Back in the late 70’s or early 80’s, I came by a book called Exciter Fishing: A New Way to Catch Trout, Salmon and Char by Fred Olson (Winchester Press, 1978). The gist of the book was that migratory fish were not feeding, but rather responding to stimuli that excited the striking responses of the fish. One of the assertions was that certain colors or combinations of colors were ‘exciters’ to fish, therefore you might as well combine those colors into one ‘exciter’ palette and see what shook. OMG!
So, this is akin to self flagellation, but here are a couple such patterns, tied long ago. Part of yesterday’s rescue effort, the wings are a little worse for wear from moths, but you get the goofy intent and craziness of it all. To a much lesser degree today, steelhead patterns are combinations of colors and movement to excite the striking response…but, at the time, and even now, these were outlandish patterns.
"Exciter Fly" By the Colors (SwittersB)
