My friends describe me as a collector, my wife calls me a pack rat, and my parents refer to me as obsessive. I suppose they’re all correct, and I don’t mind because I’ve been called much worse.
My fascination with flies began the moment I found my father’s old fly box in a dusty corner of the attic. There were a few cork popping bugs and all of the standard wet flies of the day: McGinty, Black Gnat, Royal Coachman, Yellow Sally, maybe even a Parmachene Belle or Red Ibis. They …

Let’s face it; a lot of our fly tying is not done to impress the fish. From realistic flies that amaze one and all to full dress salmon classics, flies are tied as much as art to hook people as they are to catch fish. I argue the same can be said sometimes for deer hair bass bugs. Do the spots, stripes and fancy colors guarantee more fish? Probably not, but they sure do look cool in a fly box and even better in a picture holding a bass with …

As fly tiers and fly fishermen, we all want to tie the newest fish catching patterns. Most tiers want to try the newest materials and see how they might be utilized more effectively. Many tiers and fishermen have wondered how certain flies “came into existence” or “What were they thinking when they came up with this?” A few, like me, have an interest in local or regional patterns and how they developed. As a fly tier and collector, I have tried to seek out flies in different parts of the …

Over a decade an a half ago, I was at virtual crossroads in my fly fishing career. Having a young family, a dwindling supply of time, and the nearest “good” trout stream was an hour from my home; I soon came to the realization that a change was in store. As the months passed I found myself pondering my angling options, and then realized the challenge was right before my eyes. My home waters of Chautauqua Lake happen to be a premier musky destination for anglers throughout the Northeast. All …

During the early part of the Twentieth Century in Maine, the featherwing streamer was developed and fished by a dedicated few, mostly in a small, relatively unknown area of Western Maine called the Rangeley Lakes Region. Herb Welch and Carrie Stevens pioneered the movement and both designed, tested and fished hundreds of patterns with much success at such famed locations as the Kennebago River, Rangeley River, Megalloway River, The Richardson’s, Mooselookmeguntic and of course the Upper Dam Pool. These names are synonymous with Maine, fly fishing, big trout and salmon, …

“HELL, BUCK, it jumped, it jumped!”
I can hear my buddy yelling through the fog. “Hell Buck! I can barley make him out.” I instantly know why he is shouting. We are in paradise, Northern British Columbia, and we are standing waist deep in one of the many beautiful rivers this area has to offer. My buddy is hooked up to one of the biggest, baddest steelhead around. Rivers, such as the Skeena, Bulkly and Kispiox to name only a few, offer fly fisherman in pursuit of steelhead a picturesque setting …

A “boatman fall,” a swarm of water boatmen or back swimmers plopping onto a lake in spring or autumn, is usually a chance blessing. The fat little insects splat down like raindrops; the trout rip through the lake’s surface in pursuit. Your anxious fingers fumble through fly boxes, searching for a suitable imitation. If you don’t have such an imitation…well, the boatman fall may not be such a blessing after all. But if you do–jackpot!
This article and 12 others can be found in the 2009 issue of Hatches Click Here …

Are you “PC?” No! No! We’re not talking about politically correct! We’re talking about the method you use to attach your vise to your tying table. Do you use a pedestal (P) or a C-clamp (C)? Quite frankly we use both depending on the situation. If any of you have spent any time as a demonstration fly tier you already know that the tables in many convention centers were not manufactured with a fly tying vise in mind, at least not one with a c-clamp as its anchoring mechanism.
Many years …

I could recognize Keith Rose-Innes’ South African accent without seeing him. In the predawn, I disembarked off the Beachcraft 1900 after my halfway-around-the-world flight from Seattle. With the help of the runway lights, the only lights on Assumption, I finally made out his silhouette in the darkness. After a big hug, we grabbed our gear and hiked a half mile to the beach to the waiting inflatable to take us to the mother ship.
The mother ship, the Indian cean Explorer, a retrofitted 114-foot icebreaker from the 50s or thereabouts, was …

In all likelihood, the debate began soon after the creation of the second fly. It’s human nature to make lists, and we rank everything from influential world leaders to sports bloopers. What makes rankings debatable, and interesting, is that we all have our own criteria and opinions. Fly fishermen are no exceptions. We all rate our own favorite flies in a multitude of categories; favorite attractors, dry flies, streamers, etc. One very valuable list would be most versatile flies. What would it take for a fly to make your list …