This fly is called scrambled eggs. It's the easiest fly to tie, and fish go crazy for it! It imitates a chunk of trout/salmon eggs and also sucker spawn. It's an absolute must have for Lake Erie's Steel...
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...
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...
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...
In our visit to the Zambezi River searching for tiger fish the most effective flies were Clouser Minnow-like streamers. In the Lower Zambezi, in Zambia, where we fished, there are many fishing eagles that watch the ri...
I remember a day on the river deveron when a size ten grhe nymph made short work of 11 brown trout. It was the first time I had been river fishing seriously and was an unforgettable day. For those of you who have never c...
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...
The olive midge pattern is one of the most effective fly patterns for the Clinch River year end and out. Olive midges are prevalent on the tail water of the Clinch and they comprise most of the midge hatches in the wint...
This page is lacking a very important subtype of flies: Atlantic salmon flies (traditional and tube-flies). They can't be listed under the name of "streamers". I am no creating any type of new fly on this post....
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...
The Zonker Variation is a particular streamer that was created by Dan Byford from Steamboat Springs in the 80s. It has resisted time with only some slight modifications in its original style and design. We have used it f...
Competition nymphs are simple to tie and deadly effective on the river. As a fishing guide one must trust in simple flies, flies we can tie in enough numbers to replenish the exhaust boxes well in the middle of the ni...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Some tiers choose not to use synthetic materials because they cannot obtain the same results as with the naturals. For example, the way deer-hair muddler heads push through water make it incredibly effective when fish...
I´m not so fond of foam flies because they generally don’t look so good, but these hoppers are really fun, and look great when we paint them with different colors. The mold shapes to cut the body parts help make a nat...
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, ...
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...
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 ...
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...
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....
I began using Cul de Canard in the eighties, just when most
other Italian anglers similarly discovered its existence, but I
must admit that although I was appreciating its features, for
the first few years I did no...
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 ...
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...
When beginning to fly fish, one wonders if a big fish might be caught using such small fly…Created by George Griffith, one of the founders of Trout Unlimited, this pattern imitates midges, midge emergers, m...
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...
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...
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 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...
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 ...
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, ...
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...
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...
The idea was to design a different fly for tarpon. I wanted the shape of the body and the way it pushed water to be related with the pressure waves generated by the fish tarpon prey on. I also wanted it to move naturall...
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...
This fly is a great Musquito Pattern, it laies great in the surface and is deadly when the fish is eating musquito buzzers and hatching musquitos! can be tied in differnet colours and sizes and ofc shapes!
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...
I tied this 'little' fellow for some days ago, when i got my minds into pike fly fishing again. The streams and lakes are still frozen all over the country so I sat down by my vise and started tying like a crazy! This is...
Sometimes I have asked myself where I find the ideas to make artificial flies and the answer is that I continue to draw inspiration from my patterns. This is because I have the belief that each pattern can be improved an...
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...
Some years ago, I met the well-known fly tyer Jean Louis Teyssié in an event tying artificial flies.
I showed to Jean Louis some of my fly patterns and he showed me how to tie the tube bodies.
Teyssiè poured a little...
Tie the Mirage is very simple, just you have to be careful to use a feather with all the fibers intact otherwise you cannot get the a imitation with the body and the tails perfect. Because the CDC is a precious material,...
There is no doubt the Jungle Ghost resembles Lefty Kreh’s Deceivers from the 60’s. Since those times, that style went around the globe and infinite variants and combinations of this fly appeared everywhere.A mo...
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 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...
Many times I have shared great fishing trips with friends that catch tarariras, or wolf fish, with lures, and the only way to get similar results to theirs is by using flies that are actual lures adapted to be cast with ...
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...