• LaFontaine EZ2C Mayfly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the LaFontaine EZ2C Mayfly. The LaFontaine EZ2C Mayfly is a fly found in LaFontaine’s Legacy, a book authored by Al and Gretchen Beatty about 26 fly patterns Gary LaFontaine never finished publishing.  LaFontaine’s Legacy includes fly pattern descriptions for Blue-Winged Olives, Callibaetis, Gray Drake, Light Cahill, and Pale Morning Dun flies….

  • Tying Flies and Fishing

    You may have noticed I’ve been tying lots of flies lately. Keeping up with my custom fly orders has been a challenge because fishing has picked up. Tying flies and fishing…what a tough problem to have, right? Did you notice that little fly in the corner of the rainbow’s mouth? It’s an IOBO Humpy. The…

  • Spade Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Spade fly. During the late 1960’s, Bob Arnold of Seattle, WA developed the Spade fly. It was designed for low water steelhead fishing with the buoyant materials used to tie the fly. The fly incorporates peacock in the body for attraction and a soft hackle for movement….

  • Spey Fly Project

    I received an interesting comment on my RiverKeeper Flies website recently asking if I could help create a special gift. We traded emails a couple of times and the spey fly project began. It started with a picture of Taylor’s Golden Spey fly, a spey fly inspired by Syd Glasso’s Orange Heron. Instead of hackle…

  • LaFontaine EZ2C Stonefly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the LaFontaine EZ2C Stonefly. The LaFontaine EZ2C Stonefly is a fly found in LaFontaine’s Legacy, a book authored by Al and Gretchen Beatty about 26 fly patterns Gary LaFontaine never finished publishing.  This is an interesting fly pattern in that colored foam is used as an overbody over the dubbed body….

  • Drunken Sailor

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Drunken Sailor. The Drunken Sailor is a fly found in LaFontaine’s Legacy, a book authored by Al and Gretchen Beatty about 26 fly patterns Gary LaFontaine never finished publishing.  This fly is based on Gary’s theory about “off-balance weighting” and how important it is in triggering a strike response. It was…

  • Sparkle Duns Galore

    I’ve been tying flies lately…lots of flies. Sparkle Duns galore. They’ve been flying off the vise. Between a large order that includes 9 dozen Sparkle Duns I’m tying for a good customer and another dozen for my provider box, I’ve tied 10 dozen Sparkle Duns in the last 2 weeks, from size 8 down to size…

  • Fluttering Stone

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Fluttering Stone. The Fluttering Stone is a fly found in LaFontaine’s Legacy, a book authored by Al and Gretchen Beatty about 26 fly patterns Gary LaFontaine never finished publishing.  Gary credits Nevin Stephenson, who was his guiding partner, for creating the Fluttering Stone. Al tells the story of the collaboration…

  • IOBO Humpy TBT

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the IOBO Humpy TBT. IOBO are the initials for It Oughta Be Outlawed. Those words in themselves should be all we need to know about the effectiveness of this fly. The IOBO Humpy is credited to Jack Tucker of Pennsylvania, who created this fly pattern in the mid-1990’s….