Phil’s Top 6 Patterns for Spring Mayfly Hatches

While I have yet to see my first trout rise of 2023, I know it will happen soon—the photo above was taken on May 1 last year—and I’ve seen plenty of photos from other parts of the country where mayflies are already popping. The next six weeks should . . .

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Pro Tips: Top 5 Autumn Olive Patterns


A blue-winged olive emerges from its nymphal shuck.
Photo by Stemonitis, via Wikipedia

Everybody loves the blue-winged olive hatches of spring, when the mayflies emerge on cloudy or even snowy days. It’s often the first great dry-fly fishing of the year, and the bugs are . . .

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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. . .

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Video: How to Tie a Catskills-Style March Brown Dry Fly


Catskills-style dry flies often have some bare shank behind the eye.

March browns (Stenonema vicarium) are among the more important hatches in the East and the Midwest. The big bugs don’t usually create blanket hatches, but instead emerge sporadically throughout the day, which means you can. . .

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Video: How to Tie the Parachute Purple Haze


A Purple Haze tied by its originator, Andy Carlson

I fished the Purple Haze in Montana a few weeks ago, so I was excited to see that Tim Flagler had chosen it for his newest video. The pattern was invented in 2000 by Andy Carlson, who guides on the Bitterroot River, and it has become very popular as both a searching pattern and as

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Photos of the Day: Brown Drakes and Rainbow Trout on the Henrys Fork

Written by Rowan Nyman


The Henrys Fork at dusk is a place of awe-inspiring beauty.
Photo by Rowan Nyman

It is a busy time in the greater Yellowstone area, as many of the “glory” bugs of summer are making their annual appearance simultaneously and en mass. After a hot summer day spent chasing salmonflies, George Kelly and Alan Muchmore and I headed to the Ranch section of the Henrys Fork, to attempt to fish the elusive. . .

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Video: How to Tie an Isonychia Nymph and Emerger


Isonychia nymphs are always moving, so you should fish them with some action.
Photo via freshwater-science.org

Last week, we featured a video lesson on tying an Isonychia Parachute, which imitates an adult insect, so here are the two previous stages—the nymph and emerger. Iso nymphs are active for most of the fishing season, which makes a nymph imitation a good searching pattern if you can’t tell what the fish are feeding on. These are predatory “swimmer” nymphs, which means that you don’t want to. . .

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Video: How to Tie an Isonychia Parachute


Isonychia hatch from late May through October in some waters.

Isonychia mayflies go by many names—Mahogany Dun, Slate Drake, and Leadwing Coachman, among others—and they are among the more important sporadically hatching bugs in the East and Midwest. These insects rarely provide the blanket hatches that make sulfurs and caddisflies so exciting, but Isonychia emerge in light numbers almost every evening for much of the season, long after the “sexier” hatches are over. Although these bugs are generally not as. . .

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