Monday I was fishing the Lower Deschutes from Warm Springs to Trout Creek with my wife and a friend. We were hoping to find some fish still looking to eat Salmonflies and Golden Stones dry flies. This is a busy section of water and it’s tough to find my Zen sometimes. We decided to let…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Stalcup’s Medallion Biot Green Drake Wet Fly. I first learned of Stalcup’s flies in his book Mayflies “Top to Bottom” (2002). I thought the materials he used were creative and interesting. The flies he tied were close imitations of the real insects. It was the first time I had heard…
I’m lucky enough to be able to fly fish a lot, both around my home in Central Oregon and other world-class locations in Montana, Idaho, British Columbia, and Washington. As I try to finish preparing for a fly fishing road trip with my fishing partner (my wife), I reminisce about previous rivers and the great…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Kaufmann’s Stonefly Nymph. Kaufmann’s Stonefly Nymph was created by Randall Kaufmann in the early 1990’s. I first found the fly in the classic book entitled Tying Nymphs (1994) by Kaufmann. It was listed as the Kaufmann Golden Stone, Rubber Legs. The write-up described the Golden Stone version, along with the…
It’s that special time of year when Salmonflies and Golden Stones are hatching on major rivers close to me. These are the bugs many fly fishers wait for with high expectations. Some fly fishers start shaking as they approach the river knowing the bugs are out and the fish are looking up, ready to explode on their…
Ever wonder if you have the perfect fishing net? Are you looking to purchase one? Well, there isn’t a perfect net. At least I got your attention! I’ll provide some criteria I use to select fishing nets I carry and use along the river. There are a wide variety of nets for the fly fisher….
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Granam or Green-Tail fly. I thought this was a good fly to go along with the Mother’s Day Caddis post about the American Grannom. I’ve told you before that my Throw Back Thursday Fly segment celebrates older flies and that “old” is in the eye of the…
The Mother’s Day Caddis hatch is well-known and can be amazing to see. And it’s right around the corner. Yes, all those dots in the picture are caddis flying over the water! Thousands and thousands of American Grannom (Brachycentrus occidentalis) hatch at this time of year. These caddis are the ones building square-shaped cases you…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is a Gordon Quill fly package. This is a package of flies a friend recently gave me because he knew of my love for fly fishing and tying history. He told me they were at least 100 years old! Needless to say, I was shocked at his generous gift. Perhaps because…
Wow! The weather has changed dramatically this week. The forecast shows 81 degrees on Thursday. The anticipation of some major hatches is very exciting and I decided I have to get a May fly box ready for the river. This is what I hope to catch. I’ve found the fish to be a little more…
