• Sparkle Dun Deer Hair

    I wanted to highlight one of the Sparkle Dun deer hair patches I’ve been using. In the last week, I tied 6 dozen Green Drake Sparkle Duns and it reminded me how important finding and using the right deer hair is to successfully tie these flies. Half of the flies were for a customer and…

  • Fly Tying Continues

    My fly tying continues this week and includes working to fill an order for a good customer. Here are a few #16 PMD Quigley Film Critic flies off my Renzetti vise. They imitate a PMD hatching out of their nymphal shuck. Notice the body is brown and thorax a PMD yellow. I posted this image…

  • Lance Egan’s Red Dart

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Lance Egan’s Red Dart. OK, this might not be a real old fly, but it will be 9 years old this year. I read where Lance Egan developed this fly in 2011 for the World Fly Fishing Championships held in Bolzano, Italy. He used his new fly to…

  • Ray Bergman’s Saltoun

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Ray Bergman’s Saltoun wet fly. The Saltoun is a Ray Bergman dry fly listed in his book entitled Trout (1940 – fourth printing) on page 222, Plate No. 8. Bergman was well known for his wet flies, but his book also lists dry flies, streamers, nymphs, steel head and land…

  • Ray Bergman Pale Evening Dun

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Ray Bergman Pale Evening Dun. The Pale Evening Dun is a Ray Bergman dry fly listed in his book entitled Trout (1940 – fourth printing) on page 123, Plate No. 6. Bergman was well known for his wet flies, but his book also lists dry flies, streamers, nymphs,…

  • Fly Tying Season has Started

    Fly tying season has started for me. I’ve been filling one of the provider boxes with RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripples. I tie them to imitate every mayfly, including BWOs, PMDs, Green Drakes, and Flavs. In fact, I’ve tied just over nine dozen since the first of the year. I’ll be travelling to Boise, ID in…

  • Jacklin Woolly Worm

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Jacklin Woolly Worm. The Jacklin Woolly Worm pictured above is another fly tied by Bob Jacklin and loaned to me by a good friend. He told me Bob has used this fly with success on the Madison River between Hebgen and Quake Lakes in Montana. Jacklin is…

  • White Miller Dry Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the White Miller dry fly. This is a fly a customer gave me as a sample to tie for him, a size 12 short-shank hook. I did some quick research on a White Miller dry fly and couldn’t find much at all about the origins of the fly….

  • Start of Winter Fly Fishing

    I finally got back to the river last week. This year’s November weather was a little different than usual. We were able to fish a good week and a half into November. I’ve said in past years the dry fly fishing usually stops around November 1. It’s like someone throws a switch and the fishing…