It’s Fly Tying Season

I hope you were able to read last week’s post about my fly tying activity. It’s fly tying season for me as I just completed the first of several orders. In addition to last week’s Zoom class I taught for my Central Oregon Fly Tyer’s Guild, I’ll be teaching again this week on another Zoom session. I’ll provide the details below.

Daniel's Dream | www.johnkreft.com

This is a new fly for me, something my customer called Daniel’s Dream. He sent several small flies in an envelope asking if I could tie them. It’s a fairly easy tie, but challenged me with the biot body on a size 18 hook.

Before I get too far into my fly tying activities, I thought I’d mention I did get back to the river last week for a little Euro nymphing activity. I ended up landing 3 fish – a Rainbow, a Brown, and a Whitefish. It was nice to be back on the water.

Winter on the Metolius | www.johnkreft.com

A small but pretty Brown.

Small Metolius Brown | www.johnkreft.com

A nice Rainbow that ate my Pheasant Tail Perdigon.

Winter Rainbow with Pheasant Tail Perdigon on Metolius | www.johnkreft.com

And a Little Winter Stone, probably size 20 I found walking on the snow.

Little Winter Stone - Metolius River | www.johnkreft.com

I think I got a little side-tracked…back to fly tying.

I’ll be teaching some of my favorite Green Drake patterns on Friday, February 28 at 5 pm Pacific on the BT’s Fly Tying Friday, hosted by my friends Gretchen and Al Beatty. Here is the link if you are interested in joining:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83617204710?pwd=17SV6a7Qw3BOatxpDP8QbypAMpJAsx.1

Meeting ID: 836 1720 4710

Passcode: 301102

If you were unable to attend last week’s Zoom class with my local fly tyer’s guild, here is a link from my RiverKeeper Flies YouTube channel:

I just completed a fly order for a good customer. Several fly patterns he ordered before and they must work because he ordered more! Most of them are small flies and I thought you might enjoy seeing them. The first image in today’s post of Daniel’s Dream was one of them. Here are a few others.

This is the smallest…#24. I tied these before in #26, but I wasn’t able to get that size from my hook supplier so I tied them with the smallest hooks I had in inventory. Last year he sent a well-used sample and asked me to tie something similar. I gave it a try and named it after him – GS Midge.

GS Midge | www.johnkreft.com

Here is a link to the video I created from my RiverKeeper Flies YouTube channel if you are interested in how I tie a #26 fly:

Next are a few #18 Higa’s SOS.

Higa's SOS | www.johnkreft.com

Mighty Midge Emerger in #20.

Mighty Midget Emerger | www.johnkreft.com

In the Film CDC Emerger #22.

In the Film Baetis - Brown | www.johnkreft.com

A #22 Black Spinner.

Black Spinner | www.johnkreft.com

Lastly, the NW Fly Tying & Fly Fishing Expo on March 7 & 8 at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany, OR is only 10 days away. I’ll be tying all day on Friday and Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm at table 6 so please stop by and say ‘hello’. This is a wonderful event for all levels of fly fishers. I hope to see you there.

Enjoy…go fish!

Similar Posts

  • Hoffman Super Capes

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday post is about Hoffman Super Capes. The image above is of two grade 1 Hoffman Super Capes from many years ago. For perspective, I placed them beside a Whiting bronze grade cape I purchased last week. The Hoffman Super Capes are grizzly dyed brown and black. The cape on the…

  • Quigley Film Critic

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is a Quigley Film Critic. The Quigley Film Critic imitates a mayfly emerger, specifically half nymph, half dry fly struggling to get out of the nymphal shuck. The curved hook allows the nymph half to partially sink. Here’s the description of the fly from Quigley: This emerger’s entire body…

  • Darling

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Darling…another fly pattern from Ray Bergman’s book Trout. I looked out the window this morning while tying the Darling and saw this flock of turkeys! Coincidence? The wing is TURKEY! Darling Body: Black dubbing Tip: Orange floss Tail: Golden pheasant crest Hackle: Furnace brown Wing: Brown Turkey Tied…

  • My East Lake Fly Box

    Since the Crooked River Flies, Basic Dry Flies, and Basic Nymph Flies Fly Boxes are so popular, I thought I’d add an East Lake Fly Box to my RiverKeeper Flies Fly Patterns page. While my first love is river fishing, I do fish lakes. In fact, friends are surprised when they see me at a lake. I guess my…

  • Lawson’s Spent Partridge Caddis

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Mike Lawson’s Spent Partridge Caddis. I purchased this Lawson’s Spent Partridge Caddis recently at Henry’s Fork Anglers in Last Chance, ID along the banks of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. It’s one of a handful of flies I plan to highlight in future Throw Back Thursday…

2 Comments

  1. I also have tried for years to figure why this fly is so darn fussy to tie as one year had to make up 50 dozen and it was definitely a money loser. I used this fly a lot with orange or chartreuse abdomen, Orange at sunset and chartreuse mid day.
    Royal patterns for me have been Double wings, Stimulators and wulffs , as all of these other patterns are quicker ties for me . Even Double Wings which are another multi material pattern are a much quicker tie than PMX.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *