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Natural dubbing materials
Fly tying is so sophisticated these days, that sometimes it pays to take a step back and really examine the materials we use as we conjure up the next great pattern at the vise. Take dubbing, for instance. This is the material used in both dry flies and nymphs, generally to craft fly bodies for…
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The Mickey Finn
With fall coming on and a few high-country leaves starting to turn here in the Rockies, some anglers are jumping ahead to "streamer season." I'm not ready to make the leap just yet, but I do generally have a few flies in my box that work well during the shoulder season that is late summer…
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Rosenbauer’s top 10 fall trout flies
I'm not ready to give up on summer just yet—hoppers are flitting about and occasionally slapping the water here on our western trout streams. But the media world generally moves about a month ahead of schedule. So I wasn't surprised when I saw that Orvis had uploaded a video featuring Tom Rosenbauer and this favorite…
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The Prince Nymph
Cave Falls, Yellowstone National Park. I stood up to the bottom of my shorts in the gloriously cool waters of the Fall River, just as it prepares to leave the environs of Yellowstone National Park and wind through a short stretch of Wyoming and into Idaho, where it's tumultuous currents finally meet the Henry's Fork…
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Hopper-dropper fishing
With terrestrial season coming on strong throughout the country, it's an obvious time to start flinging a hopper-dropper rig. But what's the best way to do it? What knots make the most sense? How far below the high-floating hopper should the "dropper" nymph be? https://youtu.be/Nz7QQFOPemU The hopper-dropper rig. Here's a great short video from the…
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Using different fly floatants
Not all fly floatants are created equally. What's more, not all fly floatants are appropriate for universal use on the water. For instance, CDC flies will do better if the angler applies a silicon-based floatant rather than a gel floatant. Bigger flies might require a liquid floatant that can get down into the hairs used…
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The black ant
Terrestrial season is upon us. Ants and beetles are likely already crossing the downed logs over your favorite trout stream, and I'm betting grasshoppers won't be far behind. And trout love terrestrial bugs—they're big mouthfuls of protein. Perhaps the simplest terrestrial bug to tie is the good old black ant. https://youtu.be/8FjKdCz_-wU Above, Matt Callies of…
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