• What Flies to Tie

    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…

  • Box of Mustad-Sproat Hooks

    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.

  • Odds and Ends

    Yes, it’s that time again. It’s time to highlight a few odds and ends that are happening around RiverKeeper Flies. Because the holiday season is approaching, I decided to randomly select two of my Subscribers and send them a dozen of my custom flies. Look and see if your name is at the bottom of this…

  • T. E. Pritt’s Greentail

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Pritt’s Greentail. This soft hackle fly is another old fly pattern found in T.E. Pritt’s Yorkshire Trout Flies (1885) book. It’s listed as No. 33 on page 32. The second edition changed the title to North Country Flies (1886) to be more inclusive. Materials Wings Hackled from a feather from…

  • Sorting Fly Tying Materials

    I spent a little time in the garage this week sorting fly tying materials. I periodically receive donations of fly tying materials and tools as well as fly fishing gear to benefit my Central Oregon Flyfishers club, the kids program – Next Cast Flyfishers, and Central Oregon Project Healing Waters. I’m always intrigued when I…

  • Royal Charlie

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Royal Charlie. The Royal Charlie is another old fly pattern listed in The North Country Fly – Yorkshire’s Soft Hackle Tradition (2015) by Robert L. Smith. Many of these older soft hackle fly patterns come from the Yorkshire Dales in northern England. Wharfedale is a small area of…

  • Winter and Blue Wing Olives

    Thanksgiving is only a few days away, which means winter is right around the corner. Do you know what that means? Blue Wing Olives will be the mayflies I plan to imitate. Gone are the bigger mayflies. What will get me through the next few months are hatches of BWO’s. So are you ready for…

  • Tyer’s Wax

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is…tyer’s wax! I know it isn’t a fly, but I want to honor the history of fly tying and this is one way I can do that. I’ve been blessed to have a wonderful friendship with Gretchen and Al Beatty. I met them a few years ago during my…

  • Red Clock or Pheasant

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Red Clock or Pheasant. I decided to tie an old soft hackle fly since I’ve been tying so many of my RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripples lately. I love the simplicity of these flies and am fascinated by older soft hackle fly patterns…or they would have called them…