I finished a fly order recently for a customer which included a couple of fly patterns utilizing foam and it made me think about tying and fishing foam flies. Most of the foam patterns I tie are used to imitate terrestrials or stoneflies. A new-to-me fly is this Card’s Cicada. It’s a variant as I…
I’ve been prospecting with my dry flies recently and don’t have much to show for my time on the water. I fished last week and noticed small mayflies, probably size 20 – 22 Blue Wing Olives, floating downstream. A couple of fish rose sporadically. But drifting a fly over them didn’t produce even a look….
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is John Barr’s Bouface Streamer. This is another fly I found in the book entitled Barr Flies (2007). I’ve been tying Dolly Llama streamers and Barr’s Bouface was very similar to that fly. The Bouface is featured in chapter 19 and includes detailed tying instructions. Originally tied as a…
Have you ever heard the term “variant”? It’s used a lot in fly tying and has multiple meanings. Originally, a variant used to be a fly style, similar to traditional dry flies, but the fly was supported by longer hackles and tails. Another definition is a significant variation of another fly pattern. I think in…
Welcome to this year’s holiday wish list for fly fishers. I hope you find something useful on the 2022 Fly Fisher’s Christmas list. Many of these items can be purchased at your local fly shop and I encourage you to do so. But if you can’t find the item, here are links to Amazon (affiliate…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Randall Kaufmann’s Simulator Peacock. I was paging through John Shewey’s Favorite Flies for Oregon (2021) and found Kaufmann’s Simulator. I’ve been a big Randall Kaufmann fan since the 1980’s. His books, Tying Nymphs (1994) and Tying Dry Flies (1991), were the first quality color fly tying instructions in…
The first week of November is over already. Where has the time gone? As I wrote in my Seasons Change post recently, the first of November is a time when I begin to tie more flies as fishing wanes. Yes, I continue to fish during the winter months, but the major dry fly action has…
Tying season has arrived earlier than previous years. As I mentioned in last week’s post, the weather changed, and I’ve found myself at the vise tying Zelon Midges since I featured them in last week’s TBT post. In addition, I’m providing a glimpse of a few items in the Casting for Recovery (CfR) Annual November…
The month of October is a transition for me, as dry fly fishing comes to a close. Sure, you’ll find BWO hatches throughout the winter months, but I spend less time on the water. It’s when seasons change and I transition to fly tying, filling the provider box for next season and participating in Zoom…
I just finished tying a box of 7 dozen flies I’m donating to an upcoming Casting for Recovery (CfR) auction supporting Casting for Recovery. I hope these flies will bring in a few dollars for the Southern Oregon CfR retreat my wife leads. Casting for Recovery (CfR) is a retreat designed to help women in…
