We’ve been fishing the river quite a bit lately and have noticed LOTS of spinners on the water. My wife, the Bug Lady, searches back eddies for bugs while waiting for the hatch to happen. Green Drake Spinner What is a spinner you ask? Well, spinners are the final phase of a mayfly’s life, be…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is a Fan Wing Green Drake. I chose this week’s fly in hopes the Green Drake hatch on the Metolius will start soon. I’ve seen a handful, but not enough for the fish to take notice. If this fly has a different well-known name, I don’t know it. And…
If you fish dry flies, you know what I mean when I say Match the Hatch. Determine what is hatching on the river or lake that day and hopefully have a pattern or two in the fly box that will imitate the real bug and fool a fish. Sometimes it’s an easy answer. You look forward…
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…
The Humpy fly pattern is this week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly. It’s a fast water attractor pattern, which floats well and can be seen a mile away. Some quick Internet research finds the fly was originated by Jack Horner, a Northern Sierra California fly tyer in the 1940’s. The original fly was called the Horner…
Here are a half dozen new fly patterns I learned to tie the last few months during the Winter Fly Tying Classes that look pretty good to me. I’ll give you a caveat…I haven’t fished these, but they sure look fishy and I can’t wait to try them out. Here are a trio of flies Peter Bowers…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly pattern is the Madam X, an attractor dry fly. The original fly used a body of deer hair from the butt ends of the tail with thread spiraled through it. Many variations have been created over the years, including the one above using yellow floss. Fish it to imitate…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Schroeders Parachute Hopper. Developed in the 1970s by Ed Schroeder of Fresno, California, it was one of the first fly patterns to add the parachute post to increase visibility for the fly fisher. The body stays flush on the surface while the parachute hackle helps with flotation. Most…
I’ve been thinking…how many fly patterns do I really need to successfully fish rivers? Kind of a crazy question coming from a fly tyer, isn’t it? I didn’t say flies…fly patterns. The style of dry flies found in your fly box. Is there a difference? Absolutely! You can never have enough flies!!!
Spring is here. That means it’s March Brown time. I saw a small hatch on the river last week. Here is one of them. I think it’s early, but our weather has been so mild I’m really not surprised. In fact, I was looking for them. I took one of my bug vials filled with Purel…
