A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog Tying Spey Flies – I’m Scared! Well, I’m back to report I’ve successfully tied another spey fly! Actually…two. If you recall, I wanted to tie some spey flies and settled on the Lady Caroline, an old-time pattern from the 1800’s. Here was my first fly: I didn’t…
San Juan Worm. Yup, a worm is this week’s Throw Back Thursday fly from the archives. Developed in the 1970’s by Jim Aubrey for the San Juan River in New Mexico, it’s accounted for many fish and worked so well, the “San Juan Shuffle” is outlawed on some rivers. The “Shuffle” is a technique where…
Another year has come and gone. For many, it’s a time of reflection and celebration of year end. Seems like an appropriate time to reflect about all I’ve done on my website this year. I started the RiverKeeper Flies blog as a way to combine my passion of fly fishing & fly tying with an ability to…
Today’s Throw Back Thursday fly is the Renegade, an attractor fly developed in 1928 by Taylor “Beartracks” Williams. It’s said the original fly had all white hackle and was changed to brown/white when “Beartracks” moved to Sun Valley. Another story states George Herter claimed it was an English fly pattern named the Marryat, tied by Mrs…
It’s the holiday season, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! My wife suggested we take this net to the river the other day hoping we’d catch some rainbows to use on our Christmas card. Well, the first day the pressure was too much I guess as I lost…
It’s Thursday again and this week’s TBT fly is the Stimulator. I first learned of this fly from Randall Kaufmann’s book Tying Dry Flies. Tied many flies from that book. This is an older fly I tied many years ago. I obtained the book in the early 90’s…so old is relative, I guess.
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I talk about Craig Mathews and Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Montana. Craig and the rest of the guys in the shop are responsible for many of the flies I fish. The flies they develop fit my description for success – simple to…
Today’s Throw Back Thursday fly is the Carrie Stevens Green Drake streamer. I tied this fly for last year’s Expo Poster Plate, but they used my Pink Beauty instead. Carrie Stevens created her own versions of streamers for Maine’s Rangeley Lakes Region. In July 1924, she landed a 6 pound 13 ounce brook trout, winning…
As I sit down at my fly tying vise today, I decided to tie a few flies imitating a Blue Wing Olive mayfly. It’s timely because these bugs are still popping out of their nymphal shucks and I hope to go fishing this week and find a few fish sipping them. But the main reason…
I thought it appropriate to offer the Lady Caroline as this week’s TBT fly. Yes, I just blogged about tying it in the last week in Tying Spey Flies – I’m Scared, but it’s perhaps the most famous spey fly. John Shewey in his Spey Flies & Dee Flies book suggests there is evidence “Geordie”…
