When fishing stillwaters, attractor flies are extremely under utilized here in the states. I think because of two things; most stillwater anglers don’t know how or why to use stillwater attractor flies, and because the materials to tie them and the flies are not usually stocked in fly shops. This […]
Fly Tying
16 posts
Buoyancy is an incredible principle that as fly anglers, we need to take more advantage of. Buoyancy can be achieved through a variety of materials like cervid hair (deer, elk, moose, caribou), dubbing (like alpaca), yarns (like poly yarn), and foam. I’m going to talk about foam in this article. […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Materials Necessary: Deer Belly Hair (High Quality) Tailing material Saltwater Neck Hackle Variant Hackle Marabou Rabbit Strip Round Rubber Legs Eyes Deer Creek Eyes Fish Skull Eyes Dome Eyes Large Hook Ahrex TP650 Sizes: 4/0-2 Ahrex PR330 Sizes: 4/0-1/0 Gamakatsu B10s Sizes 2/0-2 GSP Thread (200 Denier) White Black 210 […]
I recently did some experimenting with clear coating on foam popper heads. I’ve wanted to find a better way to coat and protect my popper heads than what I was doing before. Like those who tie flies for big predatory fish like bass, pike, muskie, dorado, peacocks, etc. you want […]
Recently I went out to go after pacific rockfish on the fly off a jetty here in Oregon. It was a blast. From the process I learned some good information about fly construction and design. By no means am I an expert on catching these fish, but I have tied […]