If you are a regular here at RiverKeeper Flies, you know I’ve been tying LOTS of flies. This past week is no exception. I was asked by a new customer if I could tie up some Thunder Thighs hopper patterns for him. What are Thunder Thighs you ask? Well, I asked the same question. That’s…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Lance Egan’s Frenchie. You might recognize other famous flies Lance Egan has created, including the Red Dart and Rainbow Warrior. Lance would tell you he didn’t invent the Frenchie, but this is a spin-off of a competition style fly he developed during his first World Fly Fishing Championship…
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…
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…
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….
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Vint Johnson’s Red Squirrel Tail Streamer. This is another fly my friend Jim Fisher pulled out of his collection while I visited with him earlier this year. Vint Johnson operated The Tackle Shop in West Yellowstone, MT in the early 1930’s. He was a fly tier, mentor and…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
