Josh Linn’s “MFFR” by Jim Adams

Well, it has been quite some time since the last Fly of the Month article has been posted on the club’s blog. Due to the COVID pandemic our regular club activities have definitely been disrupted. We have not had any of our monthly Fly Tying Nights but they will resume… someday. It has been suggested that we continue posting things of interest regarding Flies and Fly Tying, even though we cannot have our fly tying get-togethers yet. In case you haven’t noticed there is a major “happening” taking place on The Deschutes River as this is being written. The annual salmonfly hatch is in full swing and Josh Linn at the Royal Treatment Fly Shop recently hosted a Zoom presentation that he calls The Salmonfly Survival Guide. If you missed it you can click on this link to have a look. Josh includes a lot of information about presentations, gear, and flies patterns to help you be as successful as possible during the salmonfly hatch.

And that brings us to the MFFR. If you have ever fished the salmonfly hatch you undoubtedly have experimented with a number of different patterns. Everyone seems to have a go-to favorite. Josh has tweaked the popular Norm Woods Special into a fly in which he has a lot of confidence. A foam rubber body on the MFFR is the one alteration that Josh has added that results in improved flotation.

Here is one version of a manufactured Norm Woods Special with a dubbed body:

Below is Josh Linn’s MFFR, his foam body variation of a Norm Woods Special:

Here’s the MFFR recipe—
Hook: TMC 200R size 4
Thread: 10/0 Orange
Body: 2mm Orange Foam
Hackle: Metz #2 Ginger Saddle Hackle
Wing: Tan Calf Tail
Head: Orange Thread
Hackle: Metz #2 Brown Hackle
Check out this link for Josh’s youtube tutorial showing all of the details for tying the MFFR. It is especially interesting to see how Josh colors the foam material, trims it, and then winds it onto the hook shank. Josh then trims the hackle to allow the fly to sit low in the water, much like the naturals. The Royal Treatment will have all of the materials you would need plus they have packaged up some MFFR kits that have enough materials to tie up about 25 MFFRs.

Josh says that the big bugs should be out on the Deschutes through the first week of June so there is still time to get out on the water to take advantage of the salmonfly hatch.

Stay well, folks!