Fish, Flies & Water » Tying

Poly Caddis (v2.0)

JB — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:00:14 +0000

GB’s early 1970s synthetic take-off of the Elk Hair Caddis is one of my own go-to patterns. It not only looks right and fishes right, but the synthetic aspect allows enormous color/texture variation. And as any red-blooded fly-tying geek knows, being able to mess around with colors and textures is one of the best things about [...]

Dubbing/Spinning Loop Intro (and a Foxxy Worm)

JB — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:02:03 +0000

A bit of educational info now that tying season is upon those of us in the northern hemisphere. Well, if you’re anything like me, tying season is whenever and wherever you manage to break out the vise. When I was younger and living in the winter wasteland cross-country skiing paradise of northern Wisconsin, though, November [...]

Down & Dirty Mouse (an Old-School GB Fly)

JB — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:07:22 +0000

After posting that little pic yesterday with the blurb about brookies and mice, I got an email asking about mouse flies. Here’s a simple pattern—little more than a few tails and some lashed-on hair—that works. No excessive trimming, no ears, no eyes, no whiskers. Nothing wrong with eyes, ears and whiskers mind you, just that [...]

Tyin’ with GB

JB — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:05:19 +0000

GB is busy tying the 39274957287456 flies he’s going to include in the upcoming Long Flies book (actually, I think it’s only 80 or so, but they have to be right), so I figured that a post on tying with GB was in order. One of the most memorable things about the frequent outings that my father [...]

GB’s Hendrickson Array

JB — Sun, 29 May 2011 16:19:54 +0000

For those interested, there’s a nice triple-play of fly tying by GB over at his blog. While the bit-by-bit recipes are focused on the Hendrickson, the core fly designs are applicable across a rather large spectrum of the mayfly world. Get them here: Red-Brown Nymph – Parachute Floating Nymph – Yarn Wing Dun (with a [...]

GB’s Bobbin Addiction

JB — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 16:09:02 +0000

For you tyers out there in the FF&W readership, GB just ran a series of bobbin posts over at his blog. Mostly stuff he either already has, or some new goodies from the show circuit this last winter (that’s a new goodie from Marc Petitjean shown above). If you dig bobbins (they are sort of like like the [...]

Trailing-Shuck Soft-Hackle on TieTalk

JB — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:12:11 +0000

See that soft-hackle? Tie one just like that, but add a trailing shuck. Fish it dead-drift in the film (don’t be afraid of floatant if necessary). I did a quick tying piece for my friends over at “Field & Stream” magazine’s TieTalk (the tying alter ego of the FlyTalk blog). The subject is a trailing-shuck soft-hackle [...]

Snail Fly (Just Following GB’s Lead)

JB — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:14:03 +0000

So, I got an email asking about snail patterns. Told Bruno (he would be the one who emailed) that I’d get something up here for him. Figured that today was as good a day as any. Before I got started, I decided to check out GB’s blog, just to see how his posts from the [...]

3 Materials for 6 Midges

JB — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:01 +0000

A little piece that I posted over at the FlyTalk blog. The post is no longer on the front page there, so I’m re-posting here (with bigger images and a few extra words). – – – – – – – – – – – Midges are the trout-angler’s constant. Regardless of what’s happening with other [...]

FlyTalk: 3 Materials for 6 Midges

JB — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:25:09 +0000

Assuming I got the materials to them in time today, there should be new fly-tying post up on “Field & Stream” magazine’s FlyTalk blog either tomorrow (Tuesday) or perhaps Thursday. The subject is “3 Materials for 6 Midges,” and covers some easy ways to use minimal materials to create simple, but effective patterns. No dedicated, [...]

Blogshout: Small Fly Funk

JB — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:30:46 +0000

If you dig the pain and joy of micro-flies in your trout fishing (I still remember the first decent fish I caught on a #28), then check out Small Fly Funk. Tarpon fanatics need not apply (but then again…I think I’ll post something about that. Stay tuned).

Latest at FlyTalk – Interlocking Wing

JB — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:52:24 +0000

Just a quick note if you’re a tyer (or a tier, your choice on spelling). My friends over at “Field & Stream” magazine’s FlyTalk blog have posted a short how-to from me on the Interlocking Wing Technique. It’s a simple approach to durable wings that I really like for my own flies. Some of you [...]

Fly Tying: Bendable Bodies

JB — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:12:18 +0000

This is mostly a re-post of what I sent over my friends at FlyTalk last week, but I will be making some updates to what’s here, so check back again in a few days. A little intro: There are several ways to go about making bendable bodies, but this technique allows the tying of fairly [...]

Fly Tying: Hair-Wing Drake

JB — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:07:40 +0000

The Hair-Wing Drake as seen outside, and at the edge of, the fish’s window. I promised a tying piece that related to the “big mayfly” illustration in a previous post, so here it is: the Hair-Wing Drake. This particular pattern goes back a few decades, and has its roots in the Comparadun and various extended-body [...]