Shamoken

[maxima12]

When little, a fly described as the Penns Creek Killer The Shamoken! Yes, I saw the originals. Were sold at Avco, Lycoming Motors! Wmspt. pa.

Red chinelle butt, peacock body, full palmer grizzly hackle and red thread! "What a Killer". Don't see many of the originals around today!

Friend, Don Daughenbaugh picked up on this one, give or take 40 years ago. Renamed the" Red #censor# Kelso". This fly was tied in size small to Big! High water, sizes 8 and 10. Lots of shot! We dredged Penns with this "Hottie".

Great on the Sock and also tied with brown hackle!~

Green egg sac and yellow followed but not the original! I guess we all should have known this fisherman!

Great News! Most often fished tandem with shot, on a spinning rod and tear drop float! I did it and prefer it to any other method!

How bout that, fly fishing with a spinning rod! This method allows me to fill my creel and yours too!

Maxima12

 

[Wetfly01]

That fly was also a killer on Big Pine and Kettle Cr in the early 70's. From my understanding there was the original Kelso without the red butt and red thread and it was a killer to on those waters. Would you or anyone know what the materials were for the original Kelso pattern?

 

[afishinado]

Here is a blast from the past with a lot more info and comments about this fly > Shamokin

 

[Wetfly01]

afishinado, thanks for that info definitely a blast from the past and lol about Shamokin Joint High School. That's a good one. It's funny a gentlemen from Wisconsin emailed me a few weeks ago about this fly. He said his grandfather and uncle used the original tie of the Kelso on Pine and Kettle Cr in the late 60's and early 70's and it was an absolute killer. They fished three wets at a time, the picket pin, queen of the water and the kelso. He couldn't remember what the pattern was for the kelso. Since I fish wets all the time he thought I might know, but didn't. I sent an email out to oldlefty since he's been fishing those water for many years and asked him if he knew or some his fishing buddies might know of the pattern. Hopefully I hear back from him with his thoughts on the pattern too. Again thanks for the info and maxima12 for starting the post.

 

[afishinado]

I used to tie and fish this fly back-in-the-day but didn't really have a name for it. To me it was a wooly worm pattern, but substituting peacock herl for the body instead of using chenille.

I'm not sure where the idea came from to tie a wooly worm this way. Later (and to this day) I also tie a wooly bugger with a peacock herl body.

Both patterns work well and are simple to tie.

 

[troutbert]

If anyone has a photo of a Shamokin fly, please post it.

 

[afishinado]

troutbert wrote:
If anyone has a photo of a Shamokin fly, please post it.

It's really a wooly worm with a peacock herl body or a Griffith's gnat with a short red tail.

Here is an interesting excerpt from a book discussing the history of the Griffith's gnat. It appears that others put red tails or egg sacks on their patterns.

G-Gnat

 

[JackM]

When I was a youngster, when people would act surprised and ask me where I had been or come from, I would say "Shamokin!"

 

[JackM]

and I probably was.

 

[Wetfly01]

So, I did a little more investigating about the Kelso wet fly. Oldlefty got back to me and said he was not familiar with the fly. So my next call was to Phil Baldacchino at Kettle Creek Tackle Shop. Phil knew of the fly very well. He told me this fly was a killer on Kettle in the day. He said the kelso sold out pretty quickly in shop along with the red *** version. So, the original pattern goes like this.

Hook: 12 or 14 wet fly hook
Thread: Black
Body: Peacock Herl (2 or 3 strands)
Hackle: Coachman Brown
Wing: Molted Turkey feather

I think I'll tie a few up for next season and give them a try on Kettle. Of coarse it'll be teamed up with a picket pin and a winged hare's ear. Hopefully it will have a home in one of my fly boxes.

 

[RLeep2]

Almost completely apropos of nothing.. When I was in college, the elderly father of one of my professors used to hang out in the student center and talk to whoever would stop and shoot the breeze with him. He was a dear old guy who I suppose was just trying to fill the hours.

He was originally from Shamokin and he got the biggest kick out of telling the students who would often walk by with lit cigarettes (things were different then): Hey! Don't you know there's NO Shamokin in the Student Union!" Then he'd slap his knee and have a good laugh..

 

[salvelinus]

Really dating myself here. On the TV show "You Bet Your Life", one of the contestants said she was from Shamokin. Groucho famously replied that he was there once for some Shamokin tobacco.