How to Fish the Portland Hitch for Atlantic Salmon

Salmon and the Salmonoid Family on the Fly — Part 2 of 3 · Part 1: Tad Murdoch · Part 3: Mark Kurlansky

David Hartlin hooked his first Atlantic salmon at eight years old, and by his own description, he's never fully recovered. "I've never done any hard drugs," he says, "but from what I've watched on TV, hooking that first Atlantic salmon was just like dabbing a needle in my arm." Salmon anglers call themselves junkies for a reason, and after guiding full-time on Newfoundland's west coast for decades, Hartlin is about as far gone as they come.

The technique he reaches for once the water warms is one of the oldest tricks in Atlantic salmon fishing, and it was invented entirely by accident — by anglers who couldn't afford to replace a broken fly. It's called the Portland hitch, and it turns a sunk wet fly into a fly that wakes across the surface, triggering some of the most explosive takes in freshwater fishing.

What This Technique Is (and What Problem It Solves)

The Portland hitch gets its name from Portland Creek, on Newfoundland's northern peninsula. Generations ago, merchant mariners trading between England and Newfoundland brought over the classic Atlantic salmon wet flies of the day — ornate patterns tied with a gut eye instead of a modern metal one. Local anglers on rivers like Portland Creek didn't have access to replacement flies, and when a fly's gut eye finally rotted and broke, they couldn't just tie on a new one. Being resourceful, they started tying a half-hitch or two directly behind the fly's head and cinching it down on the material to hold the fly on the line without an eye at all.

What they discovered by accident solved a problem nobody was trying to solve: the hitch pulls the fly's nose up and out of the water, so instead of swimming sunk and sleepy, the fly skates and wakes across the surface on the swing. Atlantic salmon holding in smooth, glassy water — fish that might ignore a fly swimming past below them — will come up and smash a fly they can see fleeing across the surface. The hitch turns a presentation problem (how do you get a lethargic, non-feeding fish to react) into a predator-response problem (something is clearly trying to get away), and that's a much easier problem to solve.

Step-by-Step Mechanics

1. Tie the hitchBehind the head of the fly, tie one or two simple half-hitches and cinch them down snug on the material. Done correctly, the fly's nose points slightly up and out of the water instead of hanging straight back.
2. Pick hitch waterLook for smooth, glassy currents with steady, moderate flow — broken or choppy water won't let the fly hold a visible wake. This is classic "hitch pool" water, the kind locals already know by name.
3. Cast across and slightly downstreamA standard wet-fly swing angle works. Let the current do the work rather than stripping the fly.
4. Watch the wake, not just the waterAs the fly swings, it should carve a clean V-wake across the surface. That wake is the whole point — it's what triggers the strike.
5. Let the take developTakes on a hitched fly are explosive and happen right on the surface. Resist the instinct to set the hook the instant you see it — give the fish a beat to turn down with the fly before you come tight.
6. Match fly size to water temperatureEarly in the season, when water is still cold, fish small, sparse wet flies — think size 8 to 10 on a black iron hook — fished more conventionally, sunk. Once the water warms toward the high 50s, switch to the hitch and let the presentation do the triggering instead of the fly itself.

Reading Conditions & Adjusting

Common Mistakes

Author's Story & Key Insights

What stuck with me most from talking with Dave wasn't the hitch itself — it was how he talks about the last hour of daylight. He's watched client after client call it quits right as the mosquitoes get bad, head back for a drink, and miss the exact window every guide on that river already knows is the best one. It's such a simple, almost boring piece of advice, and it's also probably the single most repeatable edge in this whole sport: whatever fishery you're on, the last few minutes of legal light are disproportionately when it happens. Dave's seen it enough times on Newfoundland's west coast that he builds his entire daily schedule around it, and it's worth stealing for literally any water you fish.

Terms You'll Hear

Portland Hitch

A half-hitch tied behind a fly's head that lifts its nose and makes it skate across the surface; it originated on Newfoundland's Portland Creek.

Grilse

A young Atlantic salmon that spent only one winter at sea before returning to spawn, typically smaller than a multi-sea-winter fish.

Leaper

Atlantic salmon's nickname, earned for the repeated jumps a hooked fish makes.

Tailing

Landing a salmon by hand-gripping it just ahead of the tail fin rather than netting or gaffing it.

Wet-Fly Swing

The classic downstream-and-across presentation where a sunk fly swings through the current under tension from the line.

Beat

A defined stretch of river an angler fishes for a set period — a term rooted in the UK and European Atlantic salmon tradition.

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