This is mostly a re-post of what I sent over my friends at FlyTalk last week, but I will be making some updates to what’s here, so check back again in a few days. A little intro: There are several ways to go about making bendable bodies, but this technique allows the tying of fairly [...]

The Hair-Wing Drake as seen outside, and at the edge of, the fish’s window. I promised a tying piece that related to the “big mayfly” illustration in a previous post, so here it is: the Hair-Wing Drake. This particular pattern goes back a few decades, and has its roots in the Comparadun and various extended-body [...]

Want some meat to toss around during run-off? Try a big, juicy Strip Leech. If you’re a tier, Check out the recent “TieTalk” post I wrote up for my friends at “Field & Stream” magazine’s FlyTalk blog. The Strip Leech pattern shown is one of GB’s, and goes back to the days of bell-bottoms (I’ve [...]

Promised instructions for GB’s version of the Loop-Wing Dun weeks ago, so here it is (with instructions that I wrote for FlyTalk)… 1. Get the hook into the vise and wrap the shank with thread. 2. Tie in the tails. I typically use hackle-fibers tied in a fan-style. Colors to match the natural, or an [...]

For the tyers here at FF&W, if you want a simple caddis imitation for the coming season, check out the latest over at FlyTalk. The fly is the Poly-Caddis (not the only pattern with that name), GB’s synthetic take-off on the Elk Hair Caddis from back in 1972 (must be 70′s week here at FF&W). [...]

Rumor has it that 2010 could be a crazy grasshopper year. I fished the Bighorn in the summer of 1986, when hoppers were absolutely everywhere. I caught more truly big fish on top there that summer than any other time since. If the predictions hold true, there will be a run on hopper patterns come [...]

Sent some Loop-Wing Dun tying instructions and illustrations over to my friends at FlyTalk. The post is now up there for reading. I’ll likely post a variation of that content here later this week, so check back for additional info. If you’ve been wanting to tie the Loop-Wing (well, one of the many loop-wing patterns [...]

One of my favorite patterns for imitating small mayfly nymphs, sliced straight from GB’s 1991 book, Designing Trout Flies. And by request, the Loop Wing Dun—perhaps my favorite small mayfly dun imitation ever—is the next fly up for instruction. Almost forgot: GB found a small stack of Designing Trout Flies buried in the dark recesses [...]

GB has been a writing, tying machine lately. He’s on to book three in our new (yet to be published) series, but has also been putting in some serious time at the vise. Recently, he posted a series of flies on his blog that are simple, but effective (in various colors and sizes, they have [...]

If you’re not into fly tying the above title could give you pause, but if you are into the “vice of the vise,” then here’s a post for you. This has already been up over on GB’s blog, but I figure why not post it here, as well? This is from GB’s 1991 book, Designing [...]

FF&W reader and fly tyer, Leng, recently sent me an email and asked about the Cross-Dresser fly design that I had in the Modern Midges book project. Specifically, Leng wanted to know about the wing and other aspects of the fly, since the photo in the book is from only one angle and there are [...]

Yeah, this post is recycled (and it’s a permanent page, too), but with the 3/4 Parachute method being posted recently, I thought it might be worth sticking this up again since the techniques are related. Used as complementary approaches, the 3/4 Parachute and the Diffusion allow a fly designer to go from a size 28 [...]