Fly of the Month
Gray Hackle.
Posted on September 01 2015
FLY OF THE MONTH This month’s fly is the Gray Hackle. This is an old pattern used for small trout and Atlantic Salmon alike. The Gray hackle is very simple to tie with only three materials. The simple soft hackle pattern is one of my most effective emergers during the...
Joe's Hopper - Fly of the Month
Posted on August 01 2015
Joe’s Hopper is one of the first grasshopper patterns. It was created first as the Michigan Hopper by Art Winnie in the 1940s. The name was changed in recognition of one of its greatest fans: Joe Brooks. This pattern also inspired the creation of the Dave’s Hopper pattern. This hopper...
Yellow Marabou Muddler
Posted on July 01 2015
This month’s fly is the Yellow Marabou Muddler. The marabou muddler is a spin-off of the muddler minnow created by Don Gapen of Minnesota in the 1930s. It is a very good attractor pattern. Yellow is my favorite color to use and is very good at drawing out the...
Electric Caddis Nymph
Posted on June 01 2015
This month’s fly is the Electric Caddis nymph. It was created by Mike Lawson of the Henry’s Fork area of Idaho. I first saw the pattern in an issue of Fly Tyer magazine, tied some up and fished it. It is a very effective pattern in early summer when the...
Pale Evening Dun
Posted on May 01 2015
FLY OF THE MONTH This month’s fly is the Pale Evening Dun. It is not known for large hatches like the Hendrickson and March Brown. It occurs during the end of the March Brown season, not large in number, but ever present. Thomas Ames, in his Hatches guide states...
Ballou Special - Fly of the Month
Posted on April 01 2015
This month’s fly is the Ballou Special, a smelt imitation that was created by A. I. Ballou in 1921 . He is credited with creating the first marabou streamer fly. This fly is one more white marabou streamer to add to your springtime arsenal. Thread - Blackhook - streamer sizes 4...
WD-50 - Fly of the Month
Posted on March 01 2015
This month’s fly is the WD-50. I have fished this small nymph for a number of years and have come to depend on it when the fish get smart and picky. This pattern is a variation of the WD-40 which was created by Mark Engler of Colorado in 1982. It...
Hemingway Caddis
Posted on February 01 2015
Fly of the Month This month's fly is the Hemingway Caddis. This is a new Caddis pattern to the shop. I added it at the request of a customer. It is very similar to the Henryville Special except for the dun colored hackle and peacock thorax under the hackle. ...
Peacock Caddis - Fly of the Month
Posted on January 01 2015
This month's fly is the Peacock Caddis. I first saw this pattern in a book by Al and Gretchen Beatty called Rotary Fly Tying Techniques. Al told a great fishing story about the fly’s success that hooked me into trying it. I tied some and used them with sports soon...
Henryville Special - Fly of the Month
Posted on December 01 2014
The Henryville Special is one of the most effective flies for matching the spring green caddis hatches. The first caddis of the season are green and chunky in the larger sizes 12 – 14. This fly can also be retrieved wet after making its offering on the surface. The Henryville...
Shufelt Special - Fly of the Month
Posted on October 01 2014
This month’s fly, the Shufelt Special, is named after its creator Robert Shufelt of Greenville, Maine. This fly is on my top five streamer list. As some of you may know I have a bias toward any streamer with large amounts of white marabou. The white mixed with “mickey-finn” yellow...
Griffith’s Gnat
Posted on September 01 2014
The fly of the month for September is the Griffith’s Gnat .The Griffith’s Gnat was first created and tied by Bob Summers of Michigan. George Griffith, who founded Trout Unlimited in 1960, and Bob fished together often so it was named after George [by the fly’s originator]. The fly is most...
Parmachenee Wulff
Posted on August 02 2014
The Parmachenee Wulff is a Wulff style version of the wet fly of the same name. This fly was created by Henry Wells and John Danforth of Parmachenee Lake, Maine in 1876. The fly was originally tied with a red and white married wing to imitate the...
Doodle Bug
Posted on July 01 2014
I remember as a boy catching my biggest trout on a Doodlebug. I had a large beaver bog near my house and would fish it regularly. It had a long dam that I would walk out along and perch myself on as I fished. I still remember clearly those early...
Tri-Color
Posted on June 10 2014
This month’s fly is the Tri-color created by Bud Wilcox of Rangeley. The fly imitates the crayfish found in many of our local ponds and lakes. The streamer was introduced to the public in the March 1970 edition ofField and Stream magazine. Bud took the article’s author, Jerome Robinson, fishing...
Quill Gordon
Posted on May 01 2014
This month’s fly is the Quill Gordon. The Quill Gordon was created by Theodore Gordon from the Catskill region of New York. Gordon is considered the father of dry fly fishing in America. The Quill Gordon was one of the first dry flies in a world of wet flies. Every...
The Cased Caddis - Fly of the Month
Posted on April 01 2014
This month’s featured fly is the Cased Caddis. The Cased Caddis was originated by Gary LaFontaine and written about in his book “Caddisflies”. Have you ever been wading in one of our rivers in late spring and noticed those inch-long conglomerations of sticks and gravel laying among the rocks on...
Snowshoe Hendrickson Emerger
Posted on February 01 2014
Fly of the Month The fly of the month is the Snowshoe Hendrickson Emerger. I have used this pattern for a number of years with good success. It’s really just a Pheasant tail using snowshoe hare as a way to suspend the fly in the film. I use this...
Parachute Hares Ear - Fly of the Month
Posted on January 01 2014
This month's fly is the Parachute Hares Ear. This pattern is credited to Ed Schroeder of California, who also created the well known Schroeder's Para-hopper. John Gierach, in his book Good Flies calls it the most versatile dry fly he fishes. The original recipe calls for elk hair as the tail and...
Montreal Whore - Fly of the Month
Posted on December 01 2013
I don't' know much about the history of this fly. It is believed to have been originated by a man named Lenny Loiselle and maybe gets its name from the flashy, glimmering color combination, The Montreal is my second go-to streamer behind the Black Ghost. I talked to...
Picket Pin
Posted on October 01 2013
The Picket Pin was created by Jack Boehme of Missoula, Montana in the early 1900’s. It was named after a gopher-like animal of the western prairies whose tail hair was used for the wing. We now use gray squirrel tail hair for it. This fly is one big hunk of...
Zebra Midge
Posted on September 01 2013
The zebra midge is this month’s fly. The midge insect is perhaps one of the most important food sources for trout and salmon. This small insect is a member of Diptera family and is present in the water 365 days a year. It becomes all the more important as a...
Turck’s Tarantula - Fly of the Month
Posted on August 01 2013
This month’s fly is the Turck’s Tarantula. The Turck’s was created by a guide from Jackson Hole, Wyoming named Guy Turck. I first used this pattern 15 years ago when I started guiding. I remember exploring the pools of the Kennebago one evening and catching my first big Kennebago salmon...
Paradrake
Posted on July 01 2013
The paradrake is this month’s fly. It is a drake imitation with a parachute hackle. This gives a low profile presentation as it rests in the film or slightly under water. The drake is the largest of all mayflies. It has a bulky body that leaves a large impression on...
E/C Cutter Caddis
Posted on June 01 2013
This month’s fly is the E/C Cutter Caddis. E/C stands for emergent/cripple and as you can see from the photo it is quite differently constructed than most hair wing caddis. It was created by Ralph Cutter who put a lot of time into the design and even spent time in...
Green Rockworm - Fly of the Month
Posted on May 01 2013
This month, there are two flies, but I will talk more about an insect than a fly. The insect is a green caddis called a Rhyacophila, but we just refer to it as a green rock worm. This is the most common caddis on our waters in the early season....
Red Fox Squirrel nymph - Fly of the Month
Posted on April 01 2013
This month’s feature fly is the Red Fox Squirrel nymph. The “squirrel” nymph was created over 40 years ago by Dave Whitlock. It is what we call a suggestive pattern, that is, it doesn’t imitate anything totally, but a lot of bugs partially. The main feature of the fly is...
Purple Psycho Prince
Posted on March 01 2013
The prince is possibly the most effective and widely used attractor nymph in the world. When a new dubbing material called Ice-dub from Hareline was introduced, Mike Mercier from The Fly Shop in California knew he had to use it and looked for ways to incorporate it into some...
Dam Wammy - Fly of the Month
Posted on February 01 2013
This month’s fly was created many years ago by a long time resident of Upper Dam, Wes Miller. Like many flies, it was developed to copy something observed in nature and tinkered with over time to get the final product. One day, Wes was fishing a small dry fly similar...
X-Caddis - Fly of the Month
Posted on January 01 2013
Hook - 94840 dry fly hook sizes 10-18 Thread color to match body, 8/0 Tail - Z-lon, antron, or tri-lobel yarn Body - antron, antron mix dubbing Wing - deer hair The X-Caddis gives you a low profile caddis pattern. A pattern that rides...
Red Quill Parachute
Posted on December 01 2012
Hook – 94840 #12 – 16Thread – brown 8/0 or smallertail – brown hackle fibersbody – reddish brown stripped quillthorax – rust rabbit dubbingwing post – grey turkey flat featherhackle – brown, parachute style This pattern is from the John Gierach book Good Flies. I tried it for the first...
Kennebago Smelt
Posted on November 01 2012
This month’s fly is the Kennebago Smelt. It was created by Bud Wilcox of Rangeley and is best described in his own words: “I first tied the Kennebago Smelt either in 1951 or 1952. This fly I worked to get it [right]. I had seen too many big fish follow...
Kennebago Wulff
Posted on October 01 2012
Hook – 94840 sizes 6-14 Thread – gray Tail & wing – deer hair Body – blue-gray yarn hackle – light dun The Kennebago Wulff was created by Bud Wilcox of Rangeley. Bud was a long time tier and supplier of tying supplies in town. When I bought the shop,...
Hornberg Dry
Posted on August 01 2012
This month’s fly is one of my favorites – the Hornberg Dry. The hornberg is perhaps one of the most versatile flies around. Many have fished a wet hornberg with its grizzly soft hackle and maybe even junglecock eyes The dry version is heavily hackled with a mixed color hackle...
Kennebago Muddler
Posted on July 01 2012
hook : 9674 or 9672 sizes 4 – 12thread: GSP 100 or other strong thread, color to match hairbody: gold tinseltail: mallard flankwing: mallard flank featherunderwing: gray squirrel hairhead & collar: spun deer hair The Kennebago Muddler was developed to copy the drakes on Kennebago Lake. It is fished as...
Klinkhamer Special
Posted on June 01 2012
The Klinkhamer is the most effective and user friendly emerger I know of. It is a parachute design with a very visible post that the fisherman can easily see. I use it during the Hendrickson and march Brown hatches that happen around here in the spring. It is tied in...
Golden Retriever
Posted on May 01 2012
The Golden Retriever was originated in the Shenandoah River Valley in Virginia. It is tempting to call it a type of wooly bugger, but there are some distinct differences between the two patterns. My first experience with this pattern was accidental. Last fall, a customer came in and asked if...
H&L Variant - Fly of the Month
Posted on March 01 2012
Hook – standard dry fly size 6 – 16Thread – black 8/0Wing - white calf tailTail – white calf tailBody – rear half – stripped peacock herl Front half – peacock herlHackle – brown or furnace I was fishing with a sport one day when he decided he had had...
Partridge & Orange
Posted on February 01 2012
The Partridge & Orange is an old soft hackle pattern. The color can be orange, yellow, grey, or any other that matches the emerging insects that you are copying. It is mostly fished on the swing, but can also be used as a nymph on the bottom of...
