Did you practice tying your knots this winter? No, I didn’t either. I’ve been fishing a little and tying knots as usual when I change flies. But I did have to stop and think the first time I hit the water this year. Lucky for me, my muscle memory took over and I tied a…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is a Green Drake Hatchmaster. This fly pattern was developed in the 1930s. I’m fairly sure the first one didn’t imitate a Green Drake like the fly I tied above. I’ve been working on another RiverKeeper Flies instructional video for my YouTube channel and thought I’d highlight the Hatchmaster…
This week’s post is about tying Pheasant Tail Perdigons. In addition, I’ll offer some detailed information about hooks as well as a heads up about fly shop inventories. Let me begin with fly shop inventories. I stopped by my local fly shop yesterday, The Fly Fisher’s Place here in Sister, OR and talked with Jeff…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Lee Clark’s Stonefly. Lee Clark developed this wing-style body dressing, which “refers to flies in which the yarn is combed and tied atop the hook shank in a downwing fashion but actually serves as the body.” Fly tying with Poly Yarn – (2000) Lee was a high school…
I finished a few small flies for two different customers recently. I’m always amazed how the stars seem to align. Turns out, both orders included some very small flies. I remember several years ago stating “if I need any flies size 20 or smaller, I’ll buy them!” Well, I’m having to eat those words right…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday post highlight several Frank Johnson woven-hair-hackle flies. I’ve had these flies a while. They were in a fly box Frank Johnson donated and I was fortunate to select during a Fly Tyer’s Rendezvous fly swap at the 50th Anniversary of the International Federation of Fly Fishers Fair in Bend, Oregon. (2015)…
I’m looking forward to fishing some larger mayfly imitations. You know what month it is? That’s right, March. It means we can expect to see a few size 12 and 14 mayflies begin to appear on the water. I hope the fish are hungry! When I started this post, I thought it would be exclusively…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Stalcup’s CDC Parachute Dun. Stalcup’s CDC Parachute Dun is another example of Shane’s creative mind. I don’t know if he was the first to utilize CDC as parachute hackle, but it’s very creative technique of tying a parachute fly. Many of his fly patterns are tied with biots…
Seven years ago this week, I shared my first post on RiverKeeper Flies. Actually, my wife is the one responsible. She encouraged me to start a website. Little did I know then where my journey would take me. Initially, I thought it was a way to organize the fly pattern sheets I used and always…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Disco Midge TBT. The Disco Midge is a very simple fly to tie and one I found in Ed Engle’s Tying Small Flies (2004). He writes it was developed on the Frying Pan River in Colorado. There are variants which utilize synthetic materials for the body. I…
