I remember what you said, “ … shan’t, mustn’t, can’t. Leave the dead and dying on the roadbed, as the warden is likely to grab you by the ass and slap a hefty fine on you.” As it was technically possible that I’d grabbed the Opossum by his little rat tail and hurled him under [...]

As part of my latest disaster adventure in the piney woods, it’s been my custom to stop at a couple of the largest fly shops in California to restock materials and eyeball the flies offered. Those deep and cavernous bins now someone else’s responsible to keep full, so I can approach them without fear. They’re [...]

At some point we all flirt with the individual fibers, knotted legs, and artificial or synthetic everything – mostly because the flies look much too delicious to ignore… … about our third fly we begin to wonder about synthetic reality and whether something that takes forty-five minutes to tie can outfish something made from a [...]

There’s the fellow tasked with bringing all the cooking implements, the canisters of propane, the lanterns and mechanical vestiges of civilization, if he forgets something it’s a round of good natured ribbing and a bit of improvisation, like beans warmed in the can. Then its the guy tasked with the victuals; the ice chests bulging [...]

I’ve got additional defective scissors to dispense should your fly casting club wish to assist prospective students in defraying their new vice … … yes, vice. You didn’t think it was possible to promote immoral behavior with such innocent intentions, but by urging them to tie flies, and given their well known propensities for spiraling [...]

It’s a simple question really. Given that Grizzly hackle is critical to most western dry flies, bass bugs, saltwater streamers, and most minnow imitations, just how long can you last on your current stockpile? … or are you waiting for the saddles to breach the $500 per barrier on eBay, before unloading while the market’s [...]

It was so much easier when I lived on the banks of Hat Creek and could fiddle with the fly before throwing it at the same fish I’d thrown it at the night before. If they ate it, it was success. If they didn’t, we kept fiddling with it. With no fish visible last night [...]

I wouldn’t worry too much unless you tie dry flies or fish for steelhead. Your prayers of this being an overnight fad are simply not working … The drain on fancy hackles and ostrich plumes will be growing in the foreseeable future, rather than winding down. The fashionistas have spoken and both sexes are scrambling [...]

It’s the simplest of all games really, each Saturday evening I sit down at the vise to invent the next great dry fly series that will revolutionize the surface game, and make everyone forget them ancient fuddy-duddies like Skues, Halford, or Ronald McDonald … Rules are simpler yet; it has to be as fast or [...]

Much of Saturday was spent sending out all the sample packets of dander I’d been promising those that had requested “Free Range” dubbing. Reed Curry, author of The New Scientific Angling, Trout and Ultraviolet Vision, received his and was nice enough to send their UV footprint back for those interested in such things. I was [...]