Iron Sally 12/30/2025 Photo Album

Go back to my initiation with the iron sally by clicking on this link to my 01/20/2013 post. I’ve been tying these for over ten years; however, they remain relatively time consuming. The turkey wing, dubbing and black crystal flash enter the mix during the thorax construction, and it requires quite a bit of patience to follow the detailed steps. The end result, however, is worth the effort.

Love the Double Wing Case

The gold ultra wire abdomen and bead give this nymph lots of weight, and the crystal flash flashback and legs are both effective imitations and attractors. I deem the iron sally to be one of my prettiest flies.

Another Angled Right Side

I have experienced quite a bit of success with this fly. It is a solid searching pattern during the early season, when flows are high, and a heavy fly is required to get down to the trout’s feeding level. Perhaps my most effective usage of the iron sally took place on the Eagle River in early July just after the run off flows subside. I have witnessed very dense yellow sally hatches during this time frame, so this probably explains their attractiveness to the resident trout.

Including the Materials

I counted my supply of iron sallies and discovered that I had twenty-two size 12’s and twenty-nine size 14’s. I tied three size 12 and one size 14 to bring my totals to twenty-five and thirty. I will be knotting an iron sally to my line in a matter of three months.