Is it a smolt? Is it a sculpin? Is it a squid or a shrimp? We’re not sure WHAT it is, but one thing you can bet on is that the fish will eat it. From the steelhead streams of northern California to the big trout rivers of Bristol Bay and all the anadromous fish streams in between, Mark’s Goblin has made big salmon and trout bitin’ mad for quite some time. The up-eye shank with the underslung lead eye makes Mark’s Goblin always ride wing up, flash down, and the stiff mono trailer and octopus hook are as foul-proof as a fella can get in a salmon / trout / steelhead fly these days.
“This is the end result of a body style I have been playing with for years. The original style (the Roundhouse) was a tube fly topped with ostrich and wrapped with arctic fox – this made for a good silhouette and a very effective “long” fly, but the materials didn’t translate well when I scaled down for different species / situations. I deconstructed the fly body and retained the wing and prop, then tried a bunch of winging materials before settling on birdfur for body, motion, and ease of use. The colors were arrived at through trial and error – a lot of colors caught fish, but the black wing/metallic flash combos were the most consistent fish producers.”
- Signature tyer Mark Hieronymus
