Fly fishing is something much deeper than catching fish, and something similar happens with fly tying, where a passionate fly tyer can find amazing stories and knowledge that will be invaluable in the river.
The Tup's I...
I’ve always been impressed by the European tiers because of the originality of their designs and wise use of natural and traditional materials, like deer hairs of all types. Francesco Palú’s flies guided me to explo...
Designed to attract fish and not fishermen, Ed Surryn flies were innovative from the very moment of its appearance. They are built with balsa wood, a particularly suitable material for making bodies of terrestrial ins...
My romance with tube flies began over 32 years ago. The construction of Kautapen lodge was being finished and I was lucky to guide the first groups of anglers together with Rolland Holmberg, a known Swedish guide with...
About fifteen years ago, a friend of mine came home to order ten dozen of flies. I checked out the list of flies and realized he hadn’t ordered any Soft Hackle. I told him so and he just said, “I don’t like those, ...
CDC feathers have unique properties due to the characteristics of their structure. Properties that make them ideal for certain type of flies of streamlined and ethereal silhouettes, more similar to real insects, especial...
Traditional wet flies are coming back to the fly fishing. In the shadows of nymphs and emergers for a while, this kind of flies that served well for years is today studied again by the finest anglers that find unique sol...
Many of you have probably experimented with the effectiveness of the flies with bodies made with quills, using for example peeled peacock quills in their natural or dyed color.
The attractive color of the peacock quill,...
This is one of my favorite flies for fishing trout and grayling on the rivers of northern Italy and Austria. I started to tie this beetle in 2000 and over the years I kept improving it, changing its materials and shap...
George Francis Grant was without a doubt an accomplished artist at developing techniques to shape hackles using animal hair. His skill went beyond the ones of a regular tier. In his books, “Master Fly Weaver” and ...
Simplicity is the key to most fishing. How much simpler can one get than to find an all-white fly, that is so easy to tie, that even I - a completely incompetent fly-tier - can tie one. But not only tie it, b...
For many years mayflies have been taken for hexs, but these are not related, they only have similar sizes in the adult stage. Chiloporter nymphs are skilled swimmers that live close to the shore in fast waters of stre...
Created in 1964 by Dan Nick Naranchi of Twin Bridges, Montana, this old design was named after one of the most famous rivers in the area, the Big Hole.
According to Joe Brooks, this fine fly looks something like a lo...
The Fat Albert is an interesting variant of the Chernobyl Ant with a bigger and bulkier body. It hits the water clearly calling trout´s attention. With some variations, we have used it successfully to catch golden do...
One of the most important food sources for trout in Patagonia is the Sammastacus or river lobster. It is one of the three kinds of crustaceans, together with the pancoras and scuds, that inhabit these waters and which ar...
There are many different styles of fly tying English flies, one of the more distinct is the one used for flies used in the rapid and structured waters of the northern rivers.The way the hackle is tied, with long so...
Flies made with tubes of different materials are getting more and more useful to me. These last long because we can change the hooks if they break or loosen, and we can use hooks for different kinds of water, like saltwa...
This fly, credited to Art Flick from the early days of fly-fishing in the USA, is probably one of the simplest yet effective trout dry flies, both for rivers and lakes.Gray Fox, Cream, and Dun are some of the...
Stonefly nymph imitations are very effective in fast water rivers with big rocks on the bottom. The impressionistic ones with soft materials that move attractively underwater with the slightest currents are especially...
Gray Ghost is a great name for a fly. A name that may bring back memories of salmon and brook trout to many fishermen, and also of the green waters of the Curruhué River or the blue ones of the Traful in the distant ...
This is one of the flies that cannot be missing in the box of any dry fly addict. The attractor pattern is similar to the Irresistible Adams in its design. It has great buoyancy because it is tied with deer h...
When a fly tier sits down at his desk, he fantasizes of making patterns that go beyond popular fly recipes. There are so many materials to be used, so many different combinations, that tiers get creative and start combin...
All kinds of ants are spread throughout the whole world due to their adaptation skills. This is why fly-fishermen have to take into account that ants are a part of the fish´s diet. We can see this because ca...
Shuri Shumakov was a key character on reviving the popularity of tube flies. His short patterns, with cone heads, soon lead the way to countless variants, combining plastic tubes with metallic pieces to achieve highly...
About twenty years ago, I traveled with a friend to Junín de los Andes in the month of January and had some great fishing moments, but one of them really stuck in my mind. We got to the Aluminé river late and decided t...
There is no doubt that classic streamers and bucktails fish well. Nevertheless, if we apply the same care and dedication that we do with when tying dries and nymphs in its different stages, to imitate smaller fish perfec...
I never liked that much the Matukas made with hen feathers, maybe because these feathers wrinkle in the boxes and lose its shape a bit, something that is terrible for a perfectionist person. Still, once at Patagonia, ...
Due to its great underwater movement, the leech-like flies are unbeatable when we go for big fish. If well designed, these are not heavy to cast and don’t tangle, something key when we are casting at our maximum ski...
This is another fly that every fly fisherman must consider when stocking his dry fly box before a trip. The story of this fly goes back to the 40´s when it was named “Algonquin” and used by northern Michigan Indians...
Rabbit strip flies are an effective aid when we go for big emotions while streamer fishing in the fall. The way the strips move in the water and the size they give to flies are very special, all kinds of trout seem to be...
Summer months are very special for Anglers who enjoy lake fishing. During this time of the year there’s more activity of dragon and damseflies.
Fully aware of this fact, those who already experienced this kind of fi...
Most big browns from Patagonia owe their size to a rich diet based on a type of crayfish called pancora. There are big quantities of them in some rivers, this is why we must make good imitations if we want to catch these...
This pattern was created by Scott Sanchez. In Scott Sanchez words: “The idea for the Double Bunny came to me almost 20 years ago while on a fishing trip to Belize. John Hanlon and I were trying to catch som...
This sculpin model presented in the International Tackle Dealer Show of 2012 in Reno, Nevada, is really interesting when it comes to fishing for trout, golden dorado, wolf fish and other fish.I have tied them in ma...
Frank Sawyer must have never imagined that this simple nymph, perfected in the River Avon, would become a classic that is included in every angler’s fly box. Sawyer wanted a nymph that made an attractive sound when rea...
Originally, bucktails were streamers whose wings were made with white-tail deer hair. Today, bucktails are those streamers whose wings are made with different hairs, and not only deer tail.The first elegant fli...
Intruder-like flies have proven to be very effective with preying fish, especially with salmonids. From the original patterns tied with pheasant, heron, ostrich and other birds, many other variants which include syntheti...
In January of 2005 I was surprised when I saw a young american angler at the Manzano pool in the Chimehuín River (Patagonia). Not only by the way in which he casted and mended the line, but also because he caught five r...
Most fishermen usually associate fly fishing to small artificial lures. This is true if you focus on trout species, fish that feed on nymphs and adult insects or even on smaller fish. Few anglers dare to experiment with ...
Tying artificial nymph gills is usually a problem. This is why I bring you this simple way to do it, a technique I saw some time ago and applied to many of my nymphs. It’s ideal for small nymphs, to achieve clear an...
Since Frank Sawyer gave the Pheasant Tail the shape of a nymph, the simple design with feathers from the tail of a pheasant and fine copper wire has not stopped catching trout around the world.
The variants for the eter...
Most of my micro nymphs have evolved into a multiribbed abdomen, the results have been very good- to the extent that I no longer start with my former "confidence" flies of 20 years! Sinks quickly, brown trout seem to lo...
This famous fly was designed to imitate large dark stonefly nymphs of North America. It was first tied by Lew Oatman of New York. The stonefly nymph essentially lives in fast flowing freestone rivers. This style of nymph...
Rubber legged flies have always been very popular in Patagonia. Bitch Creek and Rubber Legs patterns were used a lot during the 70´s as well as the Leoni´s Barbarous and Montana flies with antennae and rubber tails....
Originally from New Zealand, the Matuka is still one of the most popular streamers in Patagonia. Not only used by fly fishermen that go after the big rainbows in november (early season) but also by those that chase the h...
The original Woolly Worm pattern is said to have originated in the Ozarks as a bass fly. Its real popularity, however, came when Don Martinez, a West Yellowstone, Montana fly tier, commercialized the pattern in the 1950s...
If you take a look around t’interweb you will see more versions of the Klinkhamer than you can shake a stick at. Some of them are useful, many are just someone’s interpretation of Hans’ original, and some are a jok...
1,Tie in the tail the lenght is same size as the hook2, tie in the silver wire3, dub onto the hook 3/4 way silver glister4, tie in a pinch of red dubbing5, wind in the wore and then u...
The way in which we tie CDC in this emerger –as seen in the picture that shows it in action- makes the abdomen have the correct posture when on the water. The air bubble that takes form below the CDC wing case preve...
In classic Patagonia rivers such as the Aluminé and Chimehuín one can no longer see in the afternoon so many adult stoneflies like there were a decade ago, but their imitations still produce violent surface strikes,...