Alaskabou

Chinook Salmon Chum Salmon Coho Salmon Steelhead Attractor Baitfish Alaska Attractor Bristol Bay Marabou Streamer Pacific Salmon Steelhead

The Alaskabou is a family of bright marabou salmon and steelhead flies developed by George Cook while guiding in Alaska during the early 1980s, with Randall Kaufmann later applying the Alaskabou name to the series. Cook conceived the early patterns as fly-rod counterparts to flashy conventional lures such as Pixees, Krocodiles, and Vibrax spinners rather than as exact imitations of natural prey. This green-and-white variation combines fluorescent marabou, contrasting soft hackle, and sparse flash to create a highly visible profile that pulses in moving water. It is typically swung on a sink-tip or sinking line for Pacific salmon and steelhead, particularly when a bright, aggressive presentation is needed. The chief tying considerations are keeping the flash sparse, folding and palmering the feathers without trapping fibers, and avoiding an excessively dense collar that restricts the marabou's movement.

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Recipe

Hook · standard salmon streamer hook size 1/0
Thread · fluorescent fire-orange floss or strong tying thread
Wing · fl. green marabou with a few strands each of green flashabou and lime krystal flash all as a large collar surrounding hook
Hackle · white with as much base fluff as possible
Marabou collar · fluorescent green marabou
Flash · a few strands of green Flashabou
Accent flash · a few strands of lime Krystal Flash
Front hackle · soft, webby white hackle with as much base fluff as possible
Head · fluorescent fire-orange thread or floss
Finish · head cement or clear varnish

Tying Instructions

1

Secure the hook in the vise, start the fluorescent fire-orange thread behind the eye, and lay a firm thread foundation toward the rear of the shank.
2

Tie in a sparse amount of green Flashabou and lime Krystal Flash, distributing the strands around the hook so the flash will be visible throughout the finished collar.
3

Prepare a fluorescent green marabou plume by exposing the tip and removing weak or damaged fibers.
4

Tie the marabou in by its tip near the rear of the tying area, with the fibers oriented toward the hook bend.
5

Fold the marabou fibers rearward and palmer the plume forward in close turns, creating a large, mobile collar around the entire hook.
6

Stroke the marabou rearward after each turn to prevent fibers from becoming trapped beneath subsequent wraps.
7

Secure the marabou stem, trim the excess, and sweep the completed green collar rearward.
8

Prepare a soft white hackle that retains the webby fibers and fluffy material near the base of the feather.
9

Tie the white hackle in at the front of the green marabou and fold its fibers rearward.
10

Palmer the white hackle in several close turns to form a contrasting front collar, then secure and trim the stem.
11

Sweep all fibers rearward, form a neat fluorescent fire-orange head, and whip finish.
12

Apply head cement or clear varnish to protect the finished head.