Flesh Fly
The Flesh Fly is an essential trout fly that imitates decaying salmon flesh and salmon carcass scraps. It supports Flesh Fly fly pattern, streamer fly for trout, and how to fish Flesh Fly searches.
Imitates: Decaying salmon flesh and salmon carcass scraps
Quick Reference
- Best Sizes
- #2-6
- Best Season
- Late summer and fall after salmon spawn
- Best Conditions
- Post-salmon-spawn Alaska, Great Lakes tributaries, and Pacific Northwest rivers
- Water Temp
- 40-58°F
- Recommended Tippet
- 1X-3X
How to Rig It
Swing on a sink-tip or dead-drift through deep runs and tailouts below carcasses.
How to Present It
Strip-pause or swing slow. Real flesh tumbles passively, so dead-drift presentations often outfish active strips.
Why It Works
After salmon spawn and die, decomposing carcasses break into pale chunks that drift downstream. Rainbows, Dollies, and char gorge on the protein for weeks.
History
Alaskan guides developed flesh patterns in the 1980s to match the late-summer and fall feeding window when trout key entirely on decaying salmon meat.
Pro Tip
If you can find a fresh carcass in the river, fish the seam directly downstream from it. That's where flesh chunks naturally pile up — and where the biggest trout hold.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I fish a flesh fly?+
From mid-summer through fall, after salmon have begun spawning and dying. Best on Alaskan rainbow rivers and Great Lakes tributaries.
What color flesh fly works best?+
Pale pink, peach, and bone white. Articulated versions with a marabou tail outfish single-hook patterns in deep water.
Not sure if Flesh Fly is right today?
Get a fly recommendation based on live water temp, flow, sky, and time of day for any river in the US.
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