Here are the flies I’m carrying in my October fly box. I’ll begin with the October Caddis just because of it’s name. These are big bugs, sizes 8 – 10. You’ll see October Caddis flitting over the water laying eggs. I usually blind cast an imitation because fish don’t take them like a normal “hatch”….
Well, it’s here…the dog days of summer. You may recall I recently wrote a post called The River Wins. I’ve had some up and down days since writing that. But that’s to be expected this time of year. I haven’t given up. So I thought I’d provide a list of August flies I’ll be fishing. The…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Quigley Cripple, developed by Bob Quigley in the late 1970’s for Northern California’s Fall River. Seems like Northern California is the birthplace of several flies I like. Here is my Green Drake Quigley Cripple. As the story goes, Bob was fishing a Humpy and catching fish with…
What a great weekend. I had an opportunity to attend the Craig Mathews Winter Seminar sponsored jointly by my own Central Oregon Flyfishers and Sunriver Anglers. I’ve written about Craig Mathews in previous posts (Craig Mathews and Blue Ribbon Flies) and how much I like and fish flies from Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone,…
It’s the middle of winter and the major hatch on the river these days are Blue Wing Olives. I get confused what to call these bugs…Blue Wing Olives…Blue Wings… BWOs…Baetis … I’m no expert, but I think they are all the same insect. Or close enough for a fly fisher. To be sure, I consulted one…
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I talk about Craig Mathews and Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Montana. Craig and the rest of the guys in the shop are responsible for many of the flies I fish. The flies they develop fit my description for success – simple to…
As I sit down at my fly tying vise today, I decided to tie a few flies imitating a Blue Wing Olive mayfly. It’s timely because these bugs are still popping out of their nymphal shucks and I hope to go fishing this week and find a few fish sipping them. But the main reason…
Callibaetis mayflies are a staple of lake fishing. I fished East Lake last weekend with Central Oregon Project Healing Waters. It was my first time this year on a lake and I’d heard the Callibaetis mayflies were out. So I checked the “provider box” (that’s what my wife calls it) to see what Callibaetis mayflies I…
Pale Morning Duns, otherwise known as PMDs, are an important hatch for fly fishers. These flies are a size 16 -18. The hatch begins in late May and will continue through September. Generally, they will hatch in the afternoon. Mayflies in general spend much of their life as a nymph, rummaging around the rocky stream…
This is a size 16 Pale Morning Dun Sparkle Dun Mayfly or PMD for short. One of my favorite flies. It’s in the top 5 of many fishermen in the know. The Sparkle Dun is a Craig Matthews pattern from Blue Ribbon Flies. I tie this simple, yet effective fly in size 22 Blue Wing Olive…
