Here's the old traditional Orange & Yellow salmon tube fly which is a deadly salmon fly pattern especially during the higher water levels of early Spring on the River Tay and other big Scottish rivers. All serious River Tay boatmen and professional fishing guides know how effective this pattern of salmon fly during Springtime when salmon fishing in Scotland.

Heres the River Dee Monkey & Copperass tube fly patterns. If you need only 2 salmon fly patterns to fish through the higher water levels of Spring then these are the only 2 you'll require. As a professional salmon guide I don't deviate from these 2 fly patterns during early Spring.

Here's the dressing for this highly successful Scottish Salmon Fishing Fly;
Hook: 1

Here's a deadly Scottish salmon fly that was designed up on the Aberdeenshire River Dee for use in the higher waters of Spring. This Dee Monkey fly also works well on the Tay, Spey & Tweed and Spring fish love to attack it. Most salmon fly fishing experts will carry this pattern and especially during the Spring months.

This is the brown winged version of the Jock's Shrimp fitted with a Partridge Nordic No 6 tube fly hook. This is a true weapon of a salmon fly and lethal for attracting salmon on the famous River Tay and other Scottish salmon rivers.

If you get rid of the soft rubber sleeves that most tube flies come with and replace them with rigid plastic sleeves they will result in more solid hook sets as the hard version don't pivot and keep the hoof straight while being set by the angler. It's fairly tricky to fit a hard plastic sleeve but some patience and a bit of heat will do the job. This is a Jock's Shrimp tube fly which I tied on a copper tube fly body.

Early Spring Salmon Fly Selection

By Jock Monteith 15th January 2026

Here's a subject that I could truly write a book on as there are so many different permutations of colour and size that could work if your salmon fly is presented over a fresh run salmon that's in the mood to have a go.

The most important component in salmon fly selection after you've done a bit of basic homework is faith!

What Are The Salmon Seeing

Most of the bigger salmon fly books have over a thousand different patterns in them so if you really think about it there's a huge clue in that fact alone. Basically all salmon fly patterns that have been registered at some point over the years work when it comes to attracting salmon along with thousands of unregistered patterns too. The key to this intriguing subject is to be not only a salmon fly fishing instructor but also a salmon psychologist and think exactly what the salmon are seeing and observe what they are definitely not responding to when the going gets tough. Before you do that though you need to make sure you're targeting the correct zone of the water column and with the correct speed of fly.

Early Spring Salmon Fly Depth

Let me elaborate on that last sentence. In really freezing early Spring water conditions all salmon will be found holding high in the water column so if you're fishing too fast a sinking head section with too heavy a salmon fly in a slow moving deep pool (as you would do in the Autumn when most salmon are holding deep) you'll be missing the early Spring high water column target zone. Salmon don't tend to start holding deeper in the pools until later in the Spring when the water starts to warm up. In very cold early Spring water conditions salmon prefer to stick to the higher water column where the warmer water thermals are logically located.

Early Spring Salmon Fly Speed

The speed of the salmon fly is crucial too in the very cold early Spring water as salmon tend to be much more sluggish when it comes to coming after a fly so a nice steady not too fast fly pace is the most effective one. This is why a 'harled' salmon tube fly from the boat on the Tay is absolutely deadly as the reduced angle and control of the fly's swing pace is always going to be greater than what can be achieved from the riverbank if the boatman knows his stuff. In addition to that fact the boat doesn't lose 15 seconds every minute (including throwing a mend to slow up the fly) as the fly doesn't need to be represented to the river as is the case with a 'riverbank casting' fly fisher. This represents a saving of 25% in effective fly 'swim time' over the course of the full fishing day via the harled 'hands free' traditional Tay boat method.

These fresh run Scottish salmon look as if they've been forged from molten silver and are often referred to as 'bars of silver'. This perfect Spring salmon took a 'Jock's Shrimp' salmon fly near the River Tummel & River Tay confluence during late May which is a great time to intercept a fish of this calibre. I took this perfect up close shot while this beautiful fish was still in the landing net before releasing it back to the river.

Cold Water River Tay Boat Harling

As a former professional River Tay boatman the 'harled' fly through the higher water early months of the Tay's salmon fishing season was absolutely 'deadly' and much more so that the also proven Kynoch, Tomics & in those days Rapalas which have now been replaced by the Vision 110. I was taught by a Tay 'master craftsman' who always 'harled' the fly from the boat on the longest line which probably was part of the reason the harled tube fly did so well as that was the lure keen Spring salmon were seeing first and in the correct area (& pace) of the water column to make it easy for them to take it. My late colleague Willie Laird was ridiculed for daring to fish a floating line (with a piece of sink tip roofing lead!) and 'harled' tube fly from the boat on the Tay opening day on 15 January 1970 by the new beat owners at that time. By lunchtime the much 'lesser' experienced new beat owners had been 'silenced' as their Kynoch's had touched nothing and 4 perfect Tay springers had been taken on Willie's 'harled' tube fly.

This perfect River Tay 'coble' boat at the ready stirs my blood in perfect water and light conditions like this. This photo was taken at the tail of the March Pool on the Kinnaird Beat of the Tay during Springtime.

Traditional River Tay Salmon Fly Harling

There's real skill involved in 'harling' a fly and a big tube fly methodically searching with big wide evenly paced consistent swing movements from the boat was an absolute joy to fish 'remotely' with especially when the harling rod fly reel started to scream! A white full floating long bellied Speyline or double taper 10/11 fly line with a medium weighted spiral lead to take the fly to a foot in depth was absolutely perfect for the early Spring harled tube fly approach. When I was taught it was a thin strip of roofing lead that was twisted onto the end of the fly line above the leader that was used to position the tube fly 1 foot under the surface of the river as it was searching.

Simple Traditional Salmon Fly Selection

Fly choices on the Tay were much less complicated back in those days and an 'Orange & Yellow' tied on a Waddington or regular 2 inch tube was all you really needed for normal duller low light days. On the brighter light days a 'Gold Bodied Willie Gunn' or a good old 'Black & Yellow' were two other favoured choices by many professional Tay boatmen. Salmon fly selection these days I personally think is 'over thought' as from a fresh run 'good taking' early Spring salmon's perspective this subject is much less complicated. If a fish is going to 'have a go' it's usually a fairly quick decision and at the point the salmon fly will usually be swinging across and slightly above the salmon's holding position so I'll explain in the next few paragraphs exactly what I'm referring to here.

Here's a lovely Tay Spring salmon that fell for the deadly Jock's Shrimp tube fly near the River Tummel mouth where it enters the River Tay. Fly fishing in Scotland is great fun and is highly satisfying when salmon are outsmarted. This fine salmon took the Jock's Shrimp salmon which you can see in the photograph.

Salmon Have A Different View Of The Fly

When the majority of salmon anglers study a salmon fly their eyes usually go to the head of the fly first of all. When a salmon is debating whether or not to intercept the fly the salmon is looking from a slightly angled lower position so usually always at the underside of the tail of the fly as the head of the fly will be obscured from sight. It's highly unlikely as salmon will ever turn its head and gills around away from the stream to study the head of any salmon fly that has already passed it and if it's going to take the fly it will do so when the fly is in front of it as described. At the optimal moment a fish makes its decision to come off its lie for the fly it will more than likely be at it's closest position to the fish with the fly just starting to pull away. An angled side on view of the fly from slightly below is logically what a salmon see's so this thought might start getting you to look at your salmon flies in a different way.

Salmon Fly Tail Waggle & Sparkle

From what I've seen in my career good tail and underside hackle movement can assist with the trickier more educated salmon and a little bit of 'bling' just to give the occasional glint and no more than that is also effective with salmon. Many fly dressers overdo the bling on flies these days which turns the fly into a Christmas tree with the fairy lights full on. So 2 longish strands of bling (holographic tinsel) in the wing is all that's really required as even a Christmas tree looks more inviting to our eyes when the fairy lights are in 'twinkle' mode and salmon from what I've seen prefer the 'less is more' approach too. A soft long fibered schlappen hackle adds even more natural movement to the salmon's underside angled view of the fly's underbelly if your early Spring tube fly needs a hackle. Many also overdress the hackles on their flies making them look like shaving brushes which negates the real creature tentacle like movement they should be trying to achieve via a more sparsely dressed hackle.

Always carry a few coiled up spare leaders in your fly box like you see here just in case needed while out on the river. Learn how to prepare your salmon fishing approach via tuition from a professional salmon guide. This Wheatley fly box includes my main favourite salmon flies like the Jock's Shrimp & Copperass salmon fly patterns.

Salmon Often React To Shock Tactics

On the fly colour side of things I've seen all colours work at all times of the Scottish salmon fishing season so don't 'over think' the colour side of things and focus more on the swim depth & speed side of things as a salmon will only ever take the fly you're using! Reverse the psychology on salmon when they are proving stubborn and show them something that will startle them. I recall an experience on the Tay where the pool I was fishing was stuffed with salmon and it seemed that regardless of what all the fishers offered them from the normal selection of fly patterns the more they resisted. I pulled out a fluorescent bright purple winged fly with a bright fluorescent orange hackle with a red and pearl 'barber pole' body and hooked and landed 2 of these old stubborn salmon within 5 casts to the total amazement of the other fishers and the beat's head ghillie!

Personally I love to use the Partridge Nordic tube fly hooks as they are micro barbed, very sharp and very strong. A single hook also hooks salmon better and does almost no damage to the mouth of a fish with 'Catch & Release' in mind. A good strong single hook also keeps the fly on an even keel when it's fishing. Once you've landed a few salmon on a single hook you'll be unlikely to ever go back to doubles or treble hooks. These are 3 Jock's Shrimp salmon tube fly patterns which is of my own design.

Soft Plastic Salmon Tube Fly Sleeves

Over the years I've seen a few tube fly hooking opportunities mysteriously being dropped even though the fly fisher did nothing wrong when attempting to set the hook during the take. If you've got tube flies with super soft plastic sleeves to hold the hook parallel to the body of the tube fly my advice would be to throw them in the fire. These soft flexible plastic sleeves can hinge and pivot the hook point right round at the critical moment you apply the hook set pressure dragging the hook points sideways across and right out of a salmon's mouth. Replace them with a more rigid version that will keep the hook point at the correct angle for a solid hook set when the time is right to set the hook.