Due to the huge demand and materials involved in these new RS design tubes we have to add them to our Premium range.
Ok, so we all know the legendary story of the most well known and most proven killer salmon fly of them all ( and I don’t say this lightly ) it’s not even an “arguable” statement, the Willie Gunn “is” the most famous and successful salmon fly of them all - end of! I don’t normally write so much regarding the merits of salmon flies but, when it comes to the Willie Gunn I’ll make an exception this time. Incase you didn’t already know, Mr Willie Gunn was the son of a gamekeeper on the Brora river in the Northern highlands of Scotland which was renowned for producing very early spring salmon. A small to medium sized river which flows into the Moray firth in the county of Sutherland where I grew up learning how to seek out spring salmon myself 12 miles down the road from its more illustrious neighbour the river Helmsdale.
So the legend goes that Willie liked to dabble in flytying as well as fishing and decided to knock up salmon tubes that he thought would lure early running Brora spring salmon so he decided to do just that, but, he wanted confirmation from another legend of the highlands, Rob Wilson who ran the local fishing tackle shop in Brora. Willie tied up a selection of tubes in black yellow and orange and presented them over the counter to Rob. Rob had a good look but one stood out pretty quickly and it was the one with the mix of all colours around the body of the tube, a name for this new fly was quickly suggested by Rob, it simply had to be called the “Willie Gunn” after its designer. This new tube fly grew in popularity very quickly locally and its reputation blossomed into the salmon fly that we have all come to know as the Willie Gunn tube now. This fly took off like no other as it caught so many spring salmon, word spread like wildfire. Everyone wanted to use the fly, the rest as they say is history!
So, moving on just a little….I started tying salmon flies when I was old enough to know that it was interesting, my father Andrew Sutherland was a ghillie on the Helmsdale river so I guess I did not have much choice when it came to passing the time as I was brought up fishing and learning the trade by his side. Andrew was a ghillie on the Helmsdale for around 40 years and I was learning to tie flies for as long as I can remember and testing them out in all conditions. My greatest day was when the most acclaimed fly tier of them all, the late Megan Boyd of Brora saw a tiny bit of flytying talent in me after copying one of her shrimp patterns perfectly and wanted to pass on some of her secrets. Well, to say I was honoured was an understatement! Without having to write a book on the subject ( which I would like to do ) let’s cut a very long story short regarding the Willie Gunn you see before you, I have caught many spring salmon right through January ( 6 ) on the Helmsdale river and many more on all the highland rivers through February, March and April, this latest Willie Gunn tube is a journey of many years of trial, fishing and relentless design using every flytying material available now to produce in my opinion, the best Willie Gunn salmon tube of all time. The RS UV Willie Gunn JC. UV materials were not available until recently and I have to say that just a few strands through the hairwing and dubbing on the body take the Willie Gunn fly to a level.
A quick word on UV materials. Does this synthetic material elevate a salmon fly? Well let’s just say that over the last few years I have seen more and more salmon flies create havoc with UV in a hairwing or dubbed on the body…trust me, there is something in it, we will never know what but salmon hit flies with UV more than basic hairwing patterns from what I can gather from thousands of salmon anglers, the Pearly Ally’s Shrimp being the latest very big hitter in summer.
So, personally, I think that this is the best Willie Gunn tube that I have ever tied I think Megan Boyd would have been very proud of her apprentice and Rob Wilson and Willie Gunn himself would also be very excited by this new improved Willie Gunn tube so my massive advice to you would be with all the history, success and development of the greatest salmon fly of them all, if you have any doubts about what fly to choose on any river that has an Atlantic salmon run, put on this fly and you will have the best chance of catching a salmon all year round because I personally will be tying these on double hooks and smaller tubes for summer and autumn too!
Don't get me wrong, Monkey tubes, Sunray Shadows, SuperSnaelda, SuperSquid and many more of my designs all have their special moments depending on conditions and tactics required, but the Willie Gunn is the ultimate killer and will always be at the top of the league when it comes to consistency.
Thank you for reading, get on the Willie Gunn journey and you will not be disappointed, as I have said previously, it is the best salmon fly of all time and of that there is no argument!
Tight lines and I look forward to tying some of these beautiful flies for you.
Ron Sutherland
Product Code: RS FOWCJ9
