Intruder

[Marty]

The Intruder and I go way back. I was first introduced to this fly by its originator on the Sauk. We were on a family trip and had hired Dec Hogan as our guide. We needed two boats so Dec talked his buddy Ed into guiding us. We drew straws and my little sister and I got stuck with the new guy. I am sure I impressed Ed with my wadding skill right off the bat by falling in neck deep in the first run. We fished the first few runs with no hook ups. As we made our way down we stopped in a long run. Ed put me in the tail and sent my sister Amy to the head. I stepped in and within a few cast had a fish on. I went into shock as the fish exploded on the surface. After an incredible battle the fish finally started to weaken. I am sure I impressed Ed once again when I stated “is that a King”. I had never seen anything like it. The fish was pure chrome with a black back. It was shaped like a steelhead but had no rainbow marking what so ever. I could feel my self shaking as I held that magnificent creature, my first winter run. After landing the fish I got right back in while Amy walked back up to the head of the run. After making a few cast I turned to check on my sis. She wasn’t moving, it was like she was locked up. Ed was making his way up to her. I made a few more casts and Amy was still not moving. After another cast I turned to see Amy and Ed walking back to the boat. A little concerned I reeled up and met them at the boat. Amy was very quite and appeared to be in shock. I asked her what was wrong, her reply was nothing. After quite a bit of coxing she started to tell the story. She said when I made it to the top of the run I plopped Ed’s fly in the water to get it wet, took a few more steps out in to the run and started casting with just the leader out. After the first leader cast I added a few feet of line and made another cast. As I was watching the fly swim through the water I was thinking to my self of how pretty the fly looked in the water. She said then it happened, a big steelhead came out of no where and grabbed my fly. I could see the fly in the fish’s mouth as it chomped up and down on it. Then the fish spit the fly out and disappeared. I asked her why didn’t you set the hook. She said wasn’t sure. The fly was one of Ed’s Intruders tied in pink. That trip was a long time ago but I can remember it like it was yesterday. I got to see Ed this year up on the Ronde and it was fun rehashing the old stories.

I wish I would have stolen the Intruder Ed lashed to my line that day. I only fished it for a few casts and had him take it off. I was not quite man enough to cast the beasts back then. The Intruder is a very complex fly and tied like the original is a pure classic. Thanks for looking.


The first step is preparing the shank. I take a 2/0 and straighten the bend out with heat. I then cut it to length. Make sure you file the burs off the cut end.



Next tie in a loop of 25 lb mono.



Secure the oval tinsel and make two turns behind the mono eye and one in front. This helps prop up the loop.



Next secure a black hackle and make 4 to 5 turns.



Now tie in a clump of ostrich hurl on both sides of the shank



Secure in the prepared pheasant tail fibers and make 2 to 3 turns. Soaking the stem really makes this step a lot easier.



The body is as easy as it gets. Wrap the chenille forward and palmer the hackle.



Clip and clean a clump of black deer hair. The deer hair is secured on the shank and spun to create a collar. Clip the tag end leaving a muddled head.



Next hackle some more pheasant tail in front of the deer.



Tie in two saddle hackles on the sides. They should reach a little past the black hackle.

[Marty]

The collar is a few turns of guinea



Almost done, you just need to secure the dumbbell eyes and add some dubbing behind the eyes.



Happy tying and better fishing

[mmmsm]

Marty, I appreciate all the posts you do they are very helpful and inspiring but I have a question, why do you like to use a straightened hook versus a shank?
Steve

[Marty]

I was in too big of a hurry on this one and did not explain hackling the pheasant tail very well. To prepare the tail feather you need a very sharp razor blade. The goal is to cut the stem in half leaving the fibers intact on both sides. If you take your time you should be able to cut the whole feather in half. I usually use about 2 inches of the newly formed hackle. When you secure the stem you will want the fibers pointing to the rear. Make sure your 2 to 3 turns are tight with no gaps. Hackling pheasant tail is not easy but it sure looks good once you figure it out.

[Marty]

I really like the way my HMH holds the straightened hook shank and I have a life time supply of old hooks.

Originally Posted by mmmsm

Marty, I appreciate all the posts you do they are very helpful and inspiring but I have a question, why do you like to use a straightened hook versus a shank?
Steve

[flytyer]

Nicely done Marty.

There is an easier way to prepare the pheasant tail, although initially in might seem like it takes more time, it really makes splitting it and tying with it much easier. Here is how to do it:

1) soak several pheasant tails (really pretty much as many as you wish) in water that you have added hair conditioner to (the glycerin in the hair conditioner is what helps split the tail and it keeps the split stem soft and supple so you don't have to soak it again)

2) after the pheasant tail has been soaked an hour or so, take a feather out of the water and hairconditioner bath, grasp the feather by the tip with one hand, the other hand is just below.

3) break the feather stem by moving the hand that is holding the tip of the feather down until it breaks (don't worry, the feather won't be ruined, it is supposed to break)

4) after the feather breaks, you will notice that the stem is still attached to the tip and the stem has split; then

5) simply grap the tip and the other side of the split stem with thumbs and forefingers (i.e. grab the tip with the hand you split it with, and the split stem with your other hand) and pull the stem apart all the way to the bottom of the feather.

This will result in you having split the pheasant tail and will now have two halfs of the tail feather to tie and wrap. Plus since you aded the hair conditioner to the water soak, the split stems will stay soft and supple enough to tie with without having to soak them again.

I taught this method to Kush and he has used it since because it really does make splitting pheasant tail fairly easy.

[Nor-viser]

Excellent step by step Marty.... very help for those like I that are expanding to new tying horizons. Thanks for sharing.

[Jergens]

thanks marty that is awesome! i think it's interesting what gets called an intruder thee days, when they really are no where near the original. This fly has had a huge impact on the way i tie and it's great to see the original pattern.

[Speyducer]

Marty,

Lovely tie.....AGAIN!

A few questions...

I tie on straightened hooks sometimes also, and would certainly use this method now. However, as you have tied in the 25lb mono as a loop at the rear, it looks like this is orientated on the same side as the up-eye at the front end. Is the method of attaching the completed intruder to the leader material the same as you would for a Waddington shank where that shank has been tied without any hook, ie. by threading the leader through the eye at the front, along the outer of the intruder body, and then through the mono loop at the rear, and then create a non-slip loop in your leader for the 'stinger' hook to be attached??

Also, I assume that chenille could be substituted for eg. dubbing? (perhaps not as shown in the 'original', but maybe as effective)

There appears to be no ribbing over the chenille, just the palmered hackle...is that so??

At the front end, with the weighted dumb-bell eyes, the dubbing immediately to the rear of these eyes seem to just 'fill the gap' between the eyes & the rest of the tying - or is the dubbing & colour of dubbing here to create a distinctive 'head-end' for the fish to 'focus' on??

Mike

[TheWaker]

Yeah I have questions about the hook attachment as well. Do you as Speyducer said run mono through the eye and loop in back? Do you use junction tubing and a non-slip loop to secure the hook after that?

Mark

[beau purvis]

Marty,

I did keep my Ed Ward fly[after much begging!] and you can see the picture of it hanging from my line attached to a fantastic fish in page 4 of my gallery[titled"Special"] on this site. Also a little story giving Eddie some credit.By the way you did forget the attachment part.Yes the line goes thru both the eye and the loop,giving you that important direct connection to your running line. I use Stereo wire coating stripped from the wire itself. First, I split the two sides. I attach the hook with a nonslip loop knot wrapped around the shank and pull just the knot inside the tubing that was formed from the stereo wire and slip the forward end of that tubbing over the rear of the hook shank. I like my hook point on the top side and this system holds it where you want it. No dangling/hanging/flopping.

Beau

[Miguel Morejohn]

Nicely done Marty thank you. It is great to see the original recipe recreated step by step.

[Marty]

Originally Posted by Speyducer

Marty,

Lovely tie.....AGAIN!

A few questions...

I tie on straightened hooks sometimes also, and would certainly use this method now. However, as you have tied in the 25lb mono as a loop at the rear, it looks like this is orientated on the same side as the up-eye at the front end. Is the method of attaching the completed intruder to the leader material the same as you would for a Waddington shank where that shank has been tied without any hook, ie. by threading the leader through the eye at the front, along the outer of the intruder body, and then through the mono loop at the rear, and then create a non-slip loop in your leader for the 'stinger' hook to be attached??

Also, I assume that chenille could be substituted for eg. dubbing? (perhaps not as shown in the 'original', but maybe as effective)

There appears to be no ribbing over the chenille, just the palmered hackle...is that so??

At the front end, with the weighted dumb-bell eyes, the dubbing immediately to the rear of these eyes seem to just 'fill the gap' between the eyes & the rest of the tying - or is the dubbing & colour of dubbing here to create a distinctive 'head-end' for the fish to 'focus' on??

Mike

I set the hook up same as beau only I use insulation stripped of 14 gage copper wire. It’s really no different than how you would set up on a tube fly.

No rules when it comes to tying. Build confidence in the fly how ever you want.

No rib or counter rib, no big deal if the body hackle breaks.

I would have used black chenille for the head but I am out, not sure what Ed was thinking. I think it was to finish off the fly, hiding all the extra thread.

[SCB 57]

Marty,

If you ever decide that you want to transfer all of these photos on to a CD,

count me as the first on the mailing list.

Best regards,

Steven

[daijones]

Love the tie as always Marty, and great pic`s as always.

Dai