Recent comments

Why people hate on indicators..

It cracks me up when dry fly purists look down on indicator fishing as "bobber" fishing. For that matter dry fly fishing is bobber fishing too except the bobber happens to be a fly!. Its easy to detect a take on a dry fly all you have to do is look!... umm sounds kinda like indicator fishing don't it???;) Truth is that nymphing is very subtle, challenging and rewarding once you get the hang of it. Much more difficult to get the hang of than dry fly fishing in my opinion and just as rewarding to me at least. Actually in many ways more so.

Good stuff

Phil and Brian have both revoloutionized still water fly fishing for me, the knowledge they share is priceless, thank you for making lakes and ponds easier to read and fish, great site great info as always.

Yuk Bugs/Pepperoni yuk bug

I like your method to tie the legs in place, I'll be using it from now-on. You can see in the subject line what they are called in the NW-USA...they are a go-to fly for trout, bluegill, and crappie. Great fly!!! Thanks for the tip.

Mouse flies

I've been tying a variety of fly-mice to try. I grew-up on the "shores of Owegena" Cazenovia lake.

Gray Mouse

John, you're right. I tried this fly out in a lake near my house. It no sooner hit the water and a Pike came up and out of the water in a savage strike. Made my day! I decided to try the Gray Mouse on the Willowemoc River in the Catskill Mountains. The area I fished is a "catch and release" area. The trout are huge and beautiful. I cast the Mouse a few times and then it happened. The trout came up and took the fly with gusto. Guess what I did when I got home? I tied a half a dozen more, not that anything was wrong with the Mouse Fly. It was as good as when I tied it. I love tube flies! Best regards, Richard

Additional info on Major Treherne

He lived in Coytrehen House next to where I live, north of Bridgend S Wales and is buried in Bettws Church a few miles away. There are web photos of the house when he had it. It was also home to the Sherrif of Glamorgan at the time. Lots of scandal about the demise of the house but I don't think that appropriate on this site.

Great article

Nicely done and highly useful article, thank you for sharing it! I have some research to do on the different weight classes, as I have coils of shooting head material that are rated at inch/second sink rates. This is a big deal as I go after halibut and rock fish in the Pacific. For instance, I believe my factory shooting head line has a sink rate of 9"/second, which seems fast, but actually works out to about a 72 second countdown for it to reach a 50' fishing depth! That's a lot of time to work on patience.

sparkle shrimp

Nice. I will make use some ideals to make a crawfish for bass...I will share...

This book

You should get that book by Don Dubois "Fly Fisherman's Handbook of Trout Flies" and compare that to this one. Definitely pre-computer, everything abbreviated and almost indecipherable unless you are very knowledgeable of materials, patterns and tying techniques. Makes this book in your article seem user friendly.

Here in the USA

I use alot of UK patterns such as these, Red Tags, Ke-he's, Corixas and all their many, many variations for bass and bream here in Western PA. They work incredibly well, are beautiful to tie and give me valid reasons to buy more materials and tie different patterns! haha

New Leadercalc

Good to see the new version - very easy to use. Another way hardcore detail-oriented fly fisherfolk can personalize their enjoyment. Bravo!

First Bamboo Rod Build Video

Excellent video. Loved the music.

hackle

very helpful thanks.......

Cliffs Loop Demo Video

For Joel and any others who are interested - here are some Dropbox links to a non-professional demo video.
wmv file for Windows ( https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33063725/Cliffs%20Loop%20Demo.wmv )
mp4 file for Mac OS X ( https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33063725/Cliffs%20Loop%20Demo.mp4 )

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Video of the knot tying

It would be great to see a video of the knot tying sequence and the use of the indents filed into the knot tying tools. I have tied this type of knot on to a couple of my Fly Lines and they worked very well. I did this on a fishing trip where the welded tip broke off and I needed to replace the loop.

Jerry French in April's podcast

Hi Jørgen, great article as always on your site. April Vokey has a long chat with Jerry French in one of her podcasts here http://www.aprilvokey.com/podcasts/, scroll down to the February 18, 2016 entry, where they discuss the origin and development from Jerry's point of view.

Nice flies

I have been tying scuds (to where they look just like a small shrimp) in just about the same pattern for years now, and the trout can not resist them. I have started fishing for panfish in a pond near my home and I think I will try this pattern below a strike indicator just to see what will happen. Like I said, it is a killer fly.

Nice video!!! Nice!!!

The recent ones have

Murryrandy,

Most of the recent Davie McPhail videos have lists of materials, but in the beginning Davie didn't give this information, and you will have to either hear what he says or figure it out from the images.

Martin

What materials are used on Davies patterns

I'm constantly having trouble figuring what materials are being used on Davies patterns . Is there a site I can go to for help?

Midges

I haven't tied flies in years. Your video makes me want to get back into it. Thank you!!

I've been tying my own

I've been tying my own buggers in the size 14-16 range for the past 35 years. when i first started fly fishing i noticed the absence of the smaller sizes in fly shops and the difficulty in casting the larger ones with a 4wt rig. i may start the day trying dries or other patterns, but the buggers are my "Go-To" flies. i've caught just about every fresh water fish possible in California and Colorado. in fact, late last night i caught my first walleye here in CO, on a green bugger with black hackle and tail. the smallmouths seemed to be fond of this pattern, along with a bead head bugger in brown. people passing by kind of trip out on me fly fishing at night, but it seems to be the best time for Smallies, walleyes and brown trout. the larger browns that don't come out during the day, just love the dark buggers at night. makes me wonder why i fish any other pattern.

This is definitely an

This is definitely an interesting read. And as a lady angler myself, I must say, I don't disagree. And I honestly don't think you've discredited anyone- you've merely expressed a pretty accurate observation.
A lot of these women have definitely marketed themselves to an easy target, yes.. (men in general, and men who fish). But unlike a lot of experienced guides and professional anglers (most of whom I see, are men) I can't ever figure out what I'd benefit by following a girl who fly fishes and posts "selfies" or worse, bikini pictures with fish- as I am more interested in discovering new spots, pretty fish and new tips and tricks of the trade (which I find more prevalent when viewing men's profiles) And Maybe it is just for a woman's own self esteem, or the social status bull shit that overwhelms the internet.. I mostly find it fascinating that women have found an outlet where they can express their "unique look" to an attention/praise-gaurenteed audience. But I suppose thats what social media has done for us, which isn't all negative.
But I stand by your opinion, and agree... It isn't these women in bikinis on a sail boat holding a fish, that I myself would consult for the latest fishing news, buzz and gear either. I guess I would judge based on the image they are giving off, man or woman, whether a connection with them (network specific) would ever be of real use to me. I'd like to think that I can tell if the angler knows whats up/ what they're doing based on the image they're portraying.. vs engaging in fishing solely for male or social media attention.
I will say, this rant has inspired me take my own image seriously, as one day, I'd like to be an angler that fellow anglers- men and women, would respect and seek advice from.

Anyway, thanks for sharing!