Archive for the ‘Entomology’ Category

Trico Photos

John Beth has sent along a few more Trico photos from his trip to Montana’s Bighorn a couple of weeks ago. For those that have never fished big waters, the Trico hatch o the ‘Horn can seem unreal. But the big western rivers like the Missouri, the Henry’s Fork, Canada’s Bow, and others all have […]

Midges in Holland

Midges (Order Diptera, two wings) are the most abundant aquatic insects on earth. In any fresh water system, the number of species of midges is greater than the number of all other aquatic species combined. Not only that, but they hatch year-round; as long as there is open water, there will be midges hatching. So, […]

Summer Absence

It was a summer of travel and visiting our son, Jason, his wife, Kelley, and our granddaughter, Brooke. There was some fishing and a trip to Alaska mixed in, too. This week I am in Montana speaking to at two different Christian groups and at the Madison River Lodge. Today I am at the Clydehurst […]

Benito Perez Paints, too

My friend, Benito Perez, from the Mendoza Fly Shop in Argentina is more than just an accomplished angler. He is the author of the first angler’s entomology of the Argentine Patagonia, and a very skilled artist. I’ve seen his work up close and personal, and it’s fine indeed. He just sent me a photo of […]

Chile 2014 Day 1

I arrived in Chile on Saturday, March 29 and met my friends, Benito and Pablo Perez and Exequiel Bustos at the Santiago airport. That afternoon we flew south to Osorno and met Javier Dietz who owns and operates the Cantarias Lodge, named after the monster beetle that is great food for very large trout. We […]

Theo’s Trout Sandwich

Not a sandwich made of trout, but a sandwich made for trout. The long winters in Holland have a way of messing with one’s mind. In this case, the mind of a great fly tyer and fly fisher. Looks tasty to me!

Craneflies

They look like giant mosquitoes, and when I was a child, I was told by some well-meaning, but mis-informed adult, that a cranefly was a “male mosquito.” They do look like giant mosquitoes, and in fact, are in the same order: Diptera. All dipterans have only two flight wings. The second pair is reduce to […]

Hatch Guide for Upper Midwest Streams

Ann Miller has given us a very nicely done guide to the immature and mature stages of mayflies, caddises, and stoneflies, with additional information on dobsonflies, fishflies, craneflies, midges, dragonflies, damselflies, scuds, sow bugs, and crayfish. All the included organisms are shown in full color, one organism per page, and are described in terms of […]

D & D Midge Emerger Sizes

I’ve had several comments on the D & D Midge Emerger with questions about sizes. The one shown in the post (see below) was on a size 18. but certainly they can be dressed on 16-22 with no problem at all. I use only 3 pieces of herl on the 22.

D & D Midge Emerger

Over the last 55 years plus of tying I have tried to simplify flies to the point of almost non-existence to determine what characteristics of the flies seem to be essential to the fish’s take. This has led me to a whole series of imitations that I call the Down & Dirty Flies. They are […]