The Purple Haze was invented more than two decades ago by Andy Carlson, who guides on the Bitterroot River, and it has become very popular as both a searching pattern and as an imitation for several mayfly hatches. Over the year’s, Tim Flagler of . . .
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Video: The Magic of Pheasant-Tail Fibers
In this video, Tim shows why pheasant-tail fibers are used on some of the sport’s most popular nymph patterns. You can create great imitations of mayfly-nymph tails, abdomens, legs, and even gills using this one material. Dyed . . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie the PMD Trigger Point Usual
In this week’s great tying video from Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions, he walks you through the steps required to make a simple mayfly pattern that’s a variation on both Fran Betters’s Usual and Al Cauci’s Comparadun. The result is a mayfly . . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Trim Synthetic Fibers
This week, Tim demonstrates two methods for trimming synthetic fibers on patterns such as Bob Popovics’s Surf Candy. It’s easy to mess up fibers if you cut them too straight or try too hard to shape them. The results often look unnatural. Instead, Tim . . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie the Saltwater Frozen Fox
In this week’s great tying video from Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions, he shows you how to create a saltwater version of the Frozen Fox, which he introduced last year. Both patterns use the same dubbing-loop method to create a full, flashy body that . . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Organize Tying Stuff, Part 3
In this third video about organizing materials, Tim takes us to the macro level, showing us how he stores larger containers and bags of materials. You may be surprised by his choices, although that antique thread-storage box–a yard sale find–looks . . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie the Fur Ant

A few summers ago, our interns were complaining that they weren’t catching as many brook trout as they thought they should from a local freestone stream. I suggested that they try adding. . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie a Sulphur Comparadun
The original Comparadun was created in the 1960s by famed tier and angler Al Caucci. Anglers were introduced to the pattern in the 1973 book Comparahatch, which Caucci wrote with Bob Nastasi. Ever since, the low-riding mayfly imitation has been . . .
Read MoreVideo: How to Tie the Bronze Goddess
Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions loves patterns with tons of lifelike motion in the water. The Bronze Goddess is the creation of Mike Jacobs of Iowa, who designed it to catch smallmouth bass. Unlike many fly tiers–who would like us to believe that . . .
Read MoreVideo: Understanding Fly-Tying Waxes
In this installment, Tim walks you through the three different kinds of wax used in fly tying. All of them are applied to the thread, but they perform quite differently and offer different results. Whether you’re trying to create a tight, smooth dubbing body, . . .
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