Once upon a time we had some pretty stellar summer steelhead fishing around the North Puget Sound area, particularly on the fabled North Fork of the Stillaguamish. We swung a lot of classic hair winged steelhead flies, Green Butt Skunks, Purple Perils, Brad's Brat and the like. These were pretty flies, reasonably simple and effective and each carried its own rich history that added to the attraction of fishing them. These days summer run fisheries in Puget Sound are largely closed and opportunities are all but gone. Anglers flock to eastside rivers like the Klickitat and Grande Ronde, the Deschutes in Oregon and if the stars align we perhaps get a short season on the Methow. Years ago my buddy Shawn McBride tied a little pattern he dubbed the Lil' Bruiser, both for its black and blue predominating color scheme and its proven ability to scrap with more than its fair share of summer steelhead.
The Lil' Bruiser shares lineage with all of the classic summer run steelhead flies in its componentry. The stiff hair wing helps stabilize the fly in faster flows and keep it tracking straight. It's a lot like the Skunk with a red tail and black body, but the wing color really sets it apart. I love the shades of hair you find in the dark inner patch on a bucktail. The hair is also finer and less hollow than what you find along the outer edges of the tail. The colors are unique in that they appear dark and natural but have a sort of glow to them at the same time. While I maintain a similar overall theme in tying this one, sometimes I'll add a green butt of Glo Brite Floss. Sometimes I'll use Black Floss for the body if I want to keep it sparse to sink it more readily. Often I'll use purple dyed Golden Pheasant Rump or Guinea for the hackle just to mix it up. The wing is always the same. There are a lot of ways to successfully tie in a hair wing on a steelhead fly. The reverse tie technique I demonstrate in the video has long been my favorite and is arguably the most secure. Tie some Lil' Bruisers before your next summer steelhead adventure. My gut tells me they'll catch fish far beyond the Washington and Oregon rivers I've fished them in.