How to Tie the Kennebago Smelt Pattern

Learn how to tie the Kennebago Smelt fly pattern, including step-by-step instructions, a video tutorial, pictures, and much more. Improve your fly-tying skills here.

Trident Fly Fishing is a full-service fly shop. We spend a lot of time testing gear and writing reviews to give you all of the tools to make your next trip a success. We are not a blog or a review site. 100% of our funding comes from your gear purchases, so if this blog post helps you on your next fly fishing adventure, please support us by buying your gear from us

This fly originated in the early 1950s by Bud Wilcox who was a Maine Game Warden and guide in the Rangeley lakes area. Originally the wing was tied with black saddle hackle feathers, but this variation uses black marabou. This is a very popular fly for landlocked Salmon in the early spring when the smelt are starting to run and is usually tied in sizes 2-8.

Recipe

• Hook: Mustad 3665A size 6
• Thread: UTC 70 denier in Black
• Body: UNI-Mylar Tinsel Sliver/Gold size 14
• Rib: Veevus French Oval Silver Tinsel Size Medium
• Belly: Hareline Bucktail in White
• Throat: Hareline Strung Saddle Hackle in Yellow
• Wing: Hareline Bucktail Red
• Hareline Bucktail Blue
• Hareline Marabou Quill in Black
• Topping: Hareline Strung Peacock Herl

Video Transcript

Hello, I'm Carl at Trident Fly Fishing. Today we're going to tie the Kennebago Smelt. It was originated in the early 1950s by Bud Wilcox, who was a Maine game warden and guide in the Rangeley Lakes area. Originally it was tied with saddle hackle feathers, but this variation is going to be tied with marabou. It's a very popular fly for landlocked salmon in the early spring when the smelt are starting to run, and it's usually tied in sizes 2 through 8.

Here's the fly in the vise. The hook we're going to use today is a Mustad 3665A - that's an extra long streamer hook - and our thread today is going to be UTC 70 Denier in black. We'll start our thread about an eye length and a half behind the hook eye and run back to the bend.

The first material we're going to tie in is going to be our rib. This is some Veevus French oval tinsel in silver. To keep our tie-in point small, I'm going to strip away some of the tinsel around the core, which will give me some fiber to tie in.

The body of the fly is going to be made up of UNI-Mylar silver/gold tinsel, size 14. The body is silver, so we're going to tie it in with the gold side facing us. I'm going to use the bobbin cradle and the rotary function of the vise to tie this long body in. We'll capture our material here, get rid of the excess, and save our work. Once again, we're going to use the rotary function of the vise to make the rib - just some nice, even, open spiral turns.

Next we're going to tie in the belly of the fly. This is just some white bucktail. You don't need a lot - just kind of hand stack it. We want this to extend just past the bend of the hook.

Next we're going to tie in our throat, and that's going to be some yellow saddle hackle fibers. We'll pull some fibers out to even up the tips and strip those away. We want these to extend about halfway down the shank of the hook - no more than that. Put these in right on top of the white bucktail and spread them out a little bit using your thumbnail.

Now we'll work on the back of the fly. We're going to add a little color to it. The first is going to be some red bucktail - just a few strands, just enough to add some color. We're going to tie these in right on top to extend back just past the bend of the hook. The next color is going to be blue bucktail. You want to keep these clumps fairly sparse - you'll end up with a big giant head on the fly, which we want to avoid. These will extend back the same distance as the red.

For the main part of the wing, we're going to use some Hareline marabou strung blood quills in black. Pull away some of the material we don't need to keep the bulk down. I'm going to tie this on top and it's going to extend back as far as the bucktail did. Cut off what we don't need.

The topping for the fly is going to be some peacock herl. We'll find five or six strands of strung peacock herl and tie those in. Even up the tips as best we can - these are going to extend over the top of the black marabou as far back as the marabou. Tie those in right on top and cut our excess. Neaten up the head.

Four or five turn whip finish, a half hitch, cut our thread, and add some head cement. Our fly is complete. Please feel free to leave comments at the bottom of the page, and don't forget to hit that subscribe button to see all the new content here at Trident Fly Fishing. Thanks for watching and I hope to see you again next time.