Today’s flavor is Hendricksons. There’s a steady drip from the roof eaves as the snow melts and the forest floor outside my window is still heavily cloaked in winter. A closer look and you can see a faint hue of red in the maple trees from the tiny buds that hold springs leaves tucked tightly inside. Under the stream stones, the different larval forms are beginning to sense the upcoming change in the season and are becoming restless as their day approaches. It won’t be long n

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

I love seeing all the different versions of Hendricksons that fly tyers are posting on social media lately. Last week I went traditional with a Catskill style Hendrickson using vintage materials, this week I’ll go a different direction. The spinner stage can be an exciting part of fishing any mayfly hatch; and Hendrickson spinners are no exception. When I see them starting to collect over the riffles in the evening, I’ll drop down toward the middle of the pool and knot one of

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

“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

Two weeks ago I talked about the need for creating a level, smooth under body when making a fly body from goose or turkey biots. Last week I talked about how to tie a biot in to ensure that you will get the result you want (raised rib vs. smooth segmentation) and pre-moistening the biot to help wrap it smoothly. This week I want to talk about wrapping the biot. The most important part of this is a gooooood pair of hackle pliers that are tuned up to prevent slipping (notice I

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

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

There’s an old axiom that says some of the best things in life are the simplest of things; and at times that turns out to also be true in fly fishing, and more specifically in the design of flies. I’ve always enjoyed the game of designing intricate flies that imitate something found in nature and testing those pattern designs over difficult, rising fish. There’s a sweet satisfaction when it all comes together, and a great feeling when you break down your rod at the end of the

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

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