Hook Size 6
The original designer of the Silver Wilkinson cannot be determined. Mr. P. S. Wilkinson’s
name is was given to the fly but Canon William Greenwell tied a fly very near the same.
This fly was designed around 1843. The fly is a great smolt pattern. It has proven
successful in all the Atlantic Salmon streams in Maine and well as New England, the North
East and Mid-Atlantic streams. It is very popular in Canada, Scotland and Sweden.
You want to imitate the baitfish the Silver Wilkinson is intended to imitate by retrieving it
fast, and with darts like true baitfish behave. Salmon do not kill the fly the way a trout
would. They just grab it. When your line tightens, set the hook.
This is also a great Coho Salmon fly. The salmon often follow this fly without taking it, so
you want to be careful to keep it moving along or they will reject it. It would be better to
speed the fly up. The naturals don’t slow down when approached by a game fish. The try
to escape from them. You presentation should do the same.
The Silver Wilkinson should be one of your go-to flies for Atlantic Salmon and certainly
anytime the smolt or other baitfish are running.
