Willie Gunn double Salmon
Fly of the Month 09.25 - Atlantic Salmon Fly - [Classic] Willie Gunn double
Regarded as one of the most successful Atlantic salmon flies ever devised, it possesses a colour combination that is hugely appealing to salmon across the entire duration of the fishing season. The fly was born in the 1940's on the river Brora, a north of Scotland spate river, and from there it has spread across the globe.
Willie Gunn Origin Story No 1
Rumor has it that the Atlantic salmon fly pattern was originated by RAF flight lieutenant “Dusty” Millar, who produced flies for another well known Scottish angler at the time, Rob Wilson, of Brora, Scotland. Rob Wilson was inspecting a delivery of Millar's fly patterns in his fly shop when in walked a regular customer, Mr. Brora Willie Gunn, who was there to stock up on flies for a day on the river Brora. He was so taken with the fly pattern when he laid eyes on it that both men agreed it should be named after him. Gunn went on the land six fish later that day, with an additional four the following day! Word quickly spread across Scotland and beyond. yet, there are other versions of the story...
Willie Gunn Origin Story No 2
“The most common version of the history of the Willie Gunn is that Dusty Miller, who tied for Rob Wilson in Brora, Scotland produced a number of hairwing tubes. Dusty was either commissioned to produce hairwings including a Thunder and Lightning or he had come up with a number of flies off his own back and produced them at the shop. Both accounts tell us that one day Willie Gunn came into the shop, selected the ones that would carry his name and went off to the river and caught several springers.” - FishDee website
Willie Gunn Origin Story No 3
Willie Gunn was Jim MacKenzie’s uncle and it was Jim that produced the first flies that would give birth to a legend. In March 1968 Jim was playing around with hairwing flies and had some shanks made for them. Waddingtons were a bit pricey back then, so Jim and Archie Gilmour, a colleague from Reid Kerr College, produced some shanks of their own on Argonat welding wire. Jim dressed some flies, with a blended wing of orange yellow and black and a silver rib. These early versions of the fly, dressed on 1 inch and 1 ½ inch shanks, were passed onto Willie during a family visit to the Highlands and were soon catching fish. Willie was down to the last few of Jim’s flies when he tied one on for the Duchess of Sutherland in the Madman Pool on the Brora and so he called Jim and asked if he could have them copied – and tied on heavier shanks or tubes.
From Jim Mackenzie of Ayshire’s account, Willie Gunn had fished with the fly, which Jim had originally called Shona’s fly after his daughter before he famously collected Dusty Miller’s version from Rob Wilson’s shop. Sadly we no longer have Willie Gunn, Dusty Miller or Rob Wilson with us.” - FishDee website
Classic Willie Gunn double (ghillies choice)
The classic Willie Gunn is the most famous Atlantic salmon fly of all time. Born on the river Brora in the North of Scotland, this fly will catch in all water heights and all through the season. Of all the flies of the past 50 years the Willie Gunn must be on most salmon angler’s short list of favorites. The Willie Gunn, transcends mere catch statistics. It is the most versatile Atlantic salmon fly of them all and will readily earn a place in the fly box!
The Willie Gun symbolizes spring fishing in Scotland. The beauty of the pattern is that varying the quantities of the colours can produce a fly that would be equally at home in the dark waters of Thurso and the crystal clear waters of the Dee. As a tube fly, it is highly versatile and can be fished as a tiny summer fly up to the biggest of tubes.
The original method for tying the wing is to blend the colours before tying them in. However, separate layers looks better and noted from Stan Headley’s Flies of Scotland that this was Rob Wilson’s method of making the wing.
As a tube fly, dress long – for example, an inch and a half tube would have a dressing of about three inches.
The gold bodied Willie Gunn is a popular variant, likely more popular than the original dressing. Tie this version with a red head with flash in the wing.
Willie Gunn Flamethrower
The Willie Gunn Flamethrower is another fabulous addition to the range, the perfect blend of colour and style for salmon fishing - a deadly fly and cloned from the legendary Brora Willie Gunn.
The fly has many variations in terms of the tying materials used, the ratio of colours used and hook or tube types it's tied on but, in the main, they can all easily be identified as a Willie Gunn. With an ever increasing range of new and innovative fly tying materials being made available to the fly tyer, the pattern continues to evolve and change. Historically, materials used consisted of bucktail, floss and tinsel; however, in today's fly tying world materials such as Arctic fox, Arctic runner, Nayat, new and innovative tinsels, flosses and flash, have been added to the mix to produce a range of variants that are arguably even more effective than those of the past.
Atlantic Salmon Fly - [Classic] Willie Gunn double
Fly of the Month 09.25
[Classic] Willie Gunn double Willie Gunn Flamethrower
Hook: Salmon, double Hook: Salmon, double
Thread: White Thread: White
Tag: Oval gold or silver Tail: Orange,Yellow,Black,
Body: Black floss/flat gold tinsel bucktail, mixed
Rib: Oval gold or silver Flash: (2) Gold Krystal Flash
Wing: Black, Orange, Yellow, (2) Bronze ...glow
equal parts Body: Lite Bright, gold
Head: Black or Red Hackle: (rear) Yellow,
on gold bodied version (middle) Orange, (front) Black
Cheeks: Jungle cock substitute
Tying Directions:
see https://globalflyfisher.com/video/willie-gunn-flamethrower for the tying video
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
Regarded as one of the most successful Atlantic salmon flies ever devised, it possesses a colour combination that is hugely appealing to salmon across the entire duration of the fishing season. The fly was born in the 1940's on the river Brora, a north of Scotland spate river, and from there it has spread across the globe.
Willie Gunn Origin Story No 1
Rumor has it that the Atlantic salmon fly pattern was originated by RAF flight lieutenant “Dusty” Millar, who produced flies for another well known Scottish angler at the time, Rob Wilson, of Brora, Scotland. Rob Wilson was inspecting a delivery of Millar's fly patterns in his fly shop when in walked a regular customer, Mr. Brora Willie Gunn, who was there to stock up on flies for a day on the river Brora. He was so taken with the fly pattern when he laid eyes on it that both men agreed it should be named after him. Gunn went on the land six fish later that day, with an additional four the following day! Word quickly spread across Scotland and beyond. yet, there are other versions of the story...
Willie Gunn Origin Story No 2
“The most common version of the history of the Willie Gunn is that Dusty Miller, who tied for Rob Wilson in Brora, Scotland produced a number of hairwing tubes. Dusty was either commissioned to produce hairwings including a Thunder and Lightning or he had come up with a number of flies off his own back and produced them at the shop. Both accounts tell us that one day Willie Gunn came into the shop, selected the ones that would carry his name and went off to the river and caught several springers.” - FishDee website
Willie Gunn Origin Story No 3
Willie Gunn was Jim MacKenzie’s uncle and it was Jim that produced the first flies that would give birth to a legend. In March 1968 Jim was playing around with hairwing flies and had some shanks made for them. Waddingtons were a bit pricey back then, so Jim and Archie Gilmour, a colleague from Reid Kerr College, produced some shanks of their own on Argonat welding wire. Jim dressed some flies, with a blended wing of orange yellow and black and a silver rib. These early versions of the fly, dressed on 1 inch and 1 ½ inch shanks, were passed onto Willie during a family visit to the Highlands and were soon catching fish. Willie was down to the last few of Jim’s flies when he tied one on for the Duchess of Sutherland in the Madman Pool on the Brora and so he called Jim and asked if he could have them copied – and tied on heavier shanks or tubes.
From Jim Mackenzie of Ayshire’s account, Willie Gunn had fished with the fly, which Jim had originally called Shona’s fly after his daughter before he famously collected Dusty Miller’s version from Rob Wilson’s shop. Sadly we no longer have Willie Gunn, Dusty Miller or Rob Wilson with us.” - FishDee website
Classic Willie Gunn double (ghillies choice)
The classic Willie Gunn is the most famous Atlantic salmon fly of all time. Born on the river Brora in the North of Scotland, this fly will catch in all water heights and all through the season. Of all the flies of the past 50 years the Willie Gunn must be on most salmon angler’s short list of favorites. The Willie Gunn, transcends mere catch statistics. It is the most versatile Atlantic salmon fly of them all and will readily earn a place in the fly box!
The Willie Gun symbolizes spring fishing in Scotland. The beauty of the pattern is that varying the quantities of the colours can produce a fly that would be equally at home in the dark waters of Thurso and the crystal clear waters of the Dee. As a tube fly, it is highly versatile and can be fished as a tiny summer fly up to the biggest of tubes.
The original method for tying the wing is to blend the colours before tying them in. However, separate layers looks better and noted from Stan Headley’s Flies of Scotland that this was Rob Wilson’s method of making the wing.
As a tube fly, dress long – for example, an inch and a half tube would have a dressing of about three inches.
The gold bodied Willie Gunn is a popular variant, likely more popular than the original dressing. Tie this version with a red head with flash in the wing.
Willie Gunn Flamethrower
The Willie Gunn Flamethrower is another fabulous addition to the range, the perfect blend of colour and style for salmon fishing - a deadly fly and cloned from the legendary Brora Willie Gunn.
The fly has many variations in terms of the tying materials used, the ratio of colours used and hook or tube types it's tied on but, in the main, they can all easily be identified as a Willie Gunn. With an ever increasing range of new and innovative fly tying materials being made available to the fly tyer, the pattern continues to evolve and change. Historically, materials used consisted of bucktail, floss and tinsel; however, in today's fly tying world materials such as Arctic fox, Arctic runner, Nayat, new and innovative tinsels, flosses and flash, have been added to the mix to produce a range of variants that are arguably even more effective than those of the past.
Atlantic Salmon Fly - [Classic] Willie Gunn double
Fly of the Month 09.25
[Classic] Willie Gunn double Willie Gunn Flamethrower
Hook: Salmon, double Hook: Salmon, double
Thread: White Thread: White
Tag: Oval gold or silver Tail: Orange,Yellow,Black,
Body: Black floss/flat gold tinsel bucktail, mixed
Rib: Oval gold or silver Flash: (2) Gold Krystal Flash
Wing: Black, Orange, Yellow, (2) Bronze ...glow
equal parts Body: Lite Bright, gold
Head: Black or Red Hackle: (rear) Yellow,
on gold bodied version (middle) Orange, (front) Black
Cheeks: Jungle cock substitute
Tying Directions:
see https://globalflyfisher.com/video/willie-gunn-flamethrower for the tying video
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker