• Obsessed with Green Drakes

    If you’ve followed RiverKeeper Flies for a while, it won’t come as a surprise I might be a little obsessed with Green Drakes, from tying effective imitations, fishing the flies during a hatch, and creating images through my photography. In fact, I’ve been thinking about them all week. I taught a Zoom fly tying class…

  • Charles Brooks Emerger Ida May

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Charles Brooks Emerger Ida May. Some days I have difficulties deciding which fly to feature for a TBT fly. I walk over to my fly fishing and fly tying library and selected a book or two. I found today’s fly in Brooks’ book entitled The Henry’s Fork…

  • How to Plan a Fly Fishing Trip

    I’m starting to think about next year’s fishing trips and wondering where to go. I thought you might benefit from my thought process on how to plan a fly fishing trip. This map is one I created back in 2019 to show where we have fished during our Fly Fishing Road Trips. If you’re a…

  • Atherton No.1 Dry Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Atherton No.1 dry fly. John Atherton (1900 – 1952) was an artist by trade and incorporated his impressionistic art into the flies he tied. The hackle of the Atherton No. 1 are all mixed colors to create a life-like fly imitating the real insects. Interestingly, he didn’t…

  • Rio Trout Leaders

    What brand of leader do you use? There are a lot of good manufacturers to choose from, including Trouthunter, Umpqua, Scientific Anglers, Orvis, and the one I’ve been using for many years – RIO. I recently purchased a different RIO trout leader, the Powerflex Plus to see if I like it. Besides leaders in today’s…

  • Doc Spratley Wet Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Doc Spratley Wet Fly. This is a fly I used at Pennask Lake in British Columbia back in 2007. We stayed at Pennask Lake Lodge with friends who were members there. Yes, it was a few years ago. According to Flies of the Northwest (1979) by the…