• Fishing with Beetles

    I had a recent fly order for Beetle Bailey flies and decided to keep tying them and fill the provider box. I ended up tying over 11 dozen. Why? Because fishing with beetles can be effective at certain times of the year and I didn’t want to run out of them. In fact, terrestrials can…

  • Kelly Galloup’s Sunken Spinner

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Kelly Galloup’s Sunken Spinner. This fly pattern was originally found in his book entitled Cripples and Spinners (2001), which you can purchase from his fly shop or by clicking the link to purchase from Amazon. Many of you already know about spinner falls, the last stage of a mayfly’s…

  • Flies Coming Off My Vise

    This week’s post will highlight a few flies coming off my vise AND include a comment about how to fish them. I hope it will help you determine what flies to include in your fly box when we can start fishing again. I recognize not all readers of my RiverKeeper Flies weekly posts tie flies….

  • Odds and Ends

    I have a few thoughts I need to express and they don’t fit neatly into one topic for my usual post. Hence, another post entitled Odds and Ends. We are in a different time as coronovirus impacts all of us. While my wife and I are conducting our own social distancing, here are a few…

  • Gartside Sparrow Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Gartside Sparrow Fly. This is a fly my friend purchased from a fly shop in Big Sky, MT in the 1970’s. He fished the fly on the Gallatin and Madison Rivers, MT. The Sparrow Fly was created by Jack Gartside. I have heard the name Gartside before,…

  • March Brown Mayflies are Coming

    It won’t be long before fishing season begins for many fly fishers. That’s because March Brown mayflies are coming soon. This is the first of the larger mayflies trout will see in the coming months and an emerger or dry fly is a lot of fun to fish. Western March Brown mayflies (Rhithrogena morrisoni) are in…

  • Norm Wood Special TBT

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Norm Wood Special TBT. I’ve fished the Norm Wood Special off and on for many years on the Lower Deschutes River, OR. It’s an effective fly for the Golden Stone hatch. For some reason, it’s always intrigued me, perhaps because of the “odd” color wing, a tangerine…

  • Skwala Stonefly Fly Patterns

    I’m getting ready for our first road trip of the year and think I should tie up a few Skwala stonefly fly patterns. You may not believe it, but I really haven’t concentrated on fishing this hatch before. I have a couple of fly patterns a friend of mine taught several years ago at our…

  • Roxey’s Red Squirrel Tail

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Roxey’s Red Squirrel Tail streamer. I was contacted by a customer in early January asking if I would tie a few streamer fly patterns someone in his family had developed many years ago. I like a challenge, so I responded with interest and he provided a couple of…