Flies

This week's Tying Tuesday features one of my all-time favorite flies, a new smallmouth pattern that'll work well for trout, and some tips on picking and sizing dry-fly hackle. With spring creeping ever closer, I reckon most of us could use the refresher on the Klinkhåmer, and picking and sizing hackle. Davie McPhail's videos—and flies—are some of the...

Years ago, when I first learned to tie flies, my dad showed me a caddis pattern that he said his father—my grandpa—invented. This particular fly is a mashup of what a tier today would label as an Adams and an elk-hair caddis, complete with the wing. It has the Adams tail, but the flat, stubby body of the caddis. You can hackle this fly with whatever you...

Bob Quigley was one of the most influential fly tiers of his generation. While he passed in 2012, his innovations in fly tying live on, and continue to influence fly design today. In a 2013 Fly Fisherman Magazine article, Charlie Craven had this to say about Quigley: "(he) changed the shape of technical dry-fly fishing. That's an impressive sentence and an...

Where I grew up, we called them crawdads. I've heard them called crawfish, but most folks seem to settle on crayfish as the official term for these interesting freshwater lobsters. Regardless of what you call them, crayfish are an important part of the diet for many trout, especially those living in tailwaters. They're a high-protein food source, and some...

This week's Tying Tuesday is a nymph-focused affair. While the first dry-fly hatches of the year aren't too far off, nymphing will still be the name of the game for the next few months. These patterns should do some work as the fish warm up and the bugs start moving again. Up first is the Idaho Stank Perdigon from Fly Fish Food. That's an interesting fly...

There was a point where I tied flies religiously. Four or five nights a week, week after week, year after year, I spun out enough flies to almost make the whole thing cost-effective. The problem was that after I filled my boxes with the go-to patterns, I'd browse YouTube and Instagram for new ideas. At one point, I think I had a dozen different types of...

Streamer fishing is something I enjoy immensely, but I'm also guilty of not getting as much out of it as I could. I find myself settling into predictable rhythms, retrieves, and going back to my tried-and-true patterns. So, when I read this recent piece from Dom Swentosky over at Troutbitten, I was reminded of how much I leave on the table while streamer...

This week's Tying Tuesday features yet another Sparkle Dun, but this one is a "Neversink" edition, which I think could come in handy. You'll also learn to tie a new nymph from Slovakia, and get a primer on fly tying thread. The Sparkle Dun is probably my favorite fly, ever. This thing flat-out produces when trout are at their pickiest during mayfly hatches...

This week's Tying Tuesday has a bit of variety to it. We start off with a standard trout fly before moving on to a simple foam beetle that'll work for trout or bass. Then, we finish with a fun variant on the classic Deceiver. Getting us started this week is a tutorial on the Yong Special from AvidMax. This is the glass-bead variant of a popular pattern...

Years ago, back when I still lived in Utah, I spent a lot of time on the Lower Provo River. In the summer, it's crowded with anglers and recreational tubers alike. The flows are high, and the fish have a reputation for ignoring hatches and eating nymphs more than the average trout. Come winter, the flows drop, the crowds thin, and most folks who brave the...