The Field Journal

Flies

Dolly Llama

Dolly Llama Streamer

Key points

Articulated Action. Tying the fly in two segments with a connection loop provides an undulating swimming motion that matches the crawl and wiggle of large baitfish.
Rapid Sink Rate. Weighted with a heavy brass or tungsten conehead to punch through fast currents and get down into deep river pools.
Bull Trout Magnet. Fished in white, white/olive, or black/purple in sizes 2 to 6, specifically targeting the aggressive eats of Bull Trout .

Tying videos

How to Tie the Dolly Llama Fly — the classic single-hook build.
Fly Tying the Dolly Lama Streamer for Large Trout & Salmon — rabbit strips, Mirage Flash and a cone head, step by step.
Dolly Llama — Fly Tying Lesson — Curtis Fry's tutorial walk-through.
Tying the Dolly Llama — an alternate articulated dressing.

Imitates

Sculpins (baitfish)
Juvenile trout / kokanee salmon

Related

Bull Trout — the primary target.
River Nymphing — sub-surface presentation techniques.
Woolly Bugger — a smaller, searching streamer alternative.

Where next

Keep moving

What it imitates Sculpin A bottom-hugging baitfish and a prime mouthful for big river trout and bull-trout. Where present, a dead-drifted or swung sculpin/streamer near the bottom is a How to fish it Streamer Fishing for Bull Trout bull-trout are aggressive, largely piscivorous char — they key on baitfish, fry and each other, and will chase down a big streamer stripped through a deep pool Proven water Dolly Varden Creek A creek in the Kootenay River watershed, a tributary of Kootenay River, holding Westslope Cutthroat, Bull Trout and Rainbow in provincial fish-inventory records Reference Hatch charts Month-by-month guide to insect life and matching the hatch.