PNW Jetties: How to Tackle the Rocks

If anyone wants to see my jetty presentation I recently did for the Santiam Fly Casting Club in Salem Oregon I have linked down below. I get into the basics in how to fish the jetties on the Oregon coast, the gear to bring, and the flies to tie. If […]

Why Do I Carry 15+ Lines on the Lake?

Stillwater fly fishing has become my hyperfocus within fly fishing. Don’t get me wrong I still hit the rivers for trout or jetty for rockfish or some of the best smallmouth bass water in the world, from time to time, but stillwater trout has been so much fun and produces […]

The Flies for Searun Cutthroats

Sea run cutthroat are the forgotten fish of the Pacific Northwest, to me that’s sad. They are named after William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii) which is always a fun fact I try to throw out when I’m talking about these fish. They are under researched, […]

Guys Fishing Weekly podcast

Would you guys guess I was on another podcast? On this show I talked a little bit about a lot of topics but mostly pumped up Oregon and the great fishing we have here. This was a fun show and I had a great time with Ed and Reid. They […]

Diamond Lake Trip Report 2024

Diamond Lake is the forgotten lake of Oregon stillwater anglers. Oh, I’m sure there are fly anglers that fish it religiously, but not like East lake or Crane Prairie Reservoir. Those lakes are obsessed over and the resources to understand those lakes are plentiful. The die-hards of Diamond are few […]

Fin and Fire Podcast with Jeff Mishler

I was on another podcast again. This will make it seven total guest spots across four different shows. In this one I talk about the industry and where I think it is going and how fly tying is not dying but on the contrary, it’s growing. Jeff and I touch […]

Fly Fishing Insiders Podcast – Searun Cutthroat

I talk with Christian at the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast all about searun cutthroat. We get into what I have been up to over the last couple years and how to target and fish for SRCs here in Oregon and the Pacific coast. The show was recorded back in November […]

NW Expo – Albany, OR

It’s show season right now. The two show I will attend will be The Fly Fishing Show in Bellevue, WA (which has come and gone by now) and the NW Expo in Albany, OR on March 8th and 9th. The NW Expo is my Super Bowl. I prepare for this […]

The Fly Fishing Show – Bellevue, WA

I’m going to be tying at the Fly fishing Show in Bellevue, WA. This is my first time at this show and the first out of state show I’ve done in a while. I  love tying shows and this will be a fun one.   I’m going to be tying […]

Chironomids and Buzzers

In North America, in stillwater fisheries, the small but mighty chironomid is the foundation to a healthy lake and big fish. They range in sizes and colors but are found in nearly all lakes or ponds no matter the latitude. As someone who obsesses over fly tying and fishing I […]

A Deep Dive on Thread – Fly Fishing 97 Podcast

I am a podcasting machine apparently. I was back on the Fly Fishing 97 podcast this time not talking about me and the shows I’m going to but all about fly tying thread and how I think it is the most important tool in your fly tying arsenal. We dive […]

Wet Fly Swing Podcast – Returns

I was back on the Wet Fly Swing podcast. I looked it up and the last time I was on the show it was August of 2021 so it’s been a while. On that show which can be found here, I talked about a lot of fly tying stuff in […]

Fly Fishing 97 Podcast

I had a great conversation with Mark Hopley on the Fly Fishing 97 podcast. We talked about a ton of stuff including thread, hooks, my least favorite phrase in fly tying, mentors, fly tying influences, and so much more. It was a blast talking with Mark and we even talked […]

Stillwater Flies and How to Fish Them

I’ve been going around Oregon speaking at fly fishing clubs. Where I have been covering topics like searun cutthroat, euro nymphing, fly fishing off the jetty, and much more. Recently while speaking at the Santiam Flycasters in Salem, Oregon they recorded my talk about stillwater flies. I don’t have much […]

Preparing Your Tying Schedule

I love to tie flies. Clearly. I’ve been tying flies for 14+ years and almost every day of those 14+ years. I might be able to count on one hand how many flies I have bought to fish with and if I use my other hand I can add the […]

Flies You Need for Pulling

Pulling flies is verbiage from across the pond. They use that term whenever they are fishing stillwaters and presenting the flies in a cast and retrieve style. I like the term pulling better than cast and retrieve or stripping for the reasons that it describes the action and presentation accurately. […]

Bead Chart

Bead Chart I wanted to develop my own bead chart for those tiers who wanted to get into the weeds on density and which beads to choose. Most bead charts are vague and don’t give all the information that I would want and I would have to search in multiple […]

Diamond Lake Trip Report 2023

The blog doesn’t have a lot of trip reports but I thought the fly fishing community should have a modern report on Diamond Lake.   I was recently out at Diamond Lake to do some fishing with a buddy of mine. It was a great trip that you’re here to […]

Fly Patterns from the NW Expo

Last month was the NW Expo in Albany, Oregon. It’s one of the largest fly tying shows in the United States and I was fortunate enough to be able to tie at the show for both days. My main focus was on flies used mostly in competitions here in the […]

How to Prepare for a Fly Fishing Competition

This year I’m going full bore into the fly fishing competitions scene. Last year (2022) I dipped my toes into it and participated in a couple of comps in Central Oregon on two stillwater venues, Crane Prairie Reservoir and Paulina Lake. This year’s season will have competitions in Oregon, California, […]

Safety on the Jetty

Safety on the jetties, that dot the West Coast, is paramount. Every year you see news reports of accidents on the jetties and the beaches here in the PNW. Most anglers that decide to venture out on the coast know the risk the water, rocks, and sand provide and go […]

Control the Boat or Fish the Front?

Most anglers interested in competitive fly fishing only think of rivers when they think of a venue for a competition. This isn’t the case at all. Rivers play a massive role in the competitive scene and are integral to the success of an individual or the team, but there is […]

Why Hook Choice is Important – Part 2 (Final)

The other other factor that goes into hook choice is the shape. This can be inconsequential or it can matter a lot. To me when the stakes are the lowest is when you are tying nymphs and you are tying to get the shape correct for just aesthetic purposes. It […]

Salmon Trip Report 2022

I was fortunate enough to be able to go after salmon this year on the fly. I had a friend that has talked to me about and wanted me to come with him after chum salmon. This year was the year that it worked out for the both of us […]

Why Hook Choice is Important – Part 1

As a fly tyer who geeks out hard about tying, materials, and flies it would be totally justified to think hooks would be top of mind for me when deciding how to tie a fly. Hooks are the foundation to every fly tyed, but criminally overlooked, especially when it comes […]

My First Fly Fishing Competition

This past weekend was my first fly fishing competition. I’m going to go over the prep work I did for this comp, gear I brought, gear I wish I had brought, how fishing went, my mind set, and the results of the comp. I’m hoping this is the first of […]

Euro Nymph: Tying an anchor fly

As a competent euro nympher you need to adapt to different waters. This means when you encounter deep runs, fast water, and steep rivers, like the West Coast and Rocky Mountain states offer, you need to have the right flies for the situation. For me it is having a diverse […]

Fly Fishing Insider Podcast Guest Spot

I was on the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast. On the show I talked with Christian, the host, about the the backstage experience I’ve had over the years in the fly tying industry. I also get into tying with deer hair and how that applies to so mush more in fly tying […]

Why the Clouser Works!

 The Clouser Minnow was a gateway fly for me. When I was just starting my fly fishing and tying journey way back in the day of 2009, this was one of the first flies that I tied to terrorize the local smallmouth. The fly was simple and quick to tie […]

The Season of the Sea Run Cutthroat

Sea run cutthroat are one of my favorite fish to go after. Everything about them feels so romantic and quintessential Oregon/ PNW. The time of year, the weather, the waters in which they swim; all make me feel like I am going back in time to an era that all […]