Green Butt Skunk Spey Flies on Book | www.johnkreft.com

Still Working on Spey Flies

I haven’t tied any trout flies in the last week because I’m still working on spey flies. Specifically, the Green Butt Skunk Spey. The two flies on the book Steelhead Flies by John Shewey are the first (left side) and third (right side) I’ve tied. You’ll find this fly on page 193 of John’s book….

Black Prince | www.johnkreft.com

Black Prince TBT

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Black Prince TBT…the Clarence Gordon version. This is another steelhead fly pattern from John Shewey’s Classic Steelhead Flies. If you haven’t had a chance to peruse this book, go to your local fly shop and see if they have it in stock. Otherwise, go to the link above and…

Steelhead Bee | www.johnkreft.com

Steelhead Bee TBT

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Steelhead Bee TBT, a fly tied by Roderick Haig-Brown (1908 – 1976). I found this fly on a display at the International Federation of Fly Fishers Museum in Livingston, MT. It’s is one of several flies in a display entitled Roderick Haig-Brown His Tackle & His Flies….

Golden Girl | www.johnkreft.com

Golden Girl TBT

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Golden Girl TBT, a fly tied by Roderick Haig-Brown (1908 – 1976). I took this picture of the Golden Girl through the glass display in a dark room and I think it turned out quite well. It was one of several flies in the collection and I plan to post…

Silver Brown – TBT

Silver Brown – TBT

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Silver Brown – TBT, a fly tied by Roderick Haig-Brown (1908 – 1976). I took this picture of the Silver Brown through the glass display in a dark room and I think it turned out quite well. It was one of several flies in the collection and I…

Steelhead Caddis | www.johnkreft.com

Steelhead Caddis

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Steelhead Caddis. The Steelhead Caddis was created by Bill McMillan in 1975 as a low-water variation of the Muddler Minnow. This fly is fished dry on the surface with a trailing wake, making a commotion to get the steelhead’s attention. Use a riffling hitch or cast the fly…

Del Cooper | www.johnkreft.com

Del Cooper

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Del Cooper. I’ve been reading John Shewey’s Classic Steelhead Flies and decided to look in my Steelhead fly box to see if I had a few of the flies. Low and behold, I found a couple Del Coopers. I must have tied this several years ago. Shewey attributes…

Jungle Dragon | www.johnkreft.com

Jungle Dragon Steelhead Fly

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Jungle Dragon steelhead fly. For my birthday, I received a copy of John Shewey’s book entitled Classic Steelhead Flies and paging through the book, the Jungle Dragon spoke to me. I’ve never heard of this steelhead fly. It was created by William Hosie in the 1950s, a Washington Fly…

Black Gordon | www.johnkreft.com

Black Gordon

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Black Gordon. I found this fly in one of my steelhead fly boxes and thought it would be a good candidate for a TBT Fly. The Black Gordon is a well-known steelhead fly pattern developed on the North Umpqua River in the 1930’s by Clarence Gordon, a…

Green Ant - Ribbed | www.johnkreft.com

Tying Flies with Purpose

In the last week, I’ve been tying flies with purpose. Remember a recent post – Back to Tying Flies? Well that’s what I’ve been doing…tying flies. It’s the time of year when the weather has changed and so has the fishing. In fact, as I write this week’s post, it’s snowing!!! And the forecast calls…