The search for more genetic chicken feathers has lead to the development of some rather stunning hen saddle capes which are useful for a wide variety of flies, one of which is the Hen Matuka (which see). These capes are available from Dave Roberts at featheremporium.com/index.html. Have a look. Dave also offers a great many [...]

Saddle hackles are hard to find. Not because the chickens aren’t making them, but because the fashion industry has discovered them, for garments and hair adornments. My friend, Henry Kanemoto, sent me this photo–have a look.

In the olden days, one was sent to the woodshed to receive a good spanking for disobedience. Well, I’ve been to the woodshed, but not for punishment. Rather, for a work of love. Nancy is a creator of wood art on the lath, and needed a place to store her wood. She generously allowed me [...]

The International Fly Tying Symposium was held in Somerset, NY the weekend before Thanksgiving. It’s a great event for anyone who loves the art and craft of fly tying. I always enjoy seeing the great display of the creative human spirit emerging in everything from emergers to monster mice and way beyond. And I enjoy [...]

The kings have arrived, but in low numbers. None-the-less, I am headed out on Monday to see what the conditions are and catch a few of the wily rascals. Watch for post reprots this week.

If you’re headed to Georgia anytime and need a fly fishing fix,  head to Unicoi Outfitters in Helen. They not only have the gear, but they have guiding rights on the best of the best waters in NE Georgia. Besides, they’re a great bunch of good guys. You can find them on the web at [...]

I’ve been in internet no-man’s land for the past 5 days at the SE FFF Conclave and then a day’s fishing, so no posts were possible.  This is a catch-up. The Conclave was really fun. As always, there was plenty of talking on my part and on the part of others. I many ways it [...]

Jeff Currier is back from a trip to the Baja for rooster fish, and had a great time. Roosters are fish of the surf–as you can see in the photo below–and anglers walk the beach and cast a relatively short line to these brutes. Better have a big reel loaded with a half mile of [...]

Forwarded to me: Some fish are just outsized. It might be fun for the first 8 hours; after that it would just be work. This is a darn interesting picture and story even if you aren’t into fishing, But please show it to anyone you know that likes to fish. FYI:  This sturgeon is still [...]

Thursday, April 7, I was in Philadelphia to speak at the annual banquet of the Philadelphia Anglers Club and present a day-long seminar to a group of 20 of their members. The day went too fast. My host, Bill Wilson, and I arrived at the Appleford facility at 8:30 am. By 9 the class had [...]

The steelhead are in, the steelhead are in. So are the suckers, by the thousands. So, we caught steelhead, and we caught suckers. I started the day with an egg fly dropped from the hook of a black and blue collared leech, but soon gave up on the egg fly–too many suckers. The weather was [...]

Steelhead season is upon us in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes in general. We had lots of snow pack and then a fast, warming trend with rain that blew the streams out right proper. A big slug of large steelhead shot in on the flood wave and are now prowling the gravels of our streams [...]

As I got ready to shoot photos of the second and third days of the expo, I noted that the camera battery was dead. So I reached into the bag for the second  battery, and guess what? It was still at home on the charger. How’s that for rushing around and forgetting an important item? [...]

The bullhead tying design can be added to a sculpin very easily. In addition, I add a bit of flash to this design to form the body and tail. It’s a very fast, “Down and Dirty” design that works extremely well. It’s also very easy to upgrade with only a few minor changes. watch for [...]