Fly Tying Features

Tied by Pete Ouellette Ever since the day I first picked up a fly rod, the Hare’s Ear, in all its variants, has been a favorite. It is still in my go-to trout box in the spring, when Callibaetis are hatching. In May and June, a gold bead soft-hackle Hare’s Ear, dead-drifted, is deadly in…

Tied by Pete Ouellette When trout are feeding opportunistic high in the water column, they are vulnerable to a searching pattern like a Bloodworm. This bug is imitative of the larval stage of the chironomid midge as it moves up from the mud at the bottom of the lake. The tail is meant to be…

Tied by Pete Ouellette One of my favorite simple prospecting patterns is the brown hackle. Add a red wool tail and it is called the Red Tag. Add golden pheasant tippets and call it a Ke He. This pattern is popular in the north of Scotland. Originated by two men named Kemp and Heddle, they…

Courtesy Fin & Fire The midge, or chironomid, is easily the most important trout food on most lakes. Midges can hatch any time of the year, but most are eaten below the surface and that is why you want Morrison’s RBS Chironomid in your box. This version employs white cul de canard (which is French…

Courtesy Confluence Fly Shop Vulnerability. That’s what makes this pattern a winner. Grease up this double damsel imitation with floatant and set it down in front of a greedy trout and he’s going to think he’s looking at a two-for-one dinner plate special. Stillwater trout begin seeing hatches of damsels in June. Carry nymph, adult…

Tied by Dave Miller If you like beating up on September trout and panfish with a hopper, change it up a bit next time you head to the stream. Here’s a great cricket pattern taken from Probasco’s Favorite Northwest Flies by Frank Amato Publications. You can catch fish on grasshopper and cricket imitations all summer…

Courtesy Joe Warren Late May through mid-June is the time to fish the Deschutes River’s golden stonefly and salmonfly hatches. The monster flies crawl up out of the water to dry their wings and perch in trees and the tall grass. If no bugs are on the surface, tie on a large stonefly nymph and…

The water level is good, maybe a little off-color from the recent rain. The sun is going down, dropping behind the canyon wall. The river is in shadow now. In the middle of the river a steelhead jumps, a little arcing leap that shows just the hint of color against his chrome-bright flank. You open…

Courtesy Camp Sherman Fly Shop Looking for a point fly to get your primary pattern to the bottom? Here’s a buggy look, brass bead shine and lots of movement. The Double Bead Stone Peacock is a great pick for June, when stoneflies are on the move, but it can pay off throughout the year. A…

I could see the fish, a big rainbow, in eight inches of water against the sandy bottom at the head of the pool. Because he was two feet long he commanded the best place to eat. There was a grasshopper pattern in my box and I cast it to him, setting the fly down just…