“The Rainbow Warrior was my first commercially available fly pattern.
I’d love to tell you a fancy design story, but the truth is I bought some Wapsi rainbow sow scud dubbing because it looked fishy to me. I tied 4 flashy nymphs (Rainbow Warriors) using the Wapsi rainbow dubbing, along with pearl tinsel, red thread, pearl glass beads (tungsten version came later), and pheasant tail, and stuck them in one of my nymph boxes.
There they sat for months… until one day on my local tailwater with fussy trout, I encountered fish that I could see were actively feeding, but were not taking my go-to patterns with as much regularity as I was used to.
I tied on one of those flashy little flies and proceeded to catch fish, after fish, after fish. So much so, that I went to work the next day and told my then employers, Mickey and Byron of Fish Tech Outfitters in Salt Lake City, that I had cracked the code!
To their credit, rather than dismissing the pattern, they sensed my excitement and kindly asked me to tie a couple dozen for the store, and we’d see how they worked for our customers.
I tied two dozen that evening, brought them to work the following day, and I sold them to any willing takers. The few that bought, came back quickly wanting more.
I got a little tired of tying Rainbow Warriors for others, and with the help of Mickey and Byron, asked our Umpqua sales rep how to have a custom pattern tied.
Long story short, it has been available for Umpqua dealers ever since.
I’m often asked if the Rainbow Warrior works for picky fish, if it’s effective in clear water situations, in spring creeks and tailwaters, if it works for wild fish, etc… It does, it is, definitely, and of course!
Despite its non-imitative looks, Salmonids seem to like it. My advice is don’t worry about “why” fish eat it. Just be happy they do.”
- Signature Tyer Lance Egan
