Stewart

Steelhead Attractor Freshwater Hairwing Low Water Fly Steelhead Traditional Steelhead Fly

The Stewart is a traditional low-water steelhead hairwing credited to Marty Sherman, who named it for Dave Stewart's father or the Stewart family's fly shop. Its sparse black-and-orange dressing is an attractor rather than a specific imitation, and it is intended primarily for summer steelhead in low or clear flows. The fly is commonly swung near the surface and has proven especially effective during morning and evening periods. At the vise, the key is restraint: keep the yarn body slim, the hackle collar sparse, and the layered calf-tail wing light enough to preserve the pattern's low-water profile.

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Recipe

Hook · standard salmon streamer hook sizes 2 - 6
Thread · black UNI-Thread, 6/0
Tail · golden pheasant tippet fibers
Rib · fine oval gold tinsel
Body · black wool yarn
Hackle · black saddle hackle
Underwing · sparse Crystal Flash
Wing · black calf tail, approximately two-thirds of the wing
Overwing · orange calf tail, approximately one-third of the wing
Head · black tying thread
Finish · head cement or clear varnish

Tying Instructions

1

Secure the hook in the vise, start the black thread behind the eye, and lay a smooth thread foundation rearward to the tail tie-in point.
2

Select a small bunch of golden pheasant tippet fibers and tie them on top of the shank as a short, centered tail.
3

Tie in the oval gold tinsel at the rear of the body and leave it extending behind the hook for later ribbing.
4

Tie in the black wool yarn and wrap it forward in touching turns to form a slim, even body.
5

Wind the oval gold tinsel forward in evenly spaced open turns over the yarn body, then secure and trim the excess.
6

Tie in a sparse amount of Crystal Flash on top of the body as an underwing.
7

Prepare a black saddle hackle, tie it in immediately behind the eye, and wrap a sparse collar while sweeping the fibers rearward.
8

Clean and align a sparse bunch of black calf tail and tie it on top of the hook as the lower two-thirds of the wing.
9

Tie a smaller bunch of orange calf tail over the black hair to form the upper one-third of the wing.
10

Trim the hair butts at an angle, cover them with thread, and form a neat tapered black head.
11

Whip finish and apply head cement or clear varnish.