I’m headed to Alaska with my friend, Dave Graebel, in search of some big rainbows on the dry fly. This is the time to do it. The trout are not yet so fixated on eggs that they will take nothing else. And, the mayflies are on the wing—both the Western Green Drake and the PMDs. […]
There are those that love the “clown” eggs—eggs of two or more different colors. I like them, too, and tying them with the Knotted Egg method is very simple. Rather than using one strand of chenille, use two. The colors may be complimentary—like pink and magenta—or they may contrast more—like yellow and bright orange—or whatever. […]
Theo has been out giving the trout a bad time, again. This time it was with his foam caddis (http://www.garyborger.com/2014/05/04/theos-foam-caddis/). It floats very high and offers a great profile—at least the trout think so.
I’m always searching about “sussing out” the best materials with which to tie my flies. Sometimes I find new materials that look promising, but which turn out to be no better than the materials I have on hand. Other times I really do find something that appeals to me. This is one of those times. […]
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 […]
I tie a series of “down and dirty flies” whose intent is speed without sacrificing fish-catching ability. Actually my definition of a “Down and Fly” is one that can be tied while sitting in the back seat of a van going 55 mph over a dirt road in Canada with your son driving. This egg […]
Our friend from Holland, Theo Bakelaar, has started his spring season with a trout fishing excursion to a Dutch stream that harbors trout. His successful fly of the day was a black and chartreuse streamer. This is the original color of the Black Strip Leech—the contrast of the black and chartreuse colors makes the fly […]
It’s hard to imagine after the coldest February on record, that the warm weather this week is a reality. But it is, and the snow is receding rapidly each day. I’ve begun my tying for the start of the season with a simple bead head Fur Bug. It works well in many situations, and so […]
Our friend, Theo Bakelaar from Holland has started growing his nose hairs for fly tying material. They tend to be a little curly, but make very good, inexpensive flies, especially for pike–according to Theo.