My friend, Theo Bakelaar from Holland, has been fishing a foam ant over the last few days, and doing very well with it. It’s very fast and easy to tie, and uses readily available materials. His precut bodies have a narrow waist, but I tie it with a strip of foam that is all the […]
My Dutch friend, Theo Bakelaar, came up with a great idea for a new version of the San Juan Worm—a double worm tied from Powercord or other similar material used in beading. Powercord is stretchy and comes in a variety of colors and clear. It’s used in beading to make necklaces and bracelets. On his […]
Our friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland is always exploring fly designs using freshwater eel skin. His latest “Mr. Twister,” using a tail of eel skin whallops walleyes, pike, sea trout, and others. Its secret is the tail of eel skin that vibrates as it whips back and forth on the retrieve. Further, the fish skull […]
My friend, Theo Bakelaar, and I get a chance to fish for stripers and blues with our mutual friend Chuck Furimsky just prior to his International Fly Fishing Symposium in November (go here). The last time we fished, the weather was cold and windy, and fishing out on the ocean was not possible. We focused […]
Our friend Theo Bakelaar, also know as Mr. Gold Bead, and now also as Mr. Eel Skin, has been at it again. These beauties are his latest sand eels tied with fish skulls. I can just see the stripers and blues zeroing in on these delectable looking, and highly-active-when-wet, tough-as-nails imitations. Can’t wait to see […]
Striper fishing is picking up along the Jersey coast, and our friend, Theo Bakelaar, has been tying his Eel Skin Sand Eels for a shop in Ocean City. These flies really are tied with freshwater eel skin, and they are extremely effective, as our past fishing experiences have shown. Eel skin is very tough and […]
My good friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland, has been tying a great selection of foam flies: beetles, ants, caddises, and on. He sent the tying steps for a really great foam caddis. It is profile fly, and a really good one. Have a look.
Theo Bakelaar, our Holland Connection, has graciously agreed to share his tying steps for the House Fly. This tying strategy would make a great cicada, wasps, bees, and other dipterans.
My friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland, sent me photos of some house flies that he is tying for the coming season. Scary good! He notes that the trout and other fish sip them off the surface with absolute confidence. This design would make a great cicada imitation in larger sizes. He will send tying instructions […]
Here are two of Theo’s flies that do well anywhere in the world. He and others have fished them very successfully here in the States. They both have peacock herl bodies, and I think that is the major appeal of the flies. Trout just like peacock herl, period. The tying is straight forward, so make […]