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.

I designed this salmon fly while working on the River Tay as a professional salmon fishing guide so here are the exact dressing details for anyone wishing to tie this excellent fly pattern;
Hook: 1

This salmon fly pattern was designed by myself 20 years ago as a professional salmon fishing guide and has accounted for hundreds of salmon for me personally of the years and for many of my salmon fishing trip anglers too. Here's the dressing information;
Hook: 1

Here's a glimpse of the salmon fly patterns I have absolute faith in. Although I'll always experiment with different fly patterns my main 2 are the 'Copperass' & the 'Jock's Shrimp' patterns which account for 85% of the salmon I'm involved in the capture of each year. The Maxima spools you see is my favourite salmon fly leader material.

Here's a box of special salmon fly patterns that have landed me many salmon over my professional career. Carrying proven patterns increase you faith levels when you fish with them as faith is the most important component of a salmon fly. It's always good getting a glimpse of a salmon fishing guide's personal fly box and especially mine!

Here's a look at my own personal salmon fly box which includes my main 2 salmon fly patterns which are the Jock's Shrimp & Copperass salmon fly patterns. These 2 patterns have been responsible for over 80% of the salmon I've caught in the last 2 decades. This shot was taken at the River Tay/Tummel confluence near the Perthshire town of Pitlochry.

Scottish Salmon Flies

By Jock Monteith 26th April 2025

The entire topic of Scottish salmon fly selection and what makes a great salmon fly is definitely one of the most interesting in the entire sport.

The next few paragraphs will zero in on a few different aspects of this topic from what professional ghillie riverbank experience has taught me over the decades.

Selecting A Salmon Fly

Selecting a salmon fly can be a daunting task for a new salmon fisher who in most cases will 'pass the buck' by asking the salmon beat ghillie or one of his fishing colleagues what to tie on. This is the initial stage of salmon fly selection that we all go through when faced with a riverbank decision on which fly to fish. This 'pre-faith' stage of selecting the correct salmon fly will usually be close enough to have a reasonable chance of a fish.

Personal Faith In Your Salmon Fly

There is however a big difference between 'recommended' faith and 'personal' faith as I'm about to elaborate on. Personal faith gained through catching numerous salmon on a specific pattern allows you to approach the river with complete and utter confidence with no grey areas that could make you doubt the effectiveness of the fly you're using. Observing what fish are being caught and on what exact patterns over the years will take you closer to this 'personal faith' stage.

Adding Fly Material Components

Once you've found a pattern or two that you are 100% sure of their effectiveness you may even wish to experiment by adding in a few extra subtle ingredients that you've noticed on other patterns into the fly tying process. This is worth developing and some of the most effective patterns I personally use today have been derived from doing this. The two strands of gold holographic tinsel in the wing of this Dee Monkey are an example of this type of adjustment which I'll now elaborate on.

Here's one of my favourite Copperass tube flies not long after it produced a perfect 18lbs Spring salmon for me while working as a professional River Tay ghillie. This pattern of salmon fly is 1 of 2 that I swear by and have built a professional salmon fishing guiding business on the back of.

Salmon Tube Flies

On tube flies patterns that are designed for the higher water conditions of Spring I'll always add exactly two long strands of the above gold holographic tinsel into the wing. This deadly material if tied in long enough to reach beyond the length of the wing not only picks up any present flickers of sunlight with tantalising effectiveness but will almost waggle like a wounded sand eel even if the salmon fly slows down in the stream at the end of the swing. This addition for me earned its merit from over a decade of salmon fly take observation while serving as a professional ghillie on the River Tay.

This is a deadly early Spring salmon fishing fly pattern that is the only fly to use on the Dee between 15 January to 15 February. Salmon fishing visitors do very well with this pattern in early Spring and all of the River Dee professional salmon guides won't fish another salmon fly pattern until well into April each year.

The River Dee Monkey Salmon Fly

The other additional feature this Dee Monkey salmon fly pattern has is an ultra violet varnished body. The experts say that a salmon's vision is seen through the UV spectrum and what an impact I've noticed on additional takes if again this feature is built into the design of any of your salmon flies. I could write a book on things like this I've experienced over the years and maybe one day I will but these two initial snippets of information on the type of Dee Monkey salmon fly I prefer that if fished will give you that feeling that you just cannot fail whenever you fish this particular pattern in the high waters of early Spring.

The Copper Ass Salmon Fly

The successful Ally's Shrimp Cascade pattern was already a well established Scottish salmon fly pattern but again a minor modification of a copper body, two thin strands of gold holographic tinsel in the wing and a UV varnished body will mean you've got to keep a firm grip of your rod while you're fishing it! As a boy on the Tay in the 70's my late mentor Willie Laird would always select a fly or spinning lure for me with copper on it and it wasn't long before I started to realise the wisdom of his recommendations!