The Intruder’s effectiveness can be attributed to the ?y’s large silhouette, created with limited materials. On top of sinking and swimming well, it casts easily. (Scott Howell photo)
January 20, 2026
By Scott Howell
Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.
This article was originally published in the December 2008 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine.
It’s impossible to talk about the Intruder without first touching on its history. The Signature Series Intruder was not a simple case of sitting down at the vise one evening and creating a new pattern. It started back in the early ’90s with a circle of guides at an Alaskan wilderness lodge.
The first Intruder-style fly was the brainchild of Ed Ward , and was originally designed for king salmon. This shank-style fly was a solution for creating huge, plug-like silhouettes that couldn’t be achieved on conventional fly hooks.
Advertisement
While fishing these flies for kings, it was impossible not to notice the bycatch of huge Alaskan rainbows . It didn’t take long for us to realize that if rainbows couldn’t resist the fly, steelhead might have a similar problem. Unfortunately, we’d have to endure a grueling summer of guiding before we’d get to swim these patterns in steelhead waters.
That September I crammed into a truck with Ed Ward and Jerry French and headed for B.C. with my drift boat in tow. Despite low-water conditions, we fished the Intruder—and it worked.
The standout prototype was an olive version Ed had created. At the time, we thought it looked a lot like a sculpin. In actuality, I think it was Jerry’s animated description that fit it best: With fly in hand—pretending to swim it through the air–he said the fish must think it looks like some kind of intruder. It all took off from there.
Advertisement
Testing Grounds Intruder development has been an ongoing process, says Howell. New material introductions have defined its evolutionary stages. (Scott Howell photo) The next winter, I fished with Ed on the Skagit, and he asked me if I was still using big flies. I proudly showed him my newest creation, only to have it dwarfed by what looked like a small bird tied to his line. From that point on, our Intruders grew bigger and bigger until one day I could barely cast them.
We never found a size too big for the steelhead but we’ve since backed off on the giant sizes to end up with a pattern that still provides a large silhouette with limited materials, so it sinks and swims well, and casts easily.
Intruder development has been an ongoing process since day one. Introductions of new and different materials have defined its evolutionary stages.
The first Intruders were tied with marabou, and were basically large knock-offs of George Cook’s marabou flies. From marabou the fly progressed to schlappen and then turkey feathers, which provided exceptionally long hackles.
I thought Intruders would always be tied with turkey feathers but about the time I’d collected a lifetime’s worth, Ed found and started tying with ostrich feathers, which were even longer.
I’ve since narrowed my Intruders down to two different styles in an assortment of colors. The Signature Series Intruder has an ostrich hackle/saddle shellback, which creates a large silhouette, with a bulky hair collar behind the front hackles.
Marabou and rabbit-strip flies can be heavy and difficult to cast once wet. The Intruder’s design solves both problems. First, the large hackle dressed over a fairly sparse body produces a substantial silhouette with less material. This allows the hackle to swim freely, giving the flies lifelike action. Second, since the Intruder’s materials don’t hold water as readily as rabbit strips or marabou, they are easier to cast.
Another crucial Intruder component is its heavy dumbell eyes. Lead or tungsten eyes allow sparsely dressed patterns to sink fast. It is also important to note that the Intruder’s design makes it less buoyant–with less water resistance–than more heavily dressed flies. This means Intruders rise slower in the water column once they’re under tension and swinging.
Confidence is Crucial When fishing the Intruder, cast slightly upstream and make a big upstream mend, allowing the fly to sink to the fish’s level. (Scott Howell photo) The Intruder is now my mainstay for nearly all steelhead fishing. Even under normal summer water conditions, I find natural-colored Intruders catch more steelhead than the same old Green Butt Skunks or other traditional patterns. Whether trying to pull fish in cold water, or just knowing I’m throwing something different with the Intruder, I always have confidence in it.
When fishing the Intruder, cast slightly upstream and make a big upstream mend. This takes tension off the fly and allows it to sink down to the fish’s level. Just as the line is about to come tight, kick another small mend in it, straightening the remaining slack line. It’s important to get this second mend in before the line comes tight and the fly starts to swing. Otherwise, you’ll lift the fly out of the zone.
I’m a big believer in not overmending the line. Once the fly is fishing, let it swim. Follow the line around with your rod tip and wait for the pull.
Signature Series Intruder (Cerise/Orange) Recipe by Scott Howell
Using junction tubing allows you to change hooks just like a tube fly, but preserve the look of a traditional steelhead fly. Tying the Signature Series Intruder Step 1. (David J. Siegfried photo) 1. Tie nickel-plated lead or tungsten dumbbell eyes onto the bottom of the hook shank. Tie on a short, 1/4-inch silver Mylar tinsel tag on the back of the shank. Double over a piece of 10-pound-test monofilament, create a loop at the Mylar tag, and tie down the ends of the monofilament along the length of the hook shank.
Step 2. (David J. Siegfried photo) 2. Dub a short orange Angora goat butt at the front of the tag and over the base of the monofilament loop. Tie in a clump of 20 to 25 cerise ostrich herls for the tail. It should be 2 to 2 1/2 inches long.Tie down the butts of the ostrich herl rather than cutting them off.
Step 3. (David J. Siegfried photo) 3. Wrap a silver Mylar tinsel body over the ostrich butts. In front of the tinsel body, spin a large clump of stiff fluorescent orange deer hair. Trim the butt ends, leaving a small Muddler clump or bulb to help hold the hackles out.
Step 4. (David J. Siegfried photo) 4. Spin 25 to 30 cerise ostrich herls into a dubbing loop and wrap them behind the dumbbell eyes. The ostrich hackles should extend back to just past the end of the shank. An alternative to the dubbing loop is to tie clumps of ostrich in front of the deer hair and evenly distribute the ostrich around the shank.
Create another dubbing loop and place a 1 1/2- to 2-inch rabbit strip in it. Once the fur is trapped in the loop, cut off the hide and spin the loop. Wrap the dubbed rabbit around the shank two times and then make two or three figure-eight wraps around the dumb-bell eyes. Leave the rabbit fur fairly long, it provides a nice collar to finish the fly.
Step 5. (David J. Siegfried photo) 5. For the topping, tie in another clump of cerise ostrich under an overwing of two paired orange saddles. Whip-finish, and cement the head.
Adding the Hook (David J. Siegfried photo) Because this fly is tied on a cut hook shank, I rig it with a trailing hook using junction tubing, similar to how you would rig a tube fly. Tie the hook of your choice to a tippet section using a surgeon’s loop.
Thread the tippet through a short 1/2-inch piece of soft plastic tubing, through the small monofilament loop near the back of the shank, and then up through the hook eye.
Attach the tippet to your leader using a double surgeon’s knot or blood knot .
To snug everything up, pull on the tippet to draw the surgeon’s loop knot into the base of the junction tubing. Slide the other end of the junction tubing onto the exposed base of the hook shank. The tubing holds the hook firmly in place while fishing. The monofilament loop ensures the line does not foul around the fly.
Intruders you buy at the store are tied with the hook attached by a piece of looped braid. I’m certain that the fly fishes equally well with the hook permanently looped to the shank, but if the hook dulls you must sharpen it or throw the fly away. Using junction tubing allows you to change hooks just like a tube fly, but preserve the look of a traditional steelhead fly.
[For more information on adding hooks using junction tubing, see “Tube Flies For Steelhead .” THE EDITOR.]
Scott Howell is a native Oregonian and steelhead guide.
