• Griffith’s Gnat Emerger Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Griffith’s Gnat Emerger fly. This is another great fly pattern from Craig Mathews at Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, MT. He created a variant of the Griffith’s Gnat with his Zelon Midge and the result was the Griffith’s Gnat Emerger fly. If you are a frequent RiverKeeper Flies reader, you…

  • Confusing Mayfly Names

    Do you know the names of all the bugs you see on the river or lake? Do you need to know these names to catch fish? Not at all. Fly fishers have developed their own common names over the years for many bugs in order to share information about recent fishing trips. I have to…

  • Old Aluminum Fly Box

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is an old aluminum fly box! OK, it may be a little strange to have an old fly box rather than a named fly, but it’s just to interesting to pass up. A friend of mine sent two old aluminum fly boxes to me in the mail to check…

  • Poxyback Baetis

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Poxyback Baetis. This is an older fly pattern I found in Randall Kaufmann’s book Tying Nymphs (1994). Kaufmann’s book, along with his Tying Dry Flies, was one of the first color fly tying books I purchased. Tying Nymphs taught me new techniques, materials, and flies to tie. The Poxyback…

  • Die Hard Winter Fly Fisher

    I’ve been out on the river only a couple of times since the first of the year. It’s that time of year when you decide if you’re a die hard winter fly fisher because many days the temperatures hover around 32 degrees or colder. March is the month of transition. Spring weather is right around…

  • Die Hard Winter Fly Fisher

    I’ve been out on the river only a couple of times since the first of the year. It’s that time of year when you decide if you’re a die hard winter fly fisher because many days the temperatures hover around 32 degrees or colder. March is the month of transition. Spring weather is right around…

  • Medallion Biot Wet Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Medallion Biot Wet Fly. I selected this fly to continue the theme of biot flies I presented in the Goose and Turkey Biot Flies post this week. The Medallion Biot Wet Fly is another fly by Shane Stalcup and can be tied in different sizes and colors to imitate a…

  • Goose and Turkey Biot Flies

    There is something about goose and turkey biot flies that look so realistic. I was reminded of this as I completed a recent fly order with a few BWO – CDC & Biot flies. As you can see in the picture, goose and turkey biots come in a variety of dyed colors. Here is a…

  • Stalcup CDC Loop Wing Emerger

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Stalcup CDC Loop Wing Emerger. This fly was the creation of Shane Stalcup, a talented and innovative fly tyer. The fly pattern sheet can be found HERE. I first learned of Stalcup’s flies in his book Mayflies “Top to Bottom” (2002). I thought it was interesting looking at the…