Beetles and Ants | www.johnkreft.com

Beetle Bailey Catches Fish

I wrote a post entitled Fly Fishing with Beetles almost two years ago touting how effective fly fishing can be with a beetle on the end of your line. I’m still a believer. I fish a fly I call Beetle Bailey. I shake my head in disbelief and smile at how effective Beetle Bailey catches fish! Beetle Bailey…

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…

Rainbow with Beetle Bailey|www.johnkreft.com

August Flies

Well, it’s here…the dog days of summer. You may recall I recently wrote a post called The River Wins. I’ve had some up and down days since writing that. But that’s to be expected this time of year. I haven’t given up. So I thought I’d provide a list of August flies I’ll be fishing. The…

Chernobyl Ant | www.johnkreft.com

Chernobyl Ant

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Chernobyl Ant. It’s an attractor fly pattern and can imitate cicada, crickets, grasshoppers, and stoneflies. Larry Tullis of Orem, Utah relays the fly’s development in Tying Flies with Foam, Fur, and Feathers by Harrison Steeves. Larry tied up a foam body cicada from a beach sandal in the late…

Clark's Golden Stone | www.johnkreft.com

Top 10 Dry Flies for July

The Green Drakes are winding down, so I decided I better begin thinking about what fly patterns I’ll be fishing soon and make sure the fly boxes are stocked. What better way than to come up with a list of the Top 10 Dry Flies for July? The list I compiled could be used on…

Schroeders Parachute Hopper | www.johnkreft.com

Schroeders Parachute Hopper

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…

Improved Chaos Hopper | www.johnkreft.com

Hopper Fly Patterns

Yes, it’s that time of year. It’s time to pull out your hopper fly patterns and start fishing them. What are your favorite patterns?  My favorite hopper fly patterns have changed over the years as creative fly designers started using foam in their creations. I used to fish hoppers tied with deer hair and heavily…