I’ve had a request to show the tying steps for the Hen Saddle Matuka. This fly is a nod to the original Matuka, developed in New Zealand in the early 1900s and used to fish for the absolutely monster rainbows on the North Island, and well as the huge browns on the South Island. The […]
I have been asked to show the tying sequences for several specific patterns. This Crayfish is one of them. It’s from page 205 in my book Naturals (published in 1981 by Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA). Although “impressionistic” in its overall design approach, it is none-the-less, realistic in that it clearly defines the features of the […]
My friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland sends his salute to all U. S. fly fishers. He has been experimenting with eel skin sculpin designs for European waters. These are foam headed flies that are fished on a sinking line. In my forthcoming book, Long Flies — Streamers, Bucktails, and Other Big Fish Flies, I discuss […]
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 […]
Every once in a while someone creates a new and better mouse trap. Here’s the best hackle pliers I’ve seen in many a day. It holds a hackle feather like you can’t believe. It’s super light so it doesn’t break delicate feathers, and it’s formed in a loop so that one can merely insert an […]
At regular intervals I receive requests from collectors for my flies. I am happy to provide these, The cost per fly is $15.00 to $30.00, postage paid in the US, depending upon the complexity of the imitation. International postage is an additional $5.00 per fly. Cost for large international orders will be quoted separately. See […]
Select a hackle of appropriate size for the hook being used, prepare it, and tie it in at the base of the wing. I tie in both in the front and in back of the wing post. Be certain to leave plenty of bare shaft at the base of the hackle feather so that it […]
My friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland is the one who introduced gold beads into the U.S. fly tying community. To attract attention to the idea of gold beads on the heads of nymphs and other sunken imitations, he got the idea to paint his his own head with gold. Trouble was, he used spray paint […]
After the thread has been wrapped forward to secure the tail, stop and add the body dubbing to the thread. Leave about an inch of bare thread between the hook shank and the top of the dubbing. It’s much easier to apply the dubbing very tightly when twisting it on an inch or so down […]