I’ve been prospecting with my dry flies recently and don’t have much to show for my time on the water. I fished last week and noticed small mayflies, probably size 20 – 22 Blue Wing Olives, floating downstream. A couple of fish rose sporadically. But drifting a fly over them didn’t produce even a look….
Have you ever heard the term “variant”? It’s used a lot in fly tying and has multiple meanings. Originally, a variant used to be a fly style, similar to traditional dry flies, but the fly was supported by longer hackles and tails. Another definition is a significant variation of another fly pattern. I think in…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Mike Jacobs’ Blonde Goddess. I learned about this fly from a customer asking if I could tie the fly for him. He planned to fish for rainbow trout in the 14 to 24 inch range on a local river and thought this fly might work. Jacobs originally tied…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is a Tiny Midge Adult with Upright Wings. I found this fly in Ed Engle’s book entitled Tying Small Flies (2004). I really enjoy opening Ed’s book periodically. I’ve featured several flies from the book. Use the “search” button on the menu bar and type in “Ed Engle”. It’s…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Craig Mathew’s Zelon Midge. I found this fly first listed in John Juracek and Craig Mathews Fishing Yellowstone Hatches (1992). I’m quite certain it’s much older than that. The fly imitates an emerging midge caught in its shuck. Craig swears by this fly! The image below are some…
I’m in a period of transition from fishing a lot to the fly tying vise. It’s a few days earlier than most years. I say someone throws the weather switch on November 1 and dry fly fishing changes dramatically. This year, the weather changed in two days and daytime highs of mid-70’s have been replaced…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is John Shewey’s Spawning Purple Steelhead fly. I recently finished tying an order of a half dozen Shewey’s Spawning Purple steelhead flies. Shewey created this fly in the mid-1980’s and tells the story of creating this variant of Dave McNeese’s Spawning Purple. McNeese’s version utilized a tail of orange-dyed…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Thorax Dun. I found this fly while paging through Vince Marinaro’s book In the Ring of the Rise (1976). Vincent Marinaro (1911-1986) was born in Reynoldsville, PA. He started fly fishing during his high school years in the area’s local waters. In later years, he lived in…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Silver Admiral steelhead fly. I tied this pin recently for my wife as she left to lead a Casting for Recovery retreat. I thought it appropriate to highlight this Polly Rosborough fly as the first TBT fly in October to bring recognition to breast cancer awareness month….
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Art Lingren’s Green-Butt Black steelhead fly. Here is another steelhead fly pattern I found in John Shewey’s Classic Steelhead Flies on page 90. Lingren developed this fly around 1983. He is well-known in the steelhead community and knowledgeable about British Columbia fly fishing, which is his home. The link…
