Fly Tying an Olive Matuka - Streamer Fly Pattern

[@edwardchavez5627]

Good Morning Sir Matt great ty love this fly, this is another one I've been wanting to try tying. I think I'll give it a shot after i get off work today. I just wanted to thank you and your family for the support and kindness you've shown during this trying time. And for all your followers on this channel as well. Tight lines Gentlemen and Ladies spring is around the corner, can't wait to try the flies I've learned to ty from this channel. Thank you Sir Matt have a Great Weekend.

[@SavageFlies]

Edward, you're welcome my friend. Thank YOU for all of your support this past year. Stay safe and have a great weekend!

[@edwardchavez5627]

@@SavageFlies 💗👍👌😊

[@fae._.]

Matt your tutorials show what a great teacher you are.Redfin or English perch abound in rivers and lakes in Australia so an olive body and a red wing gives a good imitation of small perch. I find that the fish are not as particular with the fly as is the angler! Great tie Matt enjoy watching and listening to your tunes which I have just discovered.

[@MichaelLMack]

Still like ur choices. Think i can do that one

[@jeffreystone7327]

Definitely a more challenging fly. We’ll save this one for later down the road. Nice job Matt. Thank you.

[@harryjoesather6539]

very interesting.....this may have me saying some bad words.... lol ... thanks matt .... and as always i will be watching....see ya joe .

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! Appreciate it Joe!

[@davidfessel3824]

Thank you for this video. I’ve sitting at my tying station trying to figure out an acceptable substitute, with my materials at hand, for an olive sculpin and this is it.

[@SavageFlies]

You're most welcome! Thanks for the note. I also make one of these with a black chenille body and a mottled ringneck pheasant feather that works for a generic brown sculpin.

[@OttoJulian_]

Wow i like this pattern. That long tail looks amazing

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Otto! Hopefully the fish will think it's tasty. :-)

[@OttoJulian_]

@@SavageFlies this should be cataloged as "gourmet fly" for fishing

[@OttoJulian_]

@@SavageFlies there goes a new series, lol. Gourmet flies fish will love

[@brianfeeney9493]

Enjoy Your Weekend Matt ...... ❄️🎣🌟

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Brian; you too my friend!

[@leemowers9395]

Another unique fly, a pattern that is new and interesting. I have a few ideas than I want to try on that wind, I’ll let you know. Thanks Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Lee! Let me know how it goes. :-)

[@leemowers9395]

@@SavageFlies my first attempt was to use lace crochet hooks, they worked about like the bodkin, I’ll let you know if I find a better solution

[@mikeney5113]

The Matuka is a great streamer.nice tie Matt! Thanks again!!

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Mike; appreciate it my friend!

[@bigdaddy99929]

A nice challenge and good predator fly for us here. Thx Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Clyde, and I would think so. Anything that would chase a big baitfish or sculpin would probably go after this one. :-)

[@niwelezlusch9610]

That’s a cool idea for the larger feathers. Thank you for this pattern. It’s cool that you explain a little bit of history of the fly at the beginning.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Niwel! I appreciate the kind words and your support. Have a great weekend my friend!

[@jimholland1592]

Good morning Matt, feathers streamers look so good 👍

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Jim and I agree! Feather wing streamers are classics and can make some beautiful flies!

[@jdoza5184]

We were tying and fishing this pattern from float tubes 40 years ago. We thought it represented the perch fry on Lake Crowley in the eastern Sierras. The only difference is we used chenille for the body and added a thread red head. Very popular and effective back then. Good memories, thanks.

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you for the note! I had never heard of Crowley Lake but just checked it out. Wow, what a beautiful place to fish! It looks like that place is well known for some monster trout. I can imagine those are some great memories.

[@tomharvey7436]

Nice matuka Matt I’ve been trying the ace of spades and I’m struggling with the bronze mallard just more practice and determination I suppose keep up the great work

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Tom. I've seen the Ace of Spades in a few books. I've never tried it, but just looked at Davie McPhail's video on it. This thing looks really cool! I love the wide silver tinsel rib. The only black hackle I have that might work is some cheap strung saddle hackle. I'm not sure how good it will look but, man, I want to give it a try now!

[@tomharvey7436]

@@SavageFlies I caught my biggest trout on one must be 10 years ago now

[@michaelmerlino6753]

The biggest thing with bronze mallard is purchasing premium feathers.They usually come not as a bunch in the bag but a few pairs of lefts and rights.When you work with these you will sure be pleasantly surprized.

[@TheHillcityhobo]

Probably going to try some today. Maybe in some perch looking color. Great video as always Matt. Thanks for posting.

[@SavageFlies]

You bet Jeremy- appreciate you watching! I think this thing, weighted only on the front half, tied in a smaller size (maybe #10 or smaller if you've got any #12 long hooks), would do great for some of those Tennessee warmwater panfish. :-)

[@johnhanley8708]

another great tie !!

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it John! Thanks for the note my friend. :-)

[@cheflexx778]

I think this one will be my next tie. Seems like a challenge I'm ready for. 🙂

[@SavageFlies]

Oh you got this one Alex. It's easy to get a wonky looking wing on a Matuka fly, believe me I've made plenty. But when you tie a good one, it does look good!

[@Jd-yc3gw]

Enjoyed watching this one. I’m adding this to my have to try list. Like someone else mentioned it may have me saying “ oh my goodness “ a few times. Lol

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! Thanks John. After reading all these comments, it makes me want to try a few other matuka style flies as well. Check out Davie McPhail's Ace of Spades. This thing looks really fun to tie! kzbin.info/www/bejne/hl66anypnLeEbKs

[@Jd-yc3gw]

@@SavageFlies That’s quite a fly. It’s at least a 3 possibly a 4 “oh my goodness” fly. Lol

[@tomharvey7436]

I think I used slightly stronger language than that jd still a work in progress

[@Jd-yc3gw]

@@tomharvey7436 lol. Oh my goodness is code for much stronger language.

[@tomharvey7436]

@@Jd-yc3gw 😂

[@easttnflyfreak2870]

new one for me ! Thanks for sharing Matt!!

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks James! Let me know if you give it a shot. :-)

[@davehall2160]

Great looking fly Matt 👌 Will definitely have to try this one Thanks for the video

[@SavageFlies]

You bet Dave; appreciate it my friend!

[@brucehaley3651]

Just watched a video by Brian Flechsig with Mad River Outfitters where he mentioned how much he liked fishing the olive matuka pattern. I thought what is he talking about. I did a KZbin search and look what came up! Great explanation.

[@SavageFlies]

Well thank you Bruce! I do love fishing Matuka streamers but they can take a little while to tie. But I'll usually put a few of them in my box every year. :-)

[@flyrodhiker8326]

Good looking fly sir!

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you my friend! Appreciate it. :-)

[@hughiegraves8901]

Definitly an effective streamer.i sometimes put a deer hair collar and head on the front.good tie matt.👍

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Hugh! I've seen something like that... a matuka mudler. :-)

[@aldunn5195]

I have never tried one, but I'm going to give it a go!

[@SavageFlies]

Definitely give it a go Al. The ones I've used looked really good in the water. :-)

[@aldunn5195]

@@SavageFlies I will send you a pic, not sure when.

[@martyrothman3933]

Really nice

[@slickydicky]

I haven't tried these in a while, my last attempt was with the church window feathers on a pheasant skin and needless to say it was a epic failure. But I have a little more skill now, thanks to your channel, and my give them another shot after work this evening.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks David; that's nice to hear! I have actually tied a couple of these with church window feathers... that is challenging and you definitely need some extra-small wire to keep those feathers looking good. Have a great weekend my friend!

[@johnwalker6603]

Great use for feathers with too much webbing for hackles, thanks Matt!

[@SavageFlies]

Great call John! Instead of throwing out our feathers we can't use for hackle, we might be able to use them for these matuka style wings. Thanks for the note. :-)

[@rickpayne3915]

Very interesting fly

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you Rick; it definitely is!

[@JamesMcCutcheon]

Great tie-up. I really like the Matuka. It made me wonder if the Matuka gave birth to the Zonker and or possibly the Wwooly bugger.

[@SavageFlies]

Jim- interesting to think about. I'm not sure about the woolly bugger, but I'll bet whoever came up with zonker strips and the zonker fly might have been thinking about this matuka method when they did. I'm glad you reminded me of this... I got some squirrel zonker strips in my last order but haven't tied anything with them. I might have to do something using them this weekend. :-)

[@sdbassin1143]

Awesomeness!

[@FlyTyer1948]

I always think of a Mohawk haircut when looking at a Matuka. I agree with Kerry Pitt about a magnifier. It makes it much easier to make accurate securing wraps. I use a desk mounted 3x magnifier. Another way to make it easier is to tie in a longer metallic one r regular thread at the tail & thread it into a sewing needle. It also speeds up the process.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Bob, and yeah I keyed in on Kerry's comment too. I use clip-on magnifiers (I think 2.0x) but I might look at one of those magnifying headsets now. Just saw your email... the longer one (also the spam head's up). Great stuff! I'll respond a bit later. Now this comment makes me wonder if there has ever been a fly pattern with Mohawk in the name. I can't think of any, but that could be a great name for a new matuka style streamer. :-)

[@FlyTyer1948]

@@SavageFlies I think Gary LaFontiaine or his daughter developed a fly & named it Mohawk. My notes from his class, but I’ll check my copy of his book that isn’t in a storage box.

[@jamesvatter5729]

That's an effective pattern. A mottled "coffee brown" matuka with a ram's wool head (akin to Shenk's sculpin) has worked well for me.

[@SavageFlies]

That does sound interesting. The one matuka I usually make is a mottled brown wing and black soft hackle for the collar. The Shenk's sculpin variant you tie sounds like what Hugh (from an earlier comment) does as well. Do you actually trim the ram's wool to look like a helmet?

[@epsieblaine9558]

I tie this one with a lot of different feathers.A black one in a small size is deadly on small streams here in NC.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Kenneth- I've never seen these tied very small but I can see how it could work. I might have to give some smaller ones a try. :-)

[@epsieblaine9558]

@@SavageFlies Songbird feathers work well.The lady next door has a cat that is a bird killer,and leaves me a lot of feathers.

[@tomharvey7436]

Davie does one that’s competition legal I will look it up for you Matt

[@tomharvey7436]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKubY5Sknb5sjZI

[@epsieblaine9558]

@@tomharvey7436 I have seen his too.Davie and I are friends.Met him in a show in NY.He is a great guy.

[@HondoTrailside]

While this fly has a rich history. Swisher and Richards made a lot of people aware of it in their 1977 fly tying book, and articles. They mention preferring the action of the fly when fished unweighted, and without a hackle, off a 45 degree upstream cast. They also show a version tied on a keel hook. Not sure how they tied the latter. Lots of problems come to mind. I would probably try wire and tie the wire in at the head, and work it to the bend, and back.

[@okbow68]

Looks good. I find it easier to use the end of the wire after the first wrap and just push it through the feathers close down by the quill and pull it on through, if that makes sense.

[@SavageFlies]

That actually does make sense! I might give it a try as it sounds like it could make for a cleaner wing. Or at least just easier to tie. Thanks for the note!

[@arthurskim7898]

Great add on technique.

[@HondoTrailside]

That is why we use wire. The original patterns looked nothing like this fly, more like a shaggy high wing salmon fly. This is more like the Swisher version that is popular over here, uses oval tinsel, or wire depending on how much flash one wants. Wire is neater and easier to tie, probably stronger, not that either way is really that big a deal.

[@thomaswalls123]

What exactly is that feather, hen saddle or cape?

[@SavageFlies]

It's a hen saddle: www.jsflyfishing.com/hareline-hareline-hen-saddle

[@markgotschall2914]

Same way I tie mine, only difference is I dub a red throat near the front to simulate gills.

[@SavageFlies]

Great tip Mark! A touch of red on any baitfish pattern is probably always a good idea. :-)

[@jackreeves3001]

Very nice Matt! But it looks miserable to tie. If it works I guess it's worth it. Thanks for sharing. KANSAS

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Jack. With a little practice it's probably a lot easier than I make it look. :-)

[@evilmothericebearkillerbir6016]

ya i going to get a few more hrs behind my vice b4 i try that one lol

[@bolatk1517]

Hello Matt, please show me the trout flies and streamer. I upload new interesting videos "grayling Lake ". Thank you in advance.

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you Bolat! I will take a look at your new videos. Cheers. -Matt

[@bolatk1517]

Mr. Lindsay Simpson present "Lockdown tying day".