The Griffiths Gnat is this week’s Throw Back Thursday. The fly was named after George Griffith, one of the founders of Trout Unlimited. George was one of 16 men who gathered at his home on the Au Sable River in 1959 to create TU. It imitates midges, midge emergers, and midge clusters.
 Still works
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Chuck Stranahan’s Olive Brindle Chute. I returned to Chuck Stranahan’s Flies & Guides last week. The Brindle Chute style of fly is one of Chuck’s “hallmark” flies. The full name of the Brindle Chute is Brindle Hackle Multi Colored Body Parachute. This is his olive version, which is labeled as…
This is a size 16 Pale Morning Dun Sparkle Dun Mayfly or PMD for short. One of my favorite flies. It’s in the top 5 of many fishermen in the know. The Sparkle Dun is a Craig Matthews pattern from Blue Ribbon Flies. I tie this simple, yet effective fly in size 22 Blue Wing Olive…
It took more than 50 years into my fly tying journey to purchase my first Cree hackle. I wanted one because every fly tyer is supposed to want one. They’re rare to find and expensive when you finally get the chance. I always wondered what it would be like tying flies with Cree hackle. I…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Randall Kaufmann’s Simulator Peacock. I was paging through John Shewey’s Favorite Flies for Oregon (2021) and found Kaufmann’s Simulator. I’ve been a big Randall Kaufmann fan since the 1980’s. His books, Tying Nymphs (1994) and Tying Dry Flies (1991), were the first quality color fly tying instructions in…
I’ve written before why early November is a transition for me. Usually, the dry fly fishing on the Metolius River in November seems to switch off. Sure, you’ll have BWOs hatching throughout the winter, but that only lasts 20 – 30 minutes a day. This year is different. We’ve had mild weather the first week…
Summer’s over. It’s Fall and the weather is just beginning to turn. My wife doesn’t like hearing that. But what does that mean to a fly fisher? Well, October is just around the corner and I saw a few October Caddis on the river last week. I thought about how important they are to the…
