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Fly tying: Attaching dumbbell eyes
For fly tiers who like big streamers and saltwater patterns (count me in this group—the bigger the pattern, the easier to tie, in my opinion), dumbbell eyes can present a challenge, mostly because, no matter how many times we "figure-eight" the tying thread around the eyes and the hook shank, the eyes, with enough pressure,…
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Fly tying: JC’s Electric Steelie Stone
Being a western angler, I'm not terribly familiar with the steelhead flies used in Great Lakes tributaries. Most western steelhead patterns are purple or pink or some color variation that just looks loud and gawdy. Higher up in the steelhead drainages, like here in Idaho, it's easier to get awa y from the "eggy" and…
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Fly tying: Less Mess Morrish Mouse
I haven’t spent a ton of time fishing mice. Other than a few nights looking for big browns — bushwhacking through the north woods with a underpowered headlamp just to lose most of my flies to unseen trees — my experience is pretty much limited to chucking these bugs into lily pads for largemouth. I’ve…
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Fly tying: Craft-fur Clouser
I love fishing Clousers. I hate tying with bucktail. I can never seem to get the bucktail material to lie flat and stay flat. Most of my Clousers tied with yellow and white bucktail have splayed tails and likely swim like nothing a fish predator has ever seen. Video of Craft Fur ClouserThanks to Tim…
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Fly tying: The Klinkhamer
'Tis the season for emerging insects on America's great trout rivers. Here in Idaho, it's full-on Blue-winged Olive season (in an infuriating size 20!). While traditional dun patterns can work well, I've found that trout are often keyed in on emerging BWOs well into the full hatch. And a BWO tied "Klinkhamer" style perfectly mimics…
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Fly tying: The skinny on adhesives
I'm a recent convert to the use of ultra-violet cure resins in my fly tying. The first time I truly experimented with this technique was several years ago when I spent a week of evenings tying sardina patterns for roosters and jacks on the Baja. I figured, correctly so, that dragging flies through the surf…
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Fly tying: Wood Duck Scud
Scuds are an important year-round source of food for trout, but I find flies mimicking them to be even more effective in fall and throughout winter. Scud patterns are also great for tailwater trout hunting—small flies dead drifted through fishy runs often get the attention of trout that have seen damn near everything. Video of…
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