My Top Twelve Dry Flies

My Top Twelve Dry Flies

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…

Lee Clark’s Twisted Body Stone

Lee Clark’s Twisted Body Stone

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Lee Clark’s Twisted Body Stone. The Twisted Body Stone is a different technique of using 100% polypropylene to create a body to imitate larger flies. Lee is better known for his original Clark’s Golden Stone shown below using the same material to imitate a body with it combed…

Norm Wood Special Encore

Norm Wood Special Encore

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is a Norm Wood Special encore. If you read this week’s post, Water is Life on the Deschutes River, you’ll recall we used the Norm Wood Special as one of our successful flies. Here is what I wrote about the Norm Wood Special back in 2020. Norm Wood was…

Slattery’s OD Stimulator

Slattery’s OD Stimulator

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Jim Slattery’s OD Stimulator. The OD stands for “original design”. I’ve frequented Jim Slattery’s Campfire Lodge Resort, located on the Madison River between Hebgen and Quake lakes quite a bit when we are in the Madison Valley during our fly fishing road trips. I first learned about it…

Cascades Stone

Cascades Stone

I wrote about the Cascades Stone a few years ago, but have seen them on the river recently and thought it was time to highlight this seldom seen hatch by fly fishers. It’s actually called the Doroneuria baumanni, a cousin of the Golden Stone. But I’m getting ahead of myself. When we first noticed this…

Salmonflies Are Here

Salmonflies Are Here

I’ve heard Salmonflies are here! They’re out in force on the Deschutes River. It’s an exciting time of year as the fish key on eating these big bugs. I’ve heard from others these stoneflies are all over the grasses along the river.

Royal Stimulator TBT

Royal Stimulator TBT

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Royal Stimulator TBT. The Royal Stimulator is a fly I tied recently for a customer and thought is would be a good candidate for a TBT post. checked Randall Kaufmann’s Tying Dry Flies (1991) to see if the fly was listed. The fly pattern at the end…

Clark’s Stonefly

Clark’s Stonefly

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Lee Clark’s Stonefly. Lee Clark developed this wing-style body dressing, which “refers to flies in which the yarn is combed and tied atop the hook shank in a downwing fashion but actually serves as the body.” Fly tying with Poly Yarn – (2000) Lee was a high school…