Flat Daddy Gurgler

July 28, 2024 Panfish On The Fly

The original Flat Daddy is the perfect fly for spooky, shallow-water panfish. It lands lightly on the water and can be cast easily with two and three-weight rods. The fly has a very subtle action on the water, diving slightly when retrieved without creating a lot of disturbance that may spook fish in the shallows. It is the perfect early spring topwater fly pattern. Fast-forward to mid-summer, the fish have left the shallows and are now holding in deeper water. You need to get their attention to bring them to the surface now. Enter the Flat Daddy Gurgler.

The Long Shank Triangle Bug

February 3, 2023 Panfish On The Fly

A Triangle Bug tied on the long shank version of the Triangle Bug Hook. The extra length allows you to dress up the pattern a bit, in this case a little Semperfli Straggle Legs added to cover up the thread wraps securing the tail and body.

At the last two fly tying shows I attended, I had quite a few questions about the unique hook I tie my Triangle Bugs on.

Fly Tying Friday - Floating Dragon Fly Nymphs

September 3, 2021 Panfish On The Fly

During the dog days of summer fish often hold in deeper water. To be successful you need to able to put a fly in front of them. This can be a challenging situation for the fly fisher.

Early in the season, to reach fish holding deep, weighted nymphs and streamers usually get the job done. However, as the season progresses, many of the watersheds I fish become choked with aquatic vegetation. As a result, fishing standard subsurface patterns are an exercise in futility as these flies become hopelessly mired in weeds and muck on every cast. What's needed in this situation is a fly that gets below the surface but stays above the weeds.

Fly Tying Friday: The Foam Beetle - Panfish Candy!

August 6, 2021 Panfish On The Fly

While foam may not be the ideal material to tie a delicate mayfly or caddisfly, it does a fine job on many terrestrial patterns, particularly beetles. There are somewhere around 400,000 species of beetles crawling around on this planet. In addition, beetles constitute almost 40% of known insect life and 25% of all animal life! So chances are pretty good that a few are going to end up in the water and ultimately in a belly of a fish.

Fly Tying Friday - The Brood X Cicada

May 7, 2021 Panfish On The Fly

If you are a fly fisher, the Brood X Cicada should have crossed your radar by now. The Brood X bug is one of the largest and most widely distributed groups of periodical cicadas. They are scheduled to emerge this spring after spending 17 years underground.