimic a variety of baitfish species too. It has an excess of flash to suggest the bright, silvery scales of an out-migrating smolt and has excellent movement with the addition of an ostrich wing. You can tie them bigger or smaller to suit your specific needs, but I mostly settle on a size 6 for fishing the Skagit or Squamish up in BC where I most often fish the seasonal fry/smolt out-migrations. I didn't do it on this variation, but sometimes I like to add a natural grizzly saddle hackle down each side of the fly to suggest the parr marks common on juvenile salmon and steelhead. The hackles add some additional movement to the fly as well. For our local bull trout, I favor the all-white color tied here, but I also like using olive or grey ostrich for the topping at times.
You can swing or strip the Skiddish Smolt on a deeper running sink tip if you like, but my preferred way to fish it is on a floating line with a 9 to 10 foot leader tapered to 2x or 3x. I cast upstream, throw a big downstream mend in the fly line and strip like mad. The strikes are aggressive and memorable. This presentation also mirrors the natural fleeing behavior of a smaller fish that is about to get eaten. If you're trying to avoid becoming lunch, evading a bigger, stronger fish by swimming upstream isn't your best move.
Skiddish Smolt Recipe:
Hook: #6 Gamakatsu SllS-4L2H
Thread: 140 Denier White Ultra Thread
Cone: Medium Nickel Brass Conehead
Body: Fl. Hot Pink Flat Diamond Braid
Belly: Mirage Opal Polarflash
Underwing: Silver Flashabou
Overwing: White Ostrich
Collar: Silver Holographic Ice Dubbing