Tying and Fishing the Max Canyon

Max Canyon

In the early 1970’s I developed this fly for Steelhead fishing on the Deschutes River. We had experienced success with a Skunk fly and the Brad’s Brat developed by Enos Bradner. Using the black color of the Skunk and orange from the Brat I tied a fly that had an orange and white tail, orange and black body and a wing of orange and white. With the addition of gold tinsel around the body and a black front hackle, the Max Canyon came to life. In spite of my friends Dick Hans and Steve Dorn razzing me about the contrasting colors of the new fly, I had high hopes for the new fly’s success. I waded into the water the next morning with anticipation. My leader was rigged up with a Skunk on the point and the new fly on a dropper. As I began to cover the water with hopeful casts, I idly gazed across the canyon at some deer feeding on the hillside.  
  
Suddenly, my line stopped and I was into a strong fish. It was a heated battle for 7 or 8 minutes but I finally beached a chrome 8 pounder. The Max Canyon was buried in its jaw. I was elated. In the next few hours I hooked six more and landed five, all of them taking the new fly. Switching the position of the two flies made no difference. I was totally gratified with the success of the new pattern. When I returned to camp it was my turn to razz my buddies which immediately prompted a crash course in tying Max Canyons. 

Materials: 
Hook: 36890 Mustad, Sizes 6-2
Thread: 3/0 black monocord, 
Tail: Small mixture of orange and white calftail,
Body: Rear 1/3 orange, front 2/3 black wool,
Rib: Gold or silver oval tinsel, 
Hackle: Black saddle,
Wing: 2/3 white and 1/3 orange calftail. 

Step1.  Tie in the orange and white tail and attach the tinsel. Then, tie in the orange yarn and wrap it forward 1/3 inch. Attach the black yarn.

Step 2.  Wrap the black wool forward 2/3 inch and tie it off. Then spiral the tinsel up 5 to 6 times and tie off.

Step 3. Tie in the black hackle. 

Step 4.  Spiral the hackle forward 3 to 4 times and slightly wrap back over it to form a 45˚ angle. 

Step 5.  Arrange the orange and white calftail so that the orange is 1/3 on top and the white is 2/3 below. Secure them tightly and finish with a neatly tapered head and tie off.