Sparse Grey Matter

It was fun at the event, always good to hang out with Mr. Valla, hear his stories about maple syrup, wine making and his rod making adventures! Thanks to the Dette crew for hosting us and the event, great to see everyone before the season ends. CJ I second that, CJ! It was a fun day listening to Mi...

Matt, that’s a neat idea , how hard is it to feed the butt end thru the fly line though? Here's how I do it. 1. Cut end of butt section at an angle to create a point. 2. Insert needle into the end of fly line and out about1/2" up. Leave the needle in for 5-10 minutes. 3. Hold the line in your thumb...

Matt, that’s a neat idea , how hard is it to feed the butt end thru the fly line though? It's really knot that hard. You cut the butt section off at an agnle with a razor blade so you have a nice point and feed it throughthe line while holding the line at an angle at the exit hole. Sometimes you ha...

I feed a section of butt material through the end of the fly line and then nail knot. Works great and no issues going through the guides. Cut the butt material at and angle so it had a point. Stick a needle in the end of the line and push it out about 1/2" in and let it sit for a bit. Remove the nee...

For starters, get yourself a copy of Mike Valla's book - Tying Catskill Dries. I would start with materials for just a few patterns and then take it from there.

Good luck!

For dries and emergers, I've used George Harvey's slack leader formula for years. I use all soft mono - I want the entire leader to move with the water surface flow, not fight it. I understand some folks feel the stiffer butt sections in a leader help it turnover, but IMO if your casting mechanics a...

Sorry to hear that, Ed.

I learned a ton from his books and still use them as references.

R.I.P. Eric

I agree with all that's been said. One thing I would like to add is that today, pheasant tail nymphs are usually tied with thread. Such flies certainly work, but something is lost when Sawyer's wire is replaced by thread. In my opinion, it's not just weight or balance, it's the glitter of the wire ...

Well, my Winter 2018 issue of Fly Tyer arrived today, and it stumped me! :? As a young kid, aspiring wannabe fly fisher/tyer back in the turbulent '60s two wet flies that caught my attention were the Gray Hackle Yellow and Brown Hackle... something I attribute to Ray Berman's Trout and his discussi...

Speaking of Tricos and the Henry's Fork, earlier this week they came off well followed by the PMDs and Flavs. We did great fishing "usuals" - sparse snowshoe foot guard hair wing and tail, thread abdomen and dubbed thorax to stand wing up. Here's a pic I took of my fly rod Tuesday AM - there were a ...