MidCurrent Plus Live Event – March 25, 2026
Synopsis
This inaugural MidCurrent Plus live event pairs host Phil Monahan (Vermont) with guest Tim Flagler (New Jersey) — one of fly fishing’s most recognized tying instructors, known for his YouTube channel and appearances at consumer fly fishing shows. The conversation covers three early-season fly patterns tied to the hatches and forage events that precede the classic spring mayfly emergences (March Browns, Hendricksons, Sulphurs).
Early Black Stoneflies (Taeniopteryx spp.) — Tim makes the case that the nymph stage matters far more than the adult for anglers. These size 18–20 insects begin appearing as early as January in the Mid-Atlantic, extending into April or May in northern regions. Tim demonstrates his “Little Black Stone” nymph pattern, built on a curved hook with mini black centipede legs for lifelike movement, a stretch-tubing body, and a pheasant tail wing case. He fishes it weightless on a tag above a weighted anchor fly, under an indicator, dead-drifted through patches where nymphs are visibly crawling onto snow-covered banks. Key insight: the rubber leg material must be ultra-fine (mini centipede legs) to get the right action — heavier legs kill the movement that triggers takes. The legs deteriorate in heat and sunlight, so Tim ties fresh flies the night before fishing.
Blue-Winged Olives (Baetis spp.) — Phil and Tim discuss the early-season BWO emergences that many anglers overlook or misidentify. The hatch favors overcast, damp days when duns struggle to leave the water surface — exactly the conditions that make them most vulnerable to trout. Tim ties a minimalist dry fly using Fulling Mill Ultra Dry Yarn for a comparadun-style wing, Wapsi Super Fine dubbing for the body, and stiff hackle-cape tailing fibers — no hackle, no CDC. He fishes it on 6X or 7X tippet, often trailing 18–20 inches behind a larger dry fly, on a roughly 10-foot leader, casting upstream. Tim and Phil discuss the tradeoff of tandem dry fly rigs: the larger fly helps you track the small one, but video evidence from Tim’s son Drew shows the lead fly can drag the trailer off a true dead drift.
Sucker Spawn — As suckers begin staging and spawning in freestone streams (starting now in New Jersey, later farther north), rainbow trout stack behind them to feed on dislodged eggs. Tim ties his “Off the Hook Sucker Spawn” using McFly Foam folded into graduated loops with a whip-finish tool hook, producing an egg-cluster profile he considers more realistic than a simple sphere. He fishes it weightless, either off a tag or trailing the bend of a weighted anchor fly, to achieve a near-neutrally-buoyant drift close to the bottom.
The event also includes pre-show banter about Tim’s upcoming Argentina trip (Golden Dorado with Set Fly Fishing, then hosting 16 anglers at Spring Creek Lodge, followed by trophy brown trout fishing on the Limay Medio), a story about getting shot at while filming with Brian Flechsig, Tim’s “tie 15, keep 12” philosophy learned from a mentor, and the announcement that April’s live event will feature Landon Mayer discussing fishing during runoff.
