Ed Ward Original Intruder

Scott Howell Signature Intruder

Scott Howell Squidro

The Intruder fly represents the biggest advancement of fly fishing and fly tying in our modern world. The fly was created by Ed Ward, Jerry French, and Scott Howell. Great flies are designed to appear and function a specific way. The fly was designed to have a large profile and lots of movement while also not soaking up water like a mop. The original fly was tied on a cutoff hook shank and the leader was passed through the fly and knotted to a small bait hook. This eliminated the long shank leverage effect that can be problematic when using a large fly tied on a long shank hook. Today, shanks are made to avoid the need of cutting hooks. As the fly evolved, a trailing hook was attached with a piece of wire. This platform also allows for any type of hook to be attached or changed if the hook point becomes damaged. The hook of choice is a small bait-style hook. Intruder flies can be tied with a variety of different materials. This allows the fly tyer to be a creative as they want, opening an entire realm of possibility.

Due to the flies large size and weight, new rods and lines had to be created to cast such a fly. Bigger lines were needed to turn over a large fly and the Skagit line was developed. As a result, Skagit style rods and lines are now dominant in the fly fishing marketplace. The rods became shorter than a Spey rod allowing the angler to fish in tighter spaces with less room to work with. They also noticed that the fly induced aggressive takes from the most aggressive fish.

The popularity of the intruder fly quickly followed as their names in the guiding industry started to grow from their client’s success. It has been said that while they were developing the fly, they had to be very secretive and even had their flies stolen while on the river. As Ed Ward has said “The intruder fly is not an end all be all fly”. It is a fishing tool for specific situations and when fished properly, can be very effective.