Belknap Streamer from scott biron
I grew up in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The town of Acton was known for its part in the Revolutionary War. One of its long-time residents was fly tyer Ray Salminen. He lived 2 streets over from my home and I attended school with his daughter.
Ray was known for his fly tying and friendships with many sportsmen and women, the likes included Joseph Bates, Megan Boyd and Leon Leonwood. Known for his Red Ghost streamer pattern he also had a few other which he developed and fished.
I stumbled across one called the Belknap streamer which was named after the Belknap region of New Hampshire. Ray developed this after catching a small minnow while exploring streams in northern NH.
The pattern is documented in the first addition of Bates book “Streamers, Fly Tying and Fishing“. I was sent a copy of a letter Ray wrote a friend in 2005 that updated the pattern and described in great detail the flies history and how it became his favorite pattern for NH.
The photo above is the Belknap Streamer.
Ray taught fly tying classes in Acton for years, sadly I never took one. Years after he passed away I began teaching free classes in town to the students in the junior high school. One day Ray’s daughter contacted me to remind me I was carrying on her father’s work of fly tying education. I had forgotten about his classes ……. I guess things were coming full circle.
Hook: Sprite S1800 #6
Body: 6 layers of flat gold tinsel
Wing: 2 layers of Artic fox, the first long and the second half as long
Topping: 2 strips of mallard
Eye: Jungle cock eye
Head: Yellow
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