In "A River Runs Through It" Norman Maclean writes "we were left to assume , as my brother and I did, that all first-class fisherman on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman". For someone like me, the logical followup question is who tied their flies? I can only hope that the Disciples supported local fly tyers to fill their fly boxes. I'm fortunate to have the support of some great customers, and I am grateful and honored

There are so many ways to use these beautiful feathers. While they certainly see their share of use in nymph tails and have fibers that are just too long for smaller flies; there are some big mayfly imitations that allow us to put them to good use. The mayflies of the ephemera and hexagenia genus are huge, and many of them have heavily mottled wings that are well imitated by a dark pardo CDL hackle. Shown this week is my Parachute DNA Coffin Fly Spinner, with a Coq de Leon ha

Late summer / early fall is the time when flying ant swarms become a daily possibility on the water. Ant swarms never follow the logic of other insects whose hatches can be predicted and anticipated. While we can expect to see Slate Drakes, Baetis Olives and Tricos at predictable times of the day; fly ants just happen, and we can only hope for being in the right place at the right time when it does. Interestingly there’s another component to flying ant swarms: having the righ

I’ve always been fond of ant patterns, having learned early on that trout are terribly fond of the real ones. Ant patterns and Pennsylvania fly fishing go together like peas and carrots, and the list of Keystone State writers and tiers that have influenced the ant imitations we fish is a lengthy one. An early influence for me was Ken Miyata who was a frequent contributor to Fly Fisherman Magazine up to his untimely death in a wading accident on the Big Horn River in 1983. Ken

It’s early August already, hotter than hell, and tough to find the motivation to do much writing lately. Standing in a stream and spending time in the mountains always triggers some inspiration to pound away on the computer keys, but there’s been very little of any of these activities of late. The trout waters in so many places are flowing warm and low, so here I sit dreaming of cool water, cool temperatures, cool places I love and cool friends I miss …. and tying Hendrickson

“Influence” according to the wisdom of Merriam Webster is “to have an effect on the condition or development of”. I’ve been fortunate to have met some great fly tiers over the years that have been strong influences on my own tying style. Some of them were very well known and achieved recognition on a very wide scale, while others of equally proficient talent never saw the time in the spotlight they deserved. Russ Mowry of Latrobe tied a series of unique fly patterns that had

While I seldom take many breaks from tying flies, it happens from time to time especially during the late summer when my customer orders taper off. Sometimes life gets in the way. If I’ve taken a break from tying for a period of time I go through a warmup process which starts out by working with some larger flies and working my way down to smaller versions of the same pattern over time. It’s a great way to get back into practice with good proportions, thread control, the mate

One of my neighbors is a premier breeder of Llamas, which are pretty cool animals. The fur from llamas is known as “fiber” and is used to make beautiful sweaters, scarves, gloves, socks and hats. I was invited to do a beginner fly tying class at a llama conference using llama fiber as a material, which is an interesting diversion from my normal weekend activity of fly fishing, writing about it, or photographing it. The people that attended my class were a lot of fun to work w

Cul de Canard feathers are one of my favorite materials and play a big role in many of my “Signature Fly” patterns. Anyone that’s ever worked with these feathers knows that they can be frustrating to work with because they are sold loose; and because of their fluffy character, tend to blow around and scatter easily. A slight breeze or a sudden sneeze can send them flying all over your tying desk and the floor. A simple solution is to buy yourself a small plastic tote with a l

There are multiple angles on the topic of thread control, which is one of the key elements in fly tying. While learning how and when to apply thread tension and how to use soft loops are terribly important, another overlooked element that inexperienced tyers struggle with is controlling and managing the tying thread. Some companies and fly tyers talk about how a certain thread will wrap very flat, which is great when you are trying to maintain a smooth thread base that will b

I taught a fly tying class yesterday with the Anglers Club of Philadelphia at the TCO Fly Shop in Haverford, Pennsylvania. This a very fun group of people and it’s always a treat to get together with them. A big thank you to Mike Lastowski for the invitation to teach the class. One of the patterns we tied was my Soft Hackle Quill Gordon Emerger, which is a “flymph” type pattern I designed in the tradition of the great Jim Leisenring and G.E.M. Skues. It’s a very simple patter

Last week I wrote about the benefit of batch tying and practice and the way that this approach can impact the quality of your flies. This week’s post is about taking this same concept to more complex flies, but with a twist. Whenever I’m tying complex fly patterns such as my stonefly nymphs and articulated nymphs or streamers, a more efficient technique that also improves fly consistency and quality is to break the fly down into stages. I always tie my stonefly nymphs on a fo

A lot of people ask me questions about fly tying “tricks”. One of the more overlooked aspects of fly tying that I always respond with is the element of practice. We never truly learn to tie a particular fly well without repetition and practice. Learning to become a good fly tyer is about the mastery of subtle things, breaking down the elements of the fly, learning how to control proportion and the right amount of materials needed for the fly you are tying. You never learn how

Merriam Webster defines “signature” as something that serves to set apart or identify. My goal with the new version of my website was to set apart the flies I design, tie and offer to my customers from the imitations of those fly designs tied by someone else. When I released “Matching Major Eastern Hatches” in 2010 I basically put a lifetime of my fly design thought, theory and practice out into the book. Most of the fly designs were and continue to be the result of the chall