Tag Archives: fly tying

Summer may be coming to a close here in Minnesota, however, that doesn’t mean that the bass fishing is wrapping up. With the cooling weather, bass go into a frantic frenzy to eat tons of food before winter sets in and their metabolism slows, making fall a great time to target bass on the fly rod.   Bass, both smallmouth and largemouth, are one of the hardest fighting fish that I have caught. Due to their hard fighting nature, it is a lot of fun to chase them on a fly. While bass aren’t always super picky they can get in moods so there are some flies that outfish others. None of these flies are super original or revolutionary, however, we have found them to produce well when chasing bass. In general, like all bass fishing resources would say, I have found natural colors to work better in clearer water or…

Read more

With the winter trout season opening in early January in the southeastern part of Minnesota, there is plenty of opportunities to chase some winter trout. Chasing trout in the winter can be one of the most rewarding ways to fish for trout. Trying to get that perfect cast and line handling in gloves aren’t the easiest tasks to achieve, however, but once that cast is made and a trout accepts your fly, it’s super satisfying. It makes all the frustration of trying to get the right presentation in the cold worth it. Here are our top five flies for winter trout. #1. Green Caddis I recently added this pattern to my arsenal and it has yet to disappoint. This pattern is quick, easy, and simply catches fish. I have found that even with a small midge trailing behind, trout prefer this fly. Hook: #12 Caddis Hook Bead: 7/64″ Gold Thread: Olive or black…

Read more

Big panfish eat few flies consistently, while smaller fish swallow everything that moves. In order to catch big panfish you’ll need a box that can adapt to water conditions and fish location. Here are the flies that help me catch more big fish in a variety of conditions:   Pink Punch The scruffy collar pushes water and the cone head gets it down, making this fly a good option for murky water or aggressive fish. The pink color makes it irresistible to crappies, and the ice dub gives it a translucent minnow effect. Thread: Pink or Black 8/o UNI Hook: # 12-8 Bead: x-sm Silver Conehead  Tail: Pink Marabou or pseudo marabou Body: Pink Ice Dub in a dubbing loop        Noah’s Minnow The Noah’s Minnow is a great fly for picky panfish. The marabou tail twitches in the water driving the most skittish fish to bite. The…

Read more

The duck feathers from early season hunting have been begging me to tie a few flies, so when they came out of the freezer a few nights ago I had to sit down and stock the boxes. Wood duck feathers are some of my absolute favorites to tie with. The chocolate brown feathers on a hen wood duck are awesome for Baetis-style flies, and since Baetis are hatching right now on the streams, I decided to go with a BWO theme. I’ve been wanting to tie a soft hackle with the tiny feathers on the shoulder of a duck’s wing, so I tied up this little soft hackle emerger that ended up faintly resembling a BWO…  Hook: Nymph or wet fly hook of your preference Bead: Gold brass Thread: Brown 8/0 UNI (I used black on this one) Tail: Chocolate brown hen wood duck breast/neck feather fibers Body: Brown thread…

Read more

After a long, wet spring full of high water here in Minnesota, summer’s low, clear water and hot bronzeback fishing has finally set in. Here is one of my top flies for summer smallmouth bassin’ – Murray’s Strymph. As the name implies, it is a crossover of a streamer and a nymph. It is deadly both dead drifted like a nymph or stripped like a minnow through a fishy hole. The Strymph was created by Virginia smallmouth expert Harry Murray. It’s a great pattern for wary summer smallmouth in low, clear water. Small stream bronzebacks like them tied in #8 to #12; their big water cousins like them a little larger. I’ve had a lot of success this past season fishing a black strymph tied on a small streamer hook. The smallmouth love them! Hook: #4-12 streamer Thread: Black 6/0 UNI Tail: Ostrich herl (I like mine with a few…

Read more

I have a ton of CDC on my hands right now from the past duck hunting season. All this CDC has led to some experimenting, and lately I’ve been playing around with CDC dubbing loop hackle. I tied these two parachutes using a CDC fibers in a dubbing loop in place of the standard chicken hackle. It can be a little tricky to get the “hackle” to behave, but I’m pretty happy with the results. These guys should work pretty well on the flat water where the trout demand a little more realistic fly.   Hook: #16 Mustad Signature Series fine wire dry fly hook Thread: Olive 8/0 UNI Tail: Lemon wood duck Body: Gray “Adams” superfine dubbing Post: Fibers from a brown wood duck breast feather Hackle: Natural gray CDC fibers in a dubbing loop   Hook: #16-22 Mustad Signature Series dry Thread: Olive 8/0 UNI Tail: Barred mallard…

Read more

6/11