Griffith's Gnat Emerger | www.johnkreft.com

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…

#24 Midge Patterns

Small Flies

Finally the weather has changed and it’s actually November, not October 42, 43, or 44th. October weather continued into early November and I decided it was still October; hence the reasoning for changing my October calendar to include dates of 42, 43, and 44. There was even a smattering of snow last Saturday when I…

Tying Small Flies by Ed Engle

Tying Small Flies

I’ve been tying small flies recently in my attempt to catch very picky, selective trout. You can read more about my dilemma in the post – What are the Fish Eating? I enjoy a challenge and these particular fish continue to test my patience. I’ve used almost every fly in my fly boxes and none…

Madison River - Relaxed Fishing | www.johnkreft.com

Montana Fly Box

Over the last few weeks, I’ve written about our Montana Road Trip where we fished the Madison, Depuy Spring Creek, Stillwater, and Slough Creek & the Lamar. I thought I’d provide a summary of the effective flies we used in our Montana fly box. When selecting flies, I always try to imitate the insects I think…

Higa's SOS with UV Resin | www.johnkreft.com

Recent Changes

Every once in awhile, I create a Recent Changes post to catch you up on what’s been happening behind the scenes at RiverKeeper Flies. And this is the week for it. Did you notice the Youtube video my wife took recently at the Central Oregon Sportsman Show in Redmond, Oregon? She was there with a few…

Clarks Lady Stone | www.johnkreft.com

Flies from IFFF

During the IFFF Fair in Bend, Oregon earlier this month, I had a chance to sit down and watch some pretty good fly tyers. I thought I’d share a few flies from the IFFF Fair. Lee Clark has a new version of the Clark’s Golden Stone he calls the Clark’s Lady Stone. The fly is…

Zelon | www.johnkreft.com

Craig Mathews Winter Seminar

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,…

Midges | www.johnkreft.com

Midges

Midges. Do you know what a midge is? And how important midges are in the trout’s diet? Very! You’ll find midges in rivers and lakes. Most of the time, midge pupae are the fly patterns experienced fly fishers concentrate on fishing. More on what that means shortly.  I just finished these flies as I complete my…

Griffiths Gnat | www.johnkreft.com

Griffiths Gnat

The Griffiths Gnat is this week’s Throw Back Thursday. The fly was named after George Griffith, one of the founders of Trout Unlimited. George was one of 16 men who gathered at his home on the Au Sable River in 1959 to create TU. It imitates midges, midge emergers, and midge clusters.  Still works