There’s little doubt I prefer the technical references to the feel-good fly fishing memoir, both have their proper place, but when I reach for text I want a question answered, skills increased, or broader knowledge of an unfamiliar yet burgeoning subject.

Czech nymphing has  fascinated me for a variety of reasons. It’s the “Cinderella” story mostly; small [...]

Some aspiring beginner announces on a forum that he’s invented a new fly, asking for comments on the quality of construction and the style used.
… which brings the Wrath of The Horribly Offended onto his narrow shoulders. The first half dozen comments point out someone else’s fly his resembles, albeit minus the red tail, and [...]

In last Monday’s post we described the distribution wrap, a method to make feathers that were oversized act as hackle on smaller hooks. That post described how a single segment of even flank feather could be spun around the shank as hackle.
One of the more popular flies that Cal originated was the Bird’s Nest, where [...]

With the casting club some four miles distant the round trip on a stingray was reserved for weekends. Weekdays it was the bathtub as trout stream surrogate.
A young lad learning to tie flies has to make due. Each time the UPS truck squealed to a stop out front it disgorged some new material from Dan [...]

As we mentioned in Parts 1 & 2, the measure of true fly beauty is held by fish not humans. Unfortunately only averaging  9 days afield your flies are viewed most by people, and suffering their continual criticisms can make a fly tyer resign himself to please both anglers and quarry.
… and in the doing, gain [...]

Fly tying is six weeks thinking of nothing but the fish, tying small stuff to smaller stuff, the shock and awe that all insects don’t suck blood or whine in your ear, the majesty of the first fish caught on your own fly, and the amazing riot of colors and animal parts coveted and purchased …
… [...]

I’ve always likened the traditional dry fly as the fly fishing equivalent of the Japanese Tea ceremony. You can tie a million of them and the number of times you’re pleased with the result you can count on one hand.
Double-divided quill wings spin our gossamer tippet into a snarl, Woodduck flank is expensive as hell, [...]

In Spring a young man’s thoughts turn to love – and in Fall, us mature types think of love too, how much we’d love it to be cooler…
I’m tired of dusty creeks and the rattle of discarded water bottles blowing in the hot breeze. We’ve endured enough fires, sweltering mornings, and fleeing to the safety [...]

The press made short work of our president’s trip to the piney woods. While the political pundits battle each other over details and implications on the national stage –  the question foremost on our lips is, “whose rod, and what fly did he use?”
A relative in the NSA isn’t always a bad thing, especially when I get to [...]

I’d like to think that the only options were Good, Bad, & Ugly – but past experience suggests there’s the occasional Divine, and a lot of Ridiculous.
I’m headed up North again next week – this time to assault some overly content Rainbow and Brown trout that assume the National Park designation means safety…
I’m facing the [...]