• Don Martinez Golden Quail

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Don Martinez Golden Quail. Don Martinez (around 1903 – 1955), was born in Washington, Connecticut. His fly tying was influenced by fishing the Catskill area of New York. Martinez moved to Chicago where he was in the real estate business for a short time before moving on…

  • Charles Brooks Emerger Ida May

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Charles Brooks Emerger Ida May. Some days I have difficulties deciding which fly to feature for a TBT fly. I walk over to my fly fishing and fly tying library and selected a book or two. I found today’s fly in Brooks’ book entitled The Henry’s Fork…

  • How to Plan a Fly Fishing Trip

    I’m starting to think about next year’s fishing trips and wondering where to go. I thought you might benefit from my thought process on how to plan a fly fishing trip. This map is one I created back in 2019 to show where we have fished during our Fly Fishing Road Trips. If you’re a…

  • Atherton No.1 Dry Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Atherton No.1 dry fly. John Atherton (1900 – 1952) was an artist by trade and incorporated his impressionistic art into the flies he tied. The hackle of the Atherton No. 1 are all mixed colors to create a life-like fly imitating the real insects. Interestingly, he didn’t…

  • RiverKeeper Flies YouTube Channel

    Fishing has slowed down for me so I’ve returned to the vise, filling orders and the provider box. In addition, I recently taught a Zoom fly tying class for Gretchen and Al Beatty’s BT’s Fly Tying Friday where I demonstrated my RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple, one of my favorite flies to trick selective trout. This…

  • Kinney’s Reverse Spider

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Mike Kinney’s Reverse Spider. I was asked recently if I would tie the Reverse Spider for a client and thought it would make a great TBT fly. So today I sat down and tied one. I believe the fly pattern he provided was from Les Johnson’s Sea Run:…

  • Rio Trout Leaders

    What brand of leader do you use? There are a lot of good manufacturers to choose from, including Trouthunter, Umpqua, Scientific Anglers, Orvis, and the one I’ve been using for many years – RIO. I recently purchased a different RIO trout leader, the Powerflex Plus to see if I like it. Besides leaders in today’s…

  • Doc Spratley Wet Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Doc Spratley Wet Fly. This is a fly I used at Pennask Lake in British Columbia back in 2007. We stayed at Pennask Lake Lodge with friends who were members there. Yes, it was a few years ago. According to Flies of the Northwest (1979) by the…