I’ve been tying a lot of parachute flies lately, filling our Patagonia fly box with Parachute Adams and Purple Haze. I sat down and tied 5 dozen size 14 flies and 4 dozen size 16 flies. I thought I’d share how to tie consistent parachute flies and ended up creating a YouTube video. One of…
In today’s post, I’d like to share a work in progress, a fly I’ve been meaning to master for at least 3 years. After all, Richard Bunse created Bunse’s Natural Dun for the Green Drake hatch on the Metolius River. Why wouldn’t I want to do the fly justice? Except for a couple pieces of…
We’ve been out on our favorite river fishing the Green Drake hatch. The catching has been minimal so I’ve had my camera in hand capturing images of Green Drakes on the water and in flight. I thought I’d share some of them with you. The image above is the exception because we haven’t seen that…
I’ve been at the vise lately, completing a fly order for a good customer. I thought you might enjoy some fishy looking flies! I took materials with me to the Big Island of Hawaii and tied all the Sparkle Duns, a total of 60. Since I’ve been home, I finished the order and thought I’d…
I’m in Maui where I found warmer weather than home…between 30 – 40 degrees warmer! I brought a vise, tools, and a few materials with me and am tying the wings and tail for a Green Drake Sparkle Dun. That’s right, I almost always take my fly tying materials and tools if I plan to…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Chauncy Lively’s March Brown Dun. I’m continuing this month’s theme to feature March Brown Mayfly imitations. I found this fly in The Founding Flies by Mike Valla in chapter 30. It’s a favorite book in my library and I’d encourage you to purchase your own copy if you…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Chuck Stranahan’s Brindle Hackle Multi Colored Body Parachute. Most fly fishers know this fly as the Brindle Chute, a shortened name. Chuck was the owner of Chuck Stranahan’s Flies & Guides which he closed in February 2022. Chuck developed the Brindle Chute to imitate the Hecuba mayfly on his home…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Shane Stalcup’s CDC March Brown Emerging Dun. Since it’s the first of March, my wife had a brilliant idea to highlight March Brown mayfly imitations during this month. Occasionally, she comes up with great ideas…actually, most of the time! I highlighted a similar fly, a Green Drake version…
I’m in a period of transition from fishing a lot to the fly tying vise. It’s a few days earlier than most years. I say someone throws the weather switch on November 1 and dry fly fishing changes dramatically. This year, the weather changed in two days and daytime highs of mid-70’s have been replaced…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Thorax Dun. I found this fly while paging through Vince Marinaro’s book In the Ring of the Rise (1976). Vincent Marinaro (1911-1986) was born in Reynoldsville, PA. He started fly fishing during his high school years in the area’s local waters. In later years, he lived in…
