• LaFontaine’s Flex Sculpin

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is LaFontaine’s Flex Sculpin. The Flex Sculpin can be found in LaFontaine’s Legacy, a book authored by Al and Gretchen Beatty about 26 fly patterns Gary LaFontaine never finished publishing. It’s difficult to see from the picture, but there is a hinge at the mid-section which allows the tail to move…

  • Purple Serendipity

    This week’s post presents Serendipity fly variations, including my favorite, the $3 Dip. If you are a regular here at RiverKeeper Flies, you have seen pictures of the $3 Dip as well as a few pics of the fly in a fish or two.  Last week at our fly club’s Winter Fly Tying class, one of…

  • Montreal

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Montreal, another fly from the Ray Bergman collection. For some reason, I just like the elegance and simplicity of a Bergman wet fly. You can find the Montreal wet fly on Plate No. 6, page 123 of Bergman’s book entitled Trout (1940 – fourth printing).  If you are a…

  • Delaware Adams TBT

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Delaware Adams TBT. The Delaware Adams was created by Walt Dette for Art Lee to fish on the Delaware River around Hancock, NY. The fly is a cross between two famous classic dry flies; the Henryville Special and the Adams. I found the Delaware Adams in Eric…

  • Heading to the 2018 NW Expo

    I’m packing the car and heading to the 2018 NW Expo in a couple of days. Besides being a Demonstration Tyer on Friday and Saturday, I’ll be teaching a Contemporary Soft Hackle class on Friday afternoon. You may have read last week’s post Volunteer Activities and Fly Tying were I talked about helping some of…

  • Bailey’s Grey Hackle

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Dan Bailey’s Grey Hackle. This fly pictured above was from a collection of flies tied by Dan Bailey. I was fortunate to be able to photograph a total of nine Bailey flies, a Black Gnat, Black Bivisible, Blonde Wulff, Dark Cahill, Fan Wing Royal Coachman, Light Cahill, Mosquito, Ginger Quill and this Grey Hackle. The…

  • Bailey’s Dark Cahill

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Bailey’s Dark Cahill. Notice how this fly is tied with dun colored hackle and tail, a deviation of the standard brown that is usually used for both. This fly pictured above was from a collection of flies tied by Dan Bailey. I was fortunate to be able to…

  • Filling the Caddis Provider Box

    I’ve been tying a lot of caddis fly patterns lately, specifically Iris Caddis. I’m working on filling the caddis provider box that will include Iris Caddis and X Caddis in amber, tan, and olive. Here is a picture of the provider box I’m working on. There are 1 1/2 dozen flies in each slot…a total…