• Medallion Biot Wet Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Medallion Biot Wet Fly. I selected this fly to continue the theme of biot flies I presented in the Goose and Turkey Biot Flies post this week. The Medallion Biot Wet Fly is another fly by Shane Stalcup and can be tied in different sizes and colors to imitate a…

  • Stalcup CDC Loop Wing Emerger

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Stalcup CDC Loop Wing Emerger. This fly was the creation of Shane Stalcup, a talented and innovative fly tyer. The fly pattern sheet can be found HERE. I first learned of Stalcup’s flies in his book Mayflies “Top to Bottom” (2002). I thought it was interesting looking at the…

  • Comparadun Mayfly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Comparadun mayfly. I first tied a Comparadun mayfly in the early 1990’s. The fly was a pattern I found in Randall Kaufmann’s book Tying Dry Flies. Kaufmann presented the Comparadun along with a Sparkle Dun. Al Caucci developed the Comparadun mayfly in the early 1960’s as a…

  • Old Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Books

    Have you ever wondered about the history of fly fishing? It’s an interesting topic to me, which explains why I’ve been reading old fly fishing and fly tying books lately. Why? First, they are a source for my Throw Back Thursday Flies. Secondly, I wonder how previous generations fished and what some of their streamside conversations…

  • Walla-Walla

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Walla-Walla, another Ray Bergman wet fly. The Walla-Walla can be found on Plate 9, page 254 of Ray Bergman’s book Trout (1938). I’ve selected several wet flies for my Throw Back Thursday Fly segment from Ray Bergman’s book . An easy method of finding all of them is…

  • Crossfield

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Crossfield, a strip-winged Atlantic Salmon fly. The Crossfield is the second Atlantic Salmon fly I’ve tied from Poul Jorgensen’s book entitled Salmon Flies – Their Character, Style, and Dressing (1978). The first fly I tied from his book is the Blue Charm. Some quick research finds the…

  • Royal Coachman Dry Fly

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the classic Royal Coachman dry fly. This attractor fly pattern is one that many older fly fishers recognize. It truly is a classic! It was one of many flies I found in a friend’s old fly box. There are many variations to the first Royal Coachman, which was…

  • Blue Charm

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is an old Atlantic Salmon fly, the Blue Charm. It’s a very old fly from the mid-1800s and one of the most famous Simple Strip Winged salmon flies. The fly is attributed to M. Brown. I’ve only tied one other Salmon Fly – the Golden Butterfly. I decided to…

  • Lempke’s Extended Body Green Drake – TBT

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Lempke’s Extended Body Green Drake – TBT. Photo: Courtesy of Sandy Pittendrigh (www.fliesfliesflies.com) Cyril ‘Bing’ Lempke (1917 – 1991) was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, but moved to Idaho as a youngster. He fished the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River and the Teton River during his teens. It was there…

  • Braided Butt Damsel

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Braided Butt Damsel. I first found this fly in Randall Kaufmann’s book Tying Dry Flies (1991) in the early 1990s. I tied the fly using the instructions from the book and took it to Antone Ranch in Eastern Oregon when it was a pay-to-play lake. I can still remember…