Ullsocken (On a treble)

Salmon fly, for salmon and sea trout. Beginner.

A red wool butt, two black wool body segments and three stiff brown cock hackles: at the rear, in the middle and at the front.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 88% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns.
  3. Tie in: red wool Tie in the red wool with a few firm thread turns.
  4. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 10% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  5. Wind: red wool Wind the red wool forward to 10% of the way along the shank in 4 turns. A short red butt.
  6. Tie off: red wool Tie off the red wool with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  7. Tie in: stiff brown cock hackle Tie in the stiff brown cock hackle with a few firm thread turns.
  8. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 15% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  9. Wind: stiff brown cock hackle Wind the stiff brown cock hackle forward to 15% of the way along the shank in 3 turns. Let the fibres splay out for bulk.
  10. Tie off: stiff brown cock hackle Tie off the stiff brown cock hackle with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  11. Tie in: black wool Tie in the black wool with a few firm thread turns.
  12. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to halfway along the shank in touching turns.
  13. Wind: black wool Wind the black wool forward to halfway along the shank in 7 turns.
  14. Tie off: black wool Tie off the black wool with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  15. Tie in: stiff brown cock hackle Tie in the stiff brown cock hackle with a few firm thread turns.
  16. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 55% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  17. Wind: stiff brown cock hackle Wind the stiff brown cock hackle forward to 55% of the way along the shank in 3 turns.
  18. Tie off: stiff brown cock hackle Tie off the stiff brown cock hackle with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  19. Tie in: black wool Tie in the black wool with a few firm thread turns.
  20. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 84% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  21. Wind: black wool Wind the black wool forward to 84% of the way along the shank in 6 turns.
  22. Tie off: black wool Tie off the black wool with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  23. Tie in: stiff brown cock hackle, the longest Tie in the stiff brown cock hackle, the longest with a few firm thread turns.
  24. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 90% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  25. Wind: stiff brown cock hackle, the longest Wind the stiff brown cock hackle, the longest forward to 90% of the way along the shank in 3 turns.
  26. Tie off: stiff brown cock hackle, the longest Tie off the stiff brown cock hackle, the longest with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  27. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. A small black head.

History

A Mörrum fly whose name is Swedish for "the wool sock". Its origins are unclear: Ahrex's video notes credit Alf Jansson in the 1960s and name the old Irish shrimp flies as its model, while Viking Lars dates it to the 1950s and says nobody knows who first tied it. Jan Grünwald recalls it as one of the two flies that took most of the Mörrum's May and June salmon in the early 1980s. Viking Lars gives the original as a red wool butt, black wool bodies and stiff brown cock hackles, with no tail. Newer dressings from Mörrum add a red rear hackle and red flash, and Ahrex's notes suggest doubles, trebles and tubes as the ones to carry.

Fishing it

Fished like any wet fly for salmon, across and down. Viking Lars catches late-summer and autumn salmon on it in Danish rivers, deep on a sinking shooting head. He prefers stiff cock hackles, which he thinks push water and vibrate rather than lie back in the current.

Sources