There are those that love the “clown” eggs—eggs of two or more different colors. I like them, too, and tying them with the Knotted Egg method is very simple. Rather than using one strand of chenille, use two. The colors may be complimentary—like pink and magenta—or they may contrast more—like yellow and bright orange—or whatever. […]
I’m always searching about “sussing out” the best materials with which to tie my flies. Sometimes I find new materials that look promising, but which turn out to be no better than the materials I have on hand. Other times I really do find something that appeals to me. This is one of those times. […]
I tie a series of “down and dirty flies” whose intent is speed without sacrificing fish-catching ability. Actually my definition of a “Down and Fly” is one that can be tied while sitting in the back seat of a van going 55 mph over a dirt road in Canada with your son driving. This egg […]
Nancy and I have been camping, spending some great time together in the wonderful forest lands of the U.S. In addition to the usual “camp chores,” there’s time for some needed reading, writing, lounging, fishing or course, and generally resetting one’s self. I also took some time to dress flies for a soon-upcoming trip to […]
The Raleigh Show was a great success. Lefty Kreh, Joe Humphries, Bob Clouser, myself, and others offered classes, gave tying and casting demos, and spoke with PowerPoint presentations. Sunday morning I had a couple of hours to tour the show, and bumped into my old friend, Jay Bergan, who owns and operates the Five Rivers […]
A very fast, easy to tie, and effective caddis pupa can be built from just a touch of dubbing and a little poly yarn or Antron yarn. It’s on of the flies in my Down and Dirty (D&D) series of imitations. It can be dressed in any needed colors, and the tyer can manipulate the […]
I’ve had several comments on the D & D Midge Emerger with questions about sizes. The one shown in the post (see below) was on a size 18. but certainly they can be dressed on 16-22 with no problem at all. I use only 3 pieces of herl on the 22.
Over the last 55 years plus of tying I have tried to simplify flies to the point of almost non-existence to determine what characteristics of the flies seem to be essential to the fish’s take. This has led me to a whole series of imitations that I call the Down & Dirty Flies. They are […]