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Trout Tips: Small stream stealth
Trout in small, backcountry streams are opportunists, but that doesn't mean theyr'e stupid. The old rule still applies: If you can see the fish, chances are, they can see you, too. When I fish small water, I like to put structure between me and the fish whenever possible, and I like to make my profile…
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Fly tying: The Peacock Caddis
Some flies just work, and there's no real explanation as to why that is. The Peacock Caddis is one of those flies, as Tim Flagler perfectly describes in the video below. Video of Peacock CaddisI like this fly for two reasons. First, I think any fly with that "insect green" color put forth by peacock…
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Trout Tips: Dapping
When I was a kid, the first fly-fishing technique my grandfather ever shared with me was "dapping." Rather than burden a 10-year-old with all the details of a complex fly cast, he would simply pull about three feet of fly line through the tip-top and put a hopper or some high-floating dry fly on my…
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Fly tying: Tying in a deer- or elk-hair wing
Tying deer- and elk-hair wings to my flies might be the weakest skill I have at the vise. I'm not a master tier, but I know my way around the fly shop when it comes to materials, hooks, threads, and the like. But this one skill has eluded me. Thankfully, Tim Flagler is out there…
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Fly tying: Perdigon-style Zebra Midge
The first time I ever used a Zebra Midge, I was bundled up in Neoprene waders and walking my float tube down the S-curves of Idaho's Silver Creek. Full disclosure: I'm not an enthusiastic nympher, and floating a sunken midge nymph under an indicator is probably my least-favorite brand of fly angling. But when I…
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Trout Tips: Small stream structure, part II
Trout in austere, backcountry creeks are oppotunists. The very thing that makes these streams so appealing to anglers—cold, cystal clear waters, amazing viewscapes, a wild, largely untouched setting—is what makes life so tough on small-stream trout. Food is scarce, and just about anything that looks like food will get a look from backcountry trout. In…
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Fly tying: Down to the wire
I started using wire in my fly tying about a decade ago, and today, I'm not sure what I'd do without it. It's a versatile tying material that do anything from add weight to simple sparkle, or to toughen up a fly to make it last longer. I've even started using really thin wire on…
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