With the recent Drawing Flies 52 emphasis on wet flies (another to come this week) I though that I’d post a bit on “adding a swing.” This really is an “add-on” tactic, not a full blown wet-fly approach, but it can still give your presentations an extra, and sometimes effective, element.
August of 2005 saw Montana’s [...]

After the Braided Butt Damsel post, I got a couple of questions about fishing damselfly adult patterns wet. Using the BB Damsel pattern shown, with a yarn parachute post (versus foam), the fly can be fished “damp” easily (just fish “sans floatante“). If you need to get the fly deeper, or are fishing a pattern [...]

With the recent concerns about the Harriman Ranch section of the Henry’s Fork (arguably one of the most famous stretches of river in the world), I thought I’d post a story that I wrote some years ago about a particularly memorable day on the Fork.
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The Harriman Ranch [...]

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Nail knots can be a pain to tie—especially when you really need one and there is nary a tool in sight (or you don’t know how to use said tool). Well, a “Nail-less” Nail Knot is a slick and quick [...]

Since I’m going to soon be heading back to my old column in “Fly Fish America,” I thought that I’d post what is perhaps my favorite column from the “old days.” I suspect that parts of this story will show up again in another guise in a future column (and I can pretty much guarantee [...]

Spent an hour today casting and assessing three prototype finished rods and build kits. Need to tweak the last few inches of the tips (a little soft, I think), as well as the power low down in the butt sections (they’re strong, but they also cast an SA ED Sharkskin like a shot). Also need [...]

Just a little story as a warm-up before the upcoming three-post series on terrestrial fishing…
I remember one afternoon in the high-altitude meadows of Yellowstone National Park. It was a summer more than a decade ago, and I had hiked back into Slough Creek under a blistering mid-day sun. The sharp climb and elevation combined with [...]

Up-close-and-personal fishing can be one of fly fishing’s most exciting aspects. At extremely close ranges, however, “normal” casting is often not possible or desirable. What to do? Easy, just break out your Bow and Arrow (cast, that is). While the Bow and Arrow Cast gets relatively little attention in fly fishing, I consider it a [...]

(An oldie, but goodie. Back by request.)
Riffles are the “hotbeds” of a stream system. Their relatively shallow depth and tumbling currents allow sunlight to penetrate and oxygen to mix. As a result, plants and algae, and the insects that feed on and live among them, multiply. And if you’ve got food, you’ve got fish.
Due to [...]

(A bit of dredging from the old blog…) Currents are often viewed of as an enemy of controlled fly presentation, even when a fly needs to worked with action. By employing a critical angling eye, however, it’s possible to use currents to present the fly with more control than you could achieve otherwise.
In many places [...]

One thing that I emphasize in my fishing seminars and clinics is to “play the heron.” In other words, approach with calm, pay attention, have patience, and strike accurately when the time is right. I try to practice what I preach, but I never really expected to get schooled in my own teaching by my [...]