Video: How to Tie the WD-40 Emerger

First tied back in 1982 by guide Mark Engler as an emerging-midge imitation for use on Colorado’s Fryingpan River, the WD-40 was an instant hit. Anglers soon found out that it was deadly as a. . .

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Video: 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. . .

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Video: 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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Video: How to Tie Matt’s Sulfur 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 floated well, and his first. . .

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Video: How to Tie the Dorato Hare’s Ear Dry Fly

Bill Dorato was a well-known fly tier from the Albany, New York area, and he was a fishing buddy of my old friend Dick Talleur. According to Dick, the Dorato Hare’s Ear was designed to imitate a newly emerged buzzing. . .

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Video: How to Tie the Bird’s Nest

Cal Bird owned a small fly shop in San Francisco in the 1940s and ’50s, and he created the Bird’s Nest in 1959 as a caddis-pupa imitation to use on the Truckee River. Most anglers now consider it an. . .

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Video: How to Tie a Red Quill Dry Fly

The Hendrickson hatch is prime time on the Battenkill for catching large brown trout on dry flies, and everyone around here gets excited when the first reddish bugs are spotted on the water. The Red Quill is a classic imitation of. . .

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Video: How to Tie a Cinder Worm

In the Northeast, the cinder worm “hatch”—some folks call it a “swarm”—happens early in the season, offering anglers a first great chance of finding blitzing striped bass. These swarms can. . .

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Video: How to Tie a Pearl Zonker Streamer

The Zonker streamer has been around since the mid 1970s, when Colorado fly-shop owner Dan Byford came up with the pattern, based on some unconventional streamers coming out of New Zealand at the time. Like many streamers, the Zonker can be tied in a. . .

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