Mike Mercer was the very first employee hire by The Fly Shop in 1978, and he’s been working there ever since. Along the way, he became known for tying innovative and imitative. . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie Mercer’s Missing Link
dry flies
Classic Video: How to Tie the Sulphur Usual
The original Usual dry fly was created by Fran Betters of Wilmington, New York, who specialized in fishing the fast water of the West Branch of the Au Sable. To do so, he needed flies that. . .
Read MoreClassic Tuesday Tip: Using an Indicator Fly
The Indicator Parachute Adams works both as a mayfly imitation and as an indicator fly.
Photo via orvis.com
There are few more maddening situations in fly fishing than watching fish gorge themselves right in front you but being unable to catch them because you can’t see your fly. (And for you whippersnappers who can now spy a Trico spinner at 60 feet: rest assured that such acuity won’t. . .
Read MoreVideo: Topwater Fantasy
The folks from The New Fly Fisher TV show have put together a killer trailer for Season 10, featuring all manner of game fish eating flies off the. . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie the Devil Bug
The Devil Bug (known by more devout folk as the “Doodle Bug”) was originally designed by Orley C. Tuttle in the second decade of the 1900s as a beetle imitation, with which he caught smallmouth bass on. . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie Craig Mathews’s X-Caddis
Because caddisflies tend to emerge very quickly, trout don’t want to expend too much energy chasing them. Instead, the fish focus on those emergers that are crippled or are struggling to escape the nymphal shuck. The X-Caddis, developed by. . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie the Mole Fly
The pattern hangs in the water like a mayfly struggling to emerge.
Colorado guide Charlie Craven started as a professional fly tier when he was twelve years old, and his patterns are popular throughout the West. He came up with this fly more than a decade ago during a late-night tying session: . . .
Read MoreVideo: That Caddis Hatch in Idaho
Earlier in the week, we showed a killer green-drake hatch from Pennsylvania, and this video of a blanket-hatch of. . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie a Tiny Parachute Adams (with a Twist!)
If you struggle with tiny flies, Tim Flagler has some great tips for you.
The Parachute Adams is among the more popular dry-fly patterns for fly fishermen the world over, and it is often a “go-to” fly for those situations when you want to fish a fly with confidence. The secret to its success is that the fly seems to imitate a. . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie a Thorax-Style Sulfur Dun
Sulfurs should be popping in much of the country, and if you’re casting to especially persnickity trout, you might give this time-tested pattern a try. The thorax-style dry flies that Vincent C. Marinaro wrote about in his. . .
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