It’s been cold out lately. As I write today’s post early this morning, the thermometer reads 7 degrees. That’s right…single digits. For some reason, I haven’t made it out to the river lately. Too cold I guess. What should I do on a cold winter day? Tie flies! Here is a picture of Whychus Creek,…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the North Country Purple Partridge soft hackle. I received a new book a few weeks ago, The North Country Fly: Yorkshire’s Soft Hackle Tradition by Robert L. Smith. It’s a terrific book. A friend had loaned me his copy about a year ago and I read most of…
I think it’s time again to talk about fly fishing knots. I don’t know why, but there seems to be a mystique about them. Fly fishers tend to make it more difficult than they need to. Perhaps it’s because of the variety of fly fishing knots available today. Whatever the case, my advice to you…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Bekeart Special. It’s been awhile since I highlighted a steelhead fly. I found the Bekeart Special steelhead fly pattern in John Shewey’s book entitled Classic Steelhead Flies. If you haven’t had a chance to peruse this book, go to your local fly shop and see if they have it in…
I’ve been back at my fly tying desk lately, tying flies for customers, adding fly pattern sheets to RiverKeeper Flies, and trying to find fishy-looking flies to fool fish. A friend of mine asked about my fly tying desk and suggested it must be very well organized. After all, it’s where all the magic happens. Nothing…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Brown Turkey, another fly from the Ray Bergman collection. Since Thursday is Thanksgiving, the Brown Turkey was an obvious choice to highlight as this week’s TBT fly. For some reason, I just like the elegance and simplicity of a Bergman wet fly. You can find the Brown Turkey…
It’s hard to believe Christmas is less than 5 weeks away! Face it, we’re into the holiday season. This is the third year I’ve presented a few gift ideas for fly fishers and fly tyers. If you find something on the list you’d like to have, just pass this list onto your significant other so…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Lindgren’s Peacock. This fly was developed by Ira Lindgren. The first TBT fly I posted from Ira was the Lingrens Olive. However, I’ve since learned the name was misspelled in the book I used as a reference. I tied this simple fly on a #10 Mustad 3906 hook…
I returned to the river yesterday looking for rising fish, which didn’t happen. What I found were a variety of bugs floating down the river without fish eating them. Most of them were blue wing olives (BWO), a small mayfly that can hatch almost any month of the year. That got me thinking about my fly…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Borden Special. This sea-run cutthroat fly was created by Bob Borden in the 1960’s for the Alsea River, OR. Bob started Hareline Dubbing in Monroe, Oregon. Hareline is a wholesale provider of fly tying materials. You’ve probably used some of their fly tying materials. I tied and…
