In December, I wrote a post entitled What Flies to Tie. I talked about checking my list of flies I tied in 2018 to determine where to begin. A gentle nudge came to me in the form of a fly order which included a variety of Sparkle Dun mayflies. Not only am I tying dozens…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Stalcup’s Emerging Dun TBT. You may have seen a couple Shane Stalcup flies in previous TBT posts. I received a Comment of appreciation for highlighting Shane’s flies from a friend of his, Jimbo Busse. I always enjoy receiving Comments about my TBT posts because I’ve stirred a thought…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Quigley Cripple PMD version. The Quigley Cripple was developed by Bob Quigley in the late 1970’s for Northern California’s Fall River. As the story goes, Bob was fishing a Humpy and catching fish with it. The wing got chewed up and he caught many more fish with…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Gary LaFontaine’s Flex Dragon. LaFontaine’s Flex Dragon is another of the flex-style flies highlighted in LaFontaine’s Legacy (2008), by Al and Gretchen Beatty. Al relays the story in this book about how Gary talks about a variety of subjects while they are trying to get information to create fly tying…
I had a terrific time at the 2019 Western Idaho Fly Fishing Expo last weekend in Boise, ID. It was my 7th year tying flies at the Expo and I always enjoy seeing the friends I’ve made in previous years. On Friday afternoon, I decided to demonstrate a variant of the Braided Butt Damsel. And…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Gary LaFontaine’s House Fly. LaFontaine’s House Fly is one of the flies highlighted in LaFontaine’s Legacy, by Al and Gretchen Beatty. I know what you’re thinking…a House Fly imitation? Yes, that’s right. Here is another fly pattern from the mind of Gary LaFontaine. If you need a challenge someday,…
Yesterday, I cleaned up my fly tying bench and sat down for the first time this year to tie a few flies. It’s been about two weeks since I tied a fly. Tonight I’m teaching the first class at Central Oregon Flyfisher’s Winter Fly Tying. In addition, I’m traveling to Boise, ID this week for…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Gary LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge. LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge is one of the flies highlighted in LaFontaine’s Legacy, by Al and Gretchen Beatty. In the book, Al relayed his story about Gary’s underwater research and how he observed adult midges crawling underwater to lay their eggs. Trout…
As you’ve read in previous posts, I’ve been tying flies lately. It’s that time of year for me. And I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I’ve finished my fly tying commitments for now, which includes filling orders and tying a few Mercer’s Poxyback Green Drake nymphs in the last week. So the question now…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday post is a box of Mustad-Sproat hooks. If you read the post entitled Tyer’s Wax a couple of weeks ago, you might remember I wrote about Gretchen Beatty’s father “Dub” Evans who taught her to tie flies on a treadle sewing machine converted into a fly tying vise.
