As I held the fly in my hand, I could see that it was probably an early attempt at some sort of terrestrial pattern, possibly a cricket, by the fly tier who donated the materials. The fly was crudely tied with heavy sewing thread. It had a preformed foam spider body and knotted rubber legs tied in all helter-skelter. The knotted legs are what makes me believe it was meant to imitate a cricket.
Read moreImprove where you tie to improve what you tie.
I was recently a guest blogger for The Flymen Fishing Company. I wrote on the subject of setting up an ideal space for your fly tying. If you are not familiar with The Flymen Fishing Company they produce a number fly tying products that you have probably heard of.
Read moreThe Creature
The purist, dry fly anglers turn their noses up to this ugly easy to tie style of fly because it can be nothing more than a piece of your bath mat lashed to a hook shank. But the thing they hate the most about the fly is that it will likely catch more fish than their exquisitely tied Catskill style dry fly!
Read moreBluegills With Pepperoni Anyone?
It is often said that bluegills and other panfish are not picky and just about any fly will work for them. At times it may seem like that is the case, but panfish will often show a preference for a particular fly. In the last few weeks, this has been that fly.
Read moreThe Black and White Hornberg Special
For several years now I have been raising chickens, mainly for the eggs and a little help around the homestead producing high-quality compost and keeping the local tick population in check. If you look at my flock, you can see that the birds were hand selected by a fly tier.
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