• First Flies of 2019

    Yesterday, I cleaned up my fly tying bench and sat down for the first time this year to tie a few flies. It’s been about two weeks since I tied a fly. Tonight I’m teaching the first class at Central Oregon Flyfisher’s Winter Fly Tying. In addition, I’m traveling to Boise, ID this week for…

  • LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Gary LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge. LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge is one of the flies highlighted in LaFontaine’s Legacy, by Al and Gretchen Beatty. In the book, Al relayed his story about Gary’s underwater research and how he observed adult midges crawling underwater to lay their eggs. Trout…

  • Happy New Year 2019

    Happy New Year 2019 everyone. I thought today’s post would be a good time to take a look back at 2018. I’d like to express my gratitude to all the RiverKeeper Flies subscribers and readers who have found me one way or another. 2018 has been another good year.

  • Parmacheene Belle

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Parmacheene Belle. This fly is from the collection of Al and Gretchen Beatty. The Parmacheene Belle was invented by Henry P. Wells in the late 1870’s and was named for Parmacheene Lake in Maine. I found the Parmacheene Belle listed on Plate I in Mary Orvis Marbury’s…

  • What Flies to Tie

    As you’ve read in previous posts, I’ve been tying flies lately. It’s that time of year for me. And I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I’ve finished my fly tying commitments for now, which includes filling orders and tying a few Mercer’s Poxyback Green Drake nymphs in the last week. So the question now…

  • Box of Mustad-Sproat Hooks

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday post is a box of Mustad-Sproat hooks. If you read the post entitled Tyer’s Wax a couple of weeks ago, you might remember I wrote about Gretchen Beatty’s father “Dub” Evans who taught her to tie flies on a treadle sewing machine converted into a fly tying vise.

  • Odds and Ends

    Yes, it’s that time again. It’s time to highlight a few odds and ends that are happening around RiverKeeper Flies. Because the holiday season is approaching, I decided to randomly select two of my Subscribers and send them a dozen of my custom flies. Look and see if your name is at the bottom of this…