Monthly Archives: November 2012

November 12, 2012

Rich Strolis fly patterns!

Rich Strolis is a commercial fly tyer specializing in custom flies for the rivers of the northeastern U.S. and abroad. He was most notably known for his 10 years as an independent guide on the Farmington River, and has been fishing for over 30 years, with 25 years of tying experience. Rich believes that a great deal of his experience and success is a direct bi-product from his time spent on the water on various rivers and streams across the lower 48 and Alaska.

Prior to kids and family he spent 200 plus days a year on the water before and after work, yes that is correct, he has a full time career on top of all this too,(can you say a Type A to the core? No doubt, and a character to boot). Rich is a subsurface fanatic who loves to chase trophy trout with larger streamers and nymphs of all sizes and if you check out his website you will see this clearly. Rich recently gave guiding a backseat to spend more time with his two little girls Tessa and Nora, and very understanding and supportive wife Megan. Very open and approachable, Rich loves sharing his efforts with anyone, and he enjoys tying flies almost as much as fishing them.

Some of his creations have appeared in the pages of Flyfisherman magazine, Eastern Fly Fishing magazine, Flyfishing and Tying Journal, Orvis Flyfishing Blog, Global Flyfisher, Hatches Online, and books by noted aquatic insect photographer, Thomas Ames. Rich currently runs a website devoted to his fly business and passion for fly-tying where he does frequent fly-tying tutorials that demonstrate step by step construction of some of his own flies and other time tested patterns. Below you will find some of his best creations. For more about Rich, visit his website at www.catching-shadows.com.

Ice Pick

Articulated Ice Pick

Rear section
Hook: Gamakatsu B10s. size 2 or 4.
Thread: UTC 140 color to match
Foul Guard: 50 pound mono loop
Tail: Marabou
Wing: Bar Dyed Rabbit Strip
Body: EP Sparkle brush
Collar: Senyo Laser Dub color to match (light dressing)
Front section
Hook: Gamakatsu B10s. Size 1 or 2. (1size larger than rear)
Thread: UTC color to match
Connection: 19 strand beadalon and 2 3D proeyes or glass beads size E(large)
Rear Collar: marabou or schlappen fluff palmered.
Wing: Bar Dyed Rabbit Strip
Body: EP Sparkle brush
Collar: Senyo Laser Dub color to match (heavy Dressing)
Throat (optional): red Senyo Laser Dub
Head: Fish Skull color to match. Size 1 sm/med. size 2 small

Shimmer Stone

Hook: TMC 2302
Thread: UTC 140
Underbody: Uni Stretch over Lead Free Wire
Tails/Antenae: Life Flex or spanflex
Back/wingcase: Flashback
Overbody: Medium D Rib Light Golden stone
Legs: Brahma hen
Gills/dub: Haretron
Head: Non tungsten bead

Hog Snare Streamer

Rear Section
Hook: Gamakatsu SP11-3L3H size 2
Thread: UTC 140 color to match
Tail: Holographic Flashabou under schlappen fluff under Marabou
Body: medium cactus chenile
Hackle: Schlappen Palmered
Mottling: Bar Dyed crazy legs
Wing: Reverse tied arctic fox tail.
Middle Section
Medium Fish Skull Articulated shank wrapped with .020 Lead Free wire
Thread: UTC 140 color to match
Rear Collar: Holographic Flashabou under schlappen fluff
Body: medium cactus chenile
Hackle: Schlappen Palmered
Mottling: Bar Dyed crazy legs
Wing: Reverse tied arctic fox tail.
Connection: 19 Strand Beadalon Stringing wire (.018 dia) with 2 Janns Netcraft 3d pro eye beads
Front Section
Hook: Gamakatsu B10s size 1
Thread: UTC 140 color to match
Rear Collar: Holographic Flashabou under schlappen fluff
Body: medium cactus chenile
Hackle: Schlappen Palmered
Mottling: Bar Dyed crazy legs
Wing: Reverse tied arctic fox tail.
Collar: Senyo Laser Dub
Head: Senyo Laser Dub Spun and brushed out
Eyes: Chartreuse Lead Dumbell Eyes Or Pseudo Eyes

Head Banger

Headbanger Sculpin

Rear Section
Hook: Gamakatsu SP11-3L3H size 2
Thread: UTC 140 color to match
Tail: Holographic Flashabou under two palmered marabou plumes
Body: medium cactus chenile
Hackle: Schlappen Palmered
Mottling: Bar Dyed crazy legs
Wing: Reverse tied arctic fox tail (inverted)
Connection: 19 Strand Beadalon Stringing wire (.018 dia) with 2 Janns Netcraft 3d pro eye beads
Front Section
Hook: Gamakatsu B10s size 1
Thread: UTC 140 color to match
Rear Collar: Holographic Flashabou under two palmered marabou plumes
Body: medium cactus chenile
Hackle: Schlappen Palmered
Mottling: Bar Dyed crazy legs
Wing: Reverse tied arctic fox tail. (inverted)
Collar: Senyo Laser Dub
Head: Fish Skull large sculpin Helmet

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Filed under Rich Strolis

November 11, 2012

Krystal Bullet and Krystal Flash

I purchase a lot of Hareline Dubbin supplies and I am always happy with the quality. So tonight I researched a little about Bob Borden, the owner of Hareline Dubbin to see what I could dig up.

Hareline got its start when Bob was working for The Caddis Fly Shop back in the 1970s. He was one of the professional tyers for the shop, so the shop’s owner asked him to shear and dye some rabbit fur because he was having trouble with his supplier. Bob went home, fired up his wife’s stove and dyed 24 different colors of rabbit. He hasn’t stopped since.

One of Bob Borden’s major introductions was the twisted mylar, Krystal Flash. It can be used in many different applications and has been a staple in fly tying for years.

I thought it would be appropriate to tie up one of Bob’s orignal flies, the Krystal Bullet. This fly was originally created to chase winter steelhead and Krystal Flash was used to shape the bullet head, thus the name. The fly can be tied in many colors, like green, pink and orange. I’ve tied a black one here using blue Krystal Flash. The recipe is:

Body – Black Chenille with one wrap underneath the tail.

Tail – Krystal Flash, 5 to 7 strands

Head and collar – Krystal Flash, see instructions below

The trickiest part about this fly is tying the head correctly. I followed these instructions I found in the book, Steelhead: Fly Fishing by Trey Combs.

The “hackle” is tied down in two steps. First, spin the Krystal Flash around the hook at the head and tie down just behind the eye with the tips extending forward. Wind the thread down the hook and tie in the tail, five to seven strands of Krystal Flash. Tie in the chenille, wind the thread forward, bring the chenille forward, and tie off. Draw the Krystal Flash toward the rear of the fly and bind down the “hackle”. (Bob finds it helpful to use a ball-point pen without the liner, or a similar tube, to force over the eye of the hook and evenly spread out the Krystal Flash.) These steps create the Bullet’s “head.”

Make sure to secure the Krystal Flash near the eye before using your tube or pen to fold them back. This is the key to making the bullet correctly.

I haven’t found many pictures of this pattern, but the ones I did see used a traditional style salmon hook. For this one, I used the new Daiichi Van Klinken Bronze Bomber Hook in a size 4. I’ve been ordering various new products to review here on FrankenFly and this was in Hareline’s new product list on their website, so I thought I would try it. It is a nice sturdy hook and can be used for salmon, steelhead, bass, or large trout. I like the width of the hook gap and it is a sharp hook. It didn’t have any trouble pricking my finger when I was working on this fly.

I enjoyed tying the Krystal Bullet and I am thinking about tying a Patriot using Krystal Flash in the future.

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Filed under Steelhead

November 9, 2012

Paper Wasp by Fred Hannie

Fred Hannie ties some awesome realistic patterns. Below he gives us a little taste of what it’s like to tie realistic flies. Fred was nice enough to put this information together for FrankenFly. Thanks Fred! Be sure to visit Fred’s website if you want to see more of his patterns.

Paper Wasp

By Fred G. Hannie

The paper wasp are members of the vespid wasps , family Vespidae . They are many regional sub species which can be distinguised by their coloration. Wasps , though not an aquatic insect often end up on the menu of many species of fish. Though wasps may be blown into harms way buy a sudden gust of wind ,it’s their practice of landing on the water’s surface to drink that bring the most peril from fish. This pattern is tied using mostly deer hair , thread and monofilament . The techniques learned from friend and fellow realsitic tyer David Martin were essential in putting this pattern together.

The abdomen is tied as an extended body. Wrapping the deer hair with light tension will give it a nice shape and will not crush the deer hair’s hollow fibers which will allow the fly to float upon the surface. As you can see the abdomen is tapered and has segments.

Here you can see how monofilament can be used not only for the legs but also the antennae.

Notice the legs are bent into natural positions by using a heated bodkin.

Color is added using permanent markers . I like to add color in layers . It gives the illusion of depth and realism.

The fly is nearly complete . The wings will be added and the thorax will be completed thus hidding the tie in point of the wings.

By using white thread and bleached deer hair you can then color the wasp to match those that are common in your area.

I know this was not a true step by step showing every detail of this fly’s construction , but hopefully it was enough to tweek your interest in realistic tying techniques. More imformation can be found on this and other patterns on my website at http://www.realisticflytying.net.

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November 7, 2012

Brian Wise interview!

Brian Wise of fly tying video fame, was nice enough to do an interview for FrankenFly! Brian has some of the most entertaining, if not the best, fly tying videos out there. You can always see what’s new with Brian at his blog, Fly Fishing the Ozarks. I first enjoyed Brian’s fly tying when I was learning how to tie Mike’s Meal Ticket. A fly created by Mike Schmidt of Angler’s Choice Flies. Since then I have watched all of Brian’s videos. Below you will find out a little more about the man in front of the camera sitting behind that Peak Vise!

How did you get into fishing?

I gear fished a lot as a kid, but as I got into high school, sports and girls kind of took over my mind. After high school I met a gal that fished a lot and she got me back into gear fishing. A couple of years after that I was getting bored spin fishing and the same gal said “Why don’t you try fly fishing”…………yeah, I married her.

Did you begin fly tying when you started fly fishing? How did you begin fly tying?

Tying was something I started almost immediately after I started fly fishing. I thought it was a necessity as I was a completely broke college student. It turns out my art teacher in high school is a phenomenal fly tyer so he kind of took me under his wing and helped me get started…….then I spent a ton more money on materials than I ever dreamed of spending on flies.

What was the first fly you tied?

The good ol’ Olive Wooly Bugger. It had a dubbed squirrel body that was about as proportional as Shaquille O’Neal on a skateboard.

Do you guide full time?

I guide on the North Fork of the White River in Missouri. Basically, we are the river that is ABOVE the dams on the renowned White River and Norfork River in Arkansas. We are a freestone stream that has wild rainbow trout (not stocked since the mid 60’s) and some awesome streamer-eating brown trout.

What is your favorite river?

I am lucky enough to say that my home river is without a doubt my favorite river.

Do you have a favorite fly?

I am a total streamer freak. I really kind of bounce around with streamers, I will have a favorite for several months and then come across another that I just HAVE to fish. For the last several months though, my go-to has been Rich Strolis’ Hog Snare…..crazy sexy fly.

Do you do any commercial tying?

My one stint as a “commercial tyer” was when the lodge I guide for ordered something like 13 dozen Olive Wooly Buggers. I finished the order and then made a video of my tying an Olive Wooly Bugger — and then I burned it. Haven’t done much since then.

If you could only take one fly pattern with you fishing, what would it be?

Like I said, I am a total streamer freak. Even though the Hog Snare is my go-to right now, I have to say that Galloup’s Sex Dungeon has hung more big fish for me than any other fly.

Could you name some of your favorite fly tyers?

I am a huge fan of Kelly Galloup, Mike Schmidt, Nick Granato, Charlie Craven, Brad Bohen, Rich Strolis, and Thomas Harvey. Pretty much anyone that has ever designed an awesome streamer — I like them.

Have you created any of your own fly patterns?

I have messed with some nymphs of my own over the years, and actually have a pretty nice stonefly….but when it comes to streamers, I leave it to the pros on designing them — and then I copy them.

Your fly tying videos are well received on the Internet. How did you get started in making your own videos?

I actually started making some tying videos several years ago. I didn’t want to do the boring voice-over type of step-by-step stuff so I set some videos to Weird Al and Stephen Lynch until I lost the desire to do that at all. Then a Musky fishing trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota with a couple good buddes got me fired back up. We knew we were going to be shooting video while we were up there fishing so I thought I would make a “teaser” video and tied Brad Bohen’s “Hang Time”, sped it up to a 5 minute tie…..that video ended up getting twice as many views as all of the Musky fishing videos did put together (probably because we were blanked). So I thought I would stick with it and see if I could keep it up. I never really liked the usual tying video with someone explaining what I already knew how to do(not that they don’t have their place), I found them boring and ended up speeding them up to get to the parts I wanted to see so I decided to make my videos with a little bit of instruction (be it very little) and some entertainment. Like I said, I don’t design streamers myself, but I also knew that there were a lot of VERY competent tyers out there that kind of wondered how to tie, specifically, the Galloup line of streamers….so I started with a Galloup “Series” of flies, and moved on to Mike Schmidt’s streamers after that. I kind of call myself the “Cover-Band” of fly tying videos. When a cover-band does a show they obviously cover a certain band, with their own flare and I usually do the same with my videos. I tend to add tiny little touches or changes in the flies but still not disrespect the tyer and totally change THEIR pattern.

People, including me, love the music in your videos. What is your favorite kind of music?

It’s kind of funny, but I catch hell for the music in my tying videos quite often. Like the comedian Mitch Hedberg said the people either “love it, hate it, or they think it is ok”. When I am driving, running, or anytime I am listening to music it won’t be the dubstep type of music like in my videos. I am more of a grunge guy. Give me Pearl Jam and Nirvana and I am a happy dude.

I notice that you like to use Gamakatsu B10s Stinger hooks quite often. (You have me using them now as well.) What is it that you like about the Stinger?

Stinger hooks are everything I look for in a streamer hook. Specifically the B10s. It is CRAZY sharp and has a bend that has so much holding power and gap that if you hook a fish–you ARE going to land it unless you screw up really bad. I tell people that if you look at a B10s wrong you will bleed.

Do you have any advice for fly tying beginners out there?

New fly tyers have so many tools to use for learning how to tie. I just did a quick youtube search of “fly tying” and it pulled up almost 50,000 videos so that is a GREAT resource for new tyers. But I still don’t think there is anything better than being able to sit next to a seasoned fly tyer and have him or her helping. Fly fishing and tying clubs are probably the easiest way to find these people, so go out and join your local fly fishing club for sure.

Is there any fly tying products that you use that you truly love?

I honestly think Clear Cure Goo was the biggest game changer I have ever witnessed in fly tying. I wasn’t around when the Beadhead came into play in the tying world (what in the 1600’s?) but in my eyes Clear Cure Goo has had as much impact as the beadhead itself. I am also a big fan of Schlappen, craft fur, and pretty much anything that is involved in tying something gnarly.

Do you mainly stick to tying streamers or do you enjoy tying other types of flies? If the latter, what types?

I ‘am’ a guide, and although I do get a lot of “hero or zero” style streamer trips the VAST majority of my trips are standard fly fishing trips so I tie a TON of nymphs per year. I always kind of dread sitting down to tie a bunch of nymphs but after the first 1 or 2 it all comes back to me and I start having fun. Having a ballgame on and some good beer helps too.

Are you planning your next video yet? If so, what will it be?

YES! I am always on the lookout for new streamers to tie in these crazy videos. The list is growing all the time. For now, I want to keep going with featuring different tyers so my next “Series” will be from Rich Strolis and I will be tying the Hog Snare that I have talked so much about. It is triple-articulated, awesome, and THE fly that I have been really, really wanting to do a video on for a while.

Thank you Brian, I really appreciate you doing an interview for FrankenFly!!

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Filed under Brian Wise, Interview

November 6, 2012

GLC of the FFF Fly Tying Expo

The Great Lakes Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers are hosting their 13th Annual Fly Tying Exposition at Holt High School in Holt, Michigan on Saturday, December 1, 2012. I would love to make it up there for this, but I’m not sure if it is something I can realistically do. But there are going to be some great tyers there for sure!

The expo will be open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Over 80 tiers will be on hand this year to demonstrate their fly tying skills. Returning talents include Jeff “Bear” Andrews , Dennis Potter, Ray Schmidt, Julie Nielsen, Chris Soule, Tim Scott, Jim Reed, Gerry Worden and many others. There is a modest admission fee for the event: $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children 13-18; children 12 and under are free. Contact Karen Harrison to nominate a tier for the event at .

If you can go, I highly recommend it. This should be a lot of fun and a good learning experience. If you want more information, check out the GLC’s website.

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November 6, 2012

Married Wings

I don’t ever tie Mary Orvis Marbury style flies, but they are beautiful fly patterns. Probably my favorite M.O.M. fly is the Cracker. Mary describes the fly as “A fly with a record, and evolved by most careful study and experiment. It is intended for the coast and river fishes of Florida, and is named after the natives of that State, the “pore whites”. The pattern was created by Dr. George Trowbridge way back in the year 1888.

One of the questions I had about tying the Cracker, is the goose wing in multiple colors. Mike Boyer is a skilled classic fly tyer and he was nice enough to answer that question for me. They are called “Married Wings”. The Cracker that I posted here is his work. Mike has a very nice website, so check it out.

To learn how to tie married wings I searched and found some information that explained it quite well. Davie McPhail who is known as one of the best tyers in Eurpoe has a great video on how to put together married wings. The other trick is tying them on after putting them together. I found a good tutorial at the Classic Fly Tying forum posted by Bud Guidry, with photos included, that helps with that.

Hopefully this will save someone some time when wanting to learn to tie married wings. I hope to follow this post up some day when I tie my own Cracker.

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November 3, 2012

Pat Barnes fly tying tips

Pat Barnes was a fly fishing legend that owned a fly shop in West Yellowstone, Montana. Being a history buff, I’ve studied quite a bit of the life of Mr. Barnes and have luckily been able to talk to his son, Charles, via e-mail. One of the items Charles sent me was a paper bag that Pat had written fly tying tips on. I’ve posted one image of it here. I’ve read through it and deciphered as much as I can. There were a few words that I couldn’t quite read, but I was able to type out most of it. I thought it would be interesting to post it here. So below you can read some tying tidbits from one of the best.

Tips on Fly Tying

1. Flies are best if they are as durable as possible.

Durability depends on strength of each of the materials used.

Strive always to get on your flies:

1. The stiffest tail material.

2. the most durable body, stiffest hackle, most durable —- material. To insure that all materials stay put use the largest (strongest) winding silk possible for the size of the fly, for the material that you are tying on. Example: To tie the deer hair on the head of a #4-6-8 even 10-12 Muddler use size 17? thead or stronger. For a #18 Adams, the dubbed body as as all else would call for a good quality #.0950 thread or possibly smaller if you are tying the fly on an extremely fine wire hook.

You soon learn the relative strength of material as you work with them.

For example: 1 strand of most peacock herl withstand little pressure. By putting on two or 3 strands winding them together carefully then one —- them with the appropriate color winding silk make a much more durable body (tied faster) for a dry grey hackle than a single strand would by itself with no overwind.

2. The most often asked question of a person watching a fly tier tie the flies is “How fast can you make one?” It is quite obvious from the question that to most people speed is equated with skill, regardless of quality. Because speed is important to the commercial tier, assuming there is no loss of quality. It is important that a tier do those having in his operation that will increase his speed. Take two fly tiers working on a dozen flies with 4 operations, tail, body, wing, hackle. One tier finishes first. Why? Better organization of actions needed. The actions involving the 4 operations are picking up, laying down materials, scissors. —- hands are needed to pick up and clip —- material. If you think thru this operation you might suggest better. 4 to tie it on, some one else might use 6. The difference would be whether the tail material could be cut off touching only the fibers needed rather than picking up the pieces of materials from which the tail material were cut.

Lets go back one step. How many operations are needed to cut off a piece of winding silk. Do you pick up the spool, unspool the needed length, reach for the scissors, cut it off, lay down the scissors then start it on the hook? Lets see thats 6 operations to get the silk on the hook. It can be done in 4 assuming that the spool is tied down, that the thread if fed through a slit when it can be grasped easily (operation 1) cut with scissors (Pick up and cut – 2 and 3), —- thru the hook 4.

why not the same procedure for body – no unnessory operations.

The number of operations needed for —- —- vary tremendously due to type and kind of —- put on but if you follow the principle of tying duration in some way each materials that you use be it tail, body, wing, hackle, winding silk, bottle or dropper you are going to cut down on your fly tying time on each fly.

3. Keep materials in close to save reaching time. Materials can be on three levels, in front of you, two sides, below your vise, on your lap, each knee. I suggest wearing an apron and make use of chest and lower pocket.

4. Tips on use of scissors

1. Do major cutting and clipping of fur and hair first

2. Keep them in your hand if possible all the time or the closest thing at hand

3. Have more than one pair of scissors, one for —- stuff, one for —- —–

4. Keep them sharp. A small triangle —- is one of the necessary tools on my table.

5. Do all cutting and trimming before lacquering head. a good pair of scissors for bucktail, squirrel tail is hardly adoptable for the close trimming of a #16 or 18.

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November 2, 2012

Bloody Muddler

The Bloody Muddler is a steelhead fly originated by Leroy Hyatt. Mr. Hyatt is known for his fly tying on the PBS show Fly Tying: The Angler’s Art. It was an excellent show and you can watch many of the episodes online. Also check out YouTube for Leroy Hyatt videos.

Leroy is from Idaho and has been a figure in “inland” steelhead fishing for many years. The Bloody Muddler and the Steelhead Muddler were just two of his dry/damp steelhead revisions he popularized for use on the Clearwater, Grande Ronde and other upper Columbia tributaries. This information comes from the book Trey Combs’ Steelhead Fly Fishing.

Remember that muddlers are not species specific, so don’t be afraid to tie this fly on for brown trout or smallmouth bass. Leroy even mentions catching several smallies while fishing for steelhead with the Bloody Muddler.

Eric Koons is a fly tyer residing on the west coast and he ties an awesome Bloody Muddler. Since it seems to be rather difficult to track down detailed information on the Internet about Leroy Hyatt, Eric helped with some information and tied the Bloody Muddler that is pictured in this post. To my surprise, Eric is excited about the launch of FrankenFly and I will be posting other patterns and techniques from him in the future. Below is Eric’s Bloody Muddler recipe and tying instructions. Enjoy!

Hook: Light wire salmon/steelhead. Mustad 90240, TMC 7989, Partridge Wilson, etc
Thread: Black, brown, or tan
Tail: White calf tail
Body: Gold tinsel chenille or flat mylar tinsel
Wing 1: Red calf tail to bend of hook
Wing 2: Grizzly hackle tips, facing (not flared) longer than red calf tail
Head: Spun deer trimmed “muddler” style

Tying Instructions: Use a standard wire hook if you wish. Use whatever thread you’re comfortable spinning hair with. Leave head large enough to provide a substantial wake.
Presentation Tips: Technically a damp, waking fly, though it could certainly be fished wet.

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Filed under Steelhead

November 1, 2012

Kirk Dietrich

Kirk Dietrich of New Orleans, Louisiana has recently posted two informative videos on working with epoxy. I have posted them below. Be sure to check out Kirk’s other videos on his YouTube channel. Kirk also has a nice collection of photos here and here showing many of the flies he has tied. He does a lot of red fish chasing too!

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Filed under Step by Step

November 1, 2012

Rusty’s Spinner

I’m a big Michigan trout fly geek! I love the old patterns and the history there. Especially surrounding the Au Sable. One of the most well known fly tyers and fly fishermen of the area was Rusty Gates, who owned Gates Au Sable Lodge in Grayling. One of his flies called Rusty’s Spinner resembled the body of a Roberts Drake, but much darker and it wasn’t tied as a parachute.

RECIPE

Hook: Dry Fly, Sizes 10-12
Thread: Dark Brown, 6/0
Tail: Moose Mane, 4-5 fibers
Body: Dark reddish-brown deer
hair, flared at the bend in
in the hook.
Ribbing: The thread becomes the
ribbing, tied crisscross.
Wings: Hen Grizzly tips, tied ¾
spent.
Hackle: Brown & Grizzly, mixed.

Josh Greenberg who took over operations of the lodge after Rusty passed away in 2009 still ties this excellent pattern as you can see from the image. One of the most difficult parts of tying this fly are the wings. Here is a tip from Josh that might help.

“I trim the stem of the hackle tips, and tie them with cupped side of wings facing outward. I tie them both on top of the hook, facing toward the hook bend. I then pull them vertical, wrap thread behind them to stand them up. Pull the feathers to the side — one toward you, one away from you — to split them, and figure 8 the thread between the feathers. If they aren’t perfect at this stage, usually you can manipulate them into position while you’re hackling, and let the hackle hold them in place.”

Josh is an excellent tyer, so I hope to have more from him in the future. Be sure to visit Gates Au Sable Lodge when you’re up near Grayling, MI.

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Filed under Michigan