Drawing Flies 52 Wickham’s Fancy. Drew it like I imagined I’d have tied it when I was still in grade-school: Wings too thin and perhaps too high, an overly bushy tail, scattered hackle, an old Mustad hook that looked like it was formed with a pair of pliers, and near-perfect tinsel. I was obsessed with [...]

Just updated the blog with a couple of new behind-the-scenes plug-ins. All seems to have gone as it should, but if anyone gets odd behavior with the Categories and Links areas over there on the right, let me know. Thanks!

So, after the DF52 Bunyan Bug post, my friend, John Beth, contacted me about his Bunyan Bug adventures. John, as previously mentioned, is a bit of Bunyan Bug fan (and general old tackle fan, too) who fishes for coho with a BB, and has composed music for a number of the videos/TV shows that my [...]

People often ask if Kel fly fished before we met. The answer is no, but she was a pretty serious (and just pretty) backpacker girl. She wasn’t shy about doing two weeks out, so it comes as no surprise that part of our together life includes some more significant hikes back into various places (fly rods [...]

Good news for those with backorders on tees: the fresh order of 100-percent cotton FF&W trout tees is due in on October 4. These tees will be in the Stone Gray color from before, but only in an all-cotton shirt (fine jersey fabric and very soft). It can sometimes be hard to know what a [...]

Last week, Kel and I spent a day fishing on the MZ Ranch outside of Bozeman. The MZ is rarely “easy” fishing, and our day was no exception. None-the-less, we caught fish (all on dries), and beat some of the worst spring-creek drag you can find anywhere. But for us, the MZ is really less [...]

Drawing Flies 52 Bunyan Bug. Where do I even start with this fly? For me, it has so much meaning in my fly-fishing life. I’ll have to expand this post this weekend with a few memories about this pattern and “the movie.” Until then, though, here’s a bit of the DF 52 info: Notes: This [...]

September snowstorm in Montana? No, Tricos. Hit it just right this morning on the Clark Fork, fishing with my good friend, Flynn Sherick. The insects were mostly isolated to one stretch of the river on our float, but it was madness where the spinners were coming down. In addition to the usual pods of rapid-fire [...]

Cold day west of Missoula today, as well as windy, rainy, and not very fishy. Kel and I tossed a line with our good friend, Flynn Sherick, and we worked for our fish. Kel had the best fish of the day on a Coq De Leon Caddis. The cutthroat was holding in a corner against [...]

Drawing Flies 52 Hopper (Dave’s). A classic terrestrial pattern. Worked just fine in Montana this last week. Notes: Went for a fast, plein air style here, using only the small collection of media that I took with me on a trip to Montana. Usually when doing a trip, I’ll draw the fly beforehand and post-date the [...]

Anthony Bourdain this is not. Last night, Kel and I were chased off the lower Madison by a series of electrical and hail storms that eventually turned into a steady, cold rain. We retreated to Bozeman’s Lindley Park for a little late dinner en plein air. Of course, by the time we rolled in it [...]

Typing this quickly in a coffee shop in Bozeman, Montana, and will get a pic up over the next day or so, but wanted to at least get a post in place. So, with a title like that, I must be talking a 30-inch Alaskan ‘bow, or perhaps a 2-foot, hook-jawed brown from the Bighorn, [...]

The FF&W “Yamame” trout tees that are currently sold out in most sizes are due to be back here at FF&W sometime around September 24 30 or so. The new round of tees will be 100-percent cotton (nice and soft), and in the familiar Stone Gray color. The size range will be S through 3XL [...]

Yes, it’s gone. 157MB of files off to the press this morning. And with that, I’m going fishing…