Zelon Midge | www.johnkreft.com

Craig Mathew’s Zelon Midge

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Craig Mathew’s Zelon Midge. I found this fly first listed in John Juracek and Craig Mathews Fishing Yellowstone Hatches (1992). I’m quite certain it’s much older than that. The fly imitates an emerging midge caught in its shuck. Craig swears by this fly! The image below are some…

BWO Pulsating Emerger - Size 22 | www.johnkreft.com

Tying Very Small Flies

I finished a fly order recently, tying very small flies which challenged my fly tying skills. The order was for flies in sizes 18 to 22. Tying small flies is difficult if you don’t tie a lot. You feel like you’re tying with two thumbs! Trust me, I’ve been there! I remember a statement I…

Stuck-In-The-Shuck Midge | www.johnkreft.com

Stuck-In-The-Shuck Midge TBT

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Stuck-In-The-Shuck Midge TBT. I was on my favorite river yesterday looking for rising fish. I didn’t see very many, which wasn’t surprising to me. After all, it’s winter and I didn’t expect summertime hatches. I was hoping for a Blue Wing Olive hatch of 30 minutes or…

Roy's Special Emerger | www.johnkreft.com

Roy Palm’s Special Emerger

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Roy Palm’s Special Emerger, tied below in size 20. I was introduced to this fly recently when a customer asked if I had heard of Roy’s Special Emerger, a midge pattern. He relayed a story of watching a guide with clients catching fish on a river in Colorado….

Griffiths Gnat | www.johnkreft.com

Griffith’s Gnat Encore

This week’s Thow Back Thursday Fly is a Griffith’s Gnat encore. I’m calling it an encore presentation from the original TBT post in October 2014. I’ve since purchased and thoroughly enjoyed reading The Founding Flies by Mika Valla where he dedicates four pages to George Griffith. As I mentioned in my initial post, Griffith (1901…

In-The-Film CDC Midge Emerger - Black | www.johnkreft.com

In-The-Film CDC Midge Emerger

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the In-The-Film CDC Midge Emerger. I found this fly recently while reviewing Ed Engle’s Tying Small Flies book. I tied up four size 22 In-The-Film CDC Midge Emergers and placed them on a dime to show how small they are. I met Ed through a friend while fishing…

California Mosquito | www.johnkreft.com

California Mosquito TBT

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the California Mosquito TBT. A couple of weeks ago I posted a Mosquito as a Throw Back Thursday Fly. At the time, I had this thought in the back of my head about learning about the Mosquito in one of Randall Kaufmann’s books I purchased in the early…

LaFontaine EZ2C Midge | www.johnkreft.com

LaFontaine EZ2C Midge

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the LaFontaine EZ2C Midge. The LaFontaine EZ2C Midge is a fly found in LaFontaine’s Legacy, a book authored by Al and Gretchen Beatty about 26 fly patterns Gary LaFontaine never finished publishing. This is the fourth in a series of EZ2C flies I’ve presented that were developed by Gary LaFontaine.