Fly Tying

Ed McCoy of Michigan came up with this mayfly pattern several years ago. It's a variation of a parachute dry fly in that the front and rear sections of hackle are cut from the para post to form a pair of spinner wings.

This is a variation of a fly tied by Jim Misiura. He used Gartside's Super-Secret Stuff as a flash material but here we will use Hareline's Ice Wing Fiber as a substitute. Chartreuse is a favorite color for warm-water predatory fish. It can be tied in sizes 1/0 - 10.

Umpqua Signature Tyer Bob Quigley designed the Film Critic to match mayflies at their most vulnerable stage of the hatch while emerging from nymph to dun. Mayfly emergers are often stuck in the film for quite some time making them easy pray for hungry trout. It can be tied in sizes 10 - 20.

Bill Murdich originally tied the Murdich Minnow as a striper fly, but any predatory fish chasing minnows will eat this. A great fly for smallmouth bass fished just below the water surface.

The Puterbaugh Caddis was developed by Don Puterbaugh, a long-time guide on the Arkansas River in Colorado. It floats well and presents a great silhouette in the water. It also uses very few materials and is easy to tie.

The Gray Fox Dry Fly is a great go-to pattern, no matter which side of the country you’re on. This pattern originated in the Catskills by Preston Jennings in the 1930s. Despite developing as an eastern fly pattern, it has since found a home across the west where it’s effective for imitating tan and brown mayflies.

Variations of these egg patterns have been around for quite some time. Simple and quick to tie. Best of all they are very effective. Hook sizes 14 -16 for the smaller trout and larger 8 - 10 for Steelhead.

The Morrish Hopper was created by Ken Morrish and is considered by many to be one of the most effective hopper patterns out there. It utilizes a foam body which is easy to form using The River Road Creations cutters.

The Amy's Ant pattern was created by Jack Dennis in the late 1990's to be fished in the famous Jackson Hole one fly tournament which it won in 1999. A hybrid between an ant, hopper, and stonefly, Amy’s Ant is a great pattern for a variety of freshwater river fishing scenarios.

The Platte River Spider is a classic streamer and wet fly designed by Chris Schrantz that has been successful swinging on a trout spey fly rod as well as swung, stripped, or dead drifted on a single-handed rod.