Foam is now available in variety of different forms and is here with us to stay replacing many materials such as the bodies of flies usually tied with dear hair as it is far more durable. Also with foam it is much easier...
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...
This attractive streamer takes its name from a French count that lived close to Villa la Angostura in Patagonia, Argentina. For decades, he was a regular fisherman at the Correntoso river´s outlet into Lake Nahuel Huapi...
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,...
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...
Bombers and their relatives, Buck Bugs, are flies from New Brunswick, born in the famous Miramichi River. These deer hair flies have then found a place in remote distant waters such as those in cold Russia, Pacific steel...
Articulated flies are no novelty, they have been with us since a long time. Even before Richard Waddington started to use an articulated hook fly in English rivers in the 50’s, there already were old books on diverse f...
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...
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...
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...
Flies with a given action used to be more common but seem to be forgotten today, yet they can be very effective.For many years, miniature versions of bass lures were very popular, flies with helixes a...
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...
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...
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 ...
Among tube flies, there is no doubt that the Sunray Shadow is one of the most popular and effective ones. My first contact with it was in the Kau tapen Lodge in Tierra del Fuego. They had begun their operation not long a...
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...
The perlidae are considered big nymphs (size 6-8) here in Quebec and are among the most important trout foods on some rivers. A big snack like this can sometimes be the only meal a brook trout trout will have in a period...
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...
This fly is called the Dolly Llama. It's an articulated rabbit fur streamer. These flies are great for steelhead and fishing the rivers of alaska. It may seem a little complicated but it really isn't. &...
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...
Scuds are crustaceans and are very important for fly fishermen because they can be found in many areas, not only in lakes. They are constantly active in hours of dim light or cloudy days, they represent an important sour...
At the moment there is not a lot different variations of the tarpon fly, which could possibly be due to the fact that Tarpon are not plentiful in many places. Therefore anglers prefer to use proven flies then test new pa...
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...
A sleek damselfly pattern for stillwater, where the exoskeleton is emphasised. So many of our patterns are dubbed, and therefore woolly of fluffy. This pattern exemplifies the sleekness of the natural, enters the water a...
This is a traditional Czech Nymph with some minor changes in its thorax, which worked very well during the last season.
In sizes 8 to 16 and with the right moves it is very effective in fast waters, especially in the be...
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...
There was a time when Marabou Muddlers were the flies to catch big trout. I still remember some strikes at the bend of the Chimehuin River’s La Boca (river inlet) in Patagonia with some black Marabou Muddlers almost at...
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 ...
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...
There are many Hopper imitations nowadays and lots of them are undoubtedly very effective. I choose the simpler ones which have an undressed silhouette that does not bother when casting. I recommend soft rubber legs, esp...
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...
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...
In general, we do not find many minnow imitations that can be considered as realistic flies, those flies that usually resemble amazing insects and that allow the fly-tier to show his skills and defy the senses. Nevert...
The Blue Dun is a classic dry fly pattern that was originated to imitate the early mayfly hatches. This dry fly works for a number of hatches including the Blue Winged Olives, Hendricksons, Blue Quills and Quill Gordo...
The primitive Streaker owes its name to its effectiveness when it is stripped at high speed. It was originally designed for catching sea species in southern California. Yet, we have adapted it to fish for trout, peacock ...
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...
If I had to mention the fundamental natural materials for the
construction of artificial flies, one of the first which I would
think would be the partridge feather. I've always loved this
feather, and if I see an oppo...
Since I first started fly fishing I was attracted by large streamers, both those made with feathers or hairs. Brooks’ Blondes have always given me good results, they are timeless I’d say. That’s why I made new adap...
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...
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...
Small pearly glass beads can be used creatively to tie many different flies. These give us a chance to experiment with transparency, iridescence and density of our flies. Fly tiers willing to try new things will find tha...
I started experimenting with models that imitate minnows after several trips to the main golden dorado destinations, such as Goya, Esquina and La Paz, all in Argentina. During certain moments of the season, millions...
Most adult dragonfly imitations have the same defect: the wings that we can see in commercial flies make a terrible sound when cast, and also tangle up the line, making us use thick tippets; and therefore limiting our...
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...
Since I was very young, mice have called my attention. Especially fat clever country mice, the ones we used to catch in the old hay barns.Big browns and rainbow trout seem to have a similar attraction towards m...
New tying materials appear every day. Many resemble materials from the past, but others give us new choices. This is the case of the new metallic heads called Fish Skull, which come in three sizes and various colors and ...
The first time I saw a Murrough caddis fly emerge onto the water surface I prepared to defend myself! It was huge. One of the biggest flies I’ve seen on any British water. At over 1 ¼” they are the largest of our ca...
The first tube flies came around the year 1945 in Scotland. They were tied on turkey wing feather quills that were later replaced by plastic tubes, the ones used for medical surgery. The possibility of tying the mater...