Blog

We like the addition of rubberlegs. We offer a few alternative materials, but otherwise don’t have much to add on this modern classic.

n general, there are several important categories of bugs for lakes. The Cruncher is a favorite callibaetis pattern.

Two Layer Foam, improved dubbing, and a mixed wing improve an already productive fly.

This fly incorporates aspects of Gary Borger’s classic damsel nymph and Mr Mayer’s more recent mini leech damsel...two stillwater jedis.

The Madam X can be tied in numerous colors, including Salmonfly

Here's an attempt to improve the floatability of a classic Madam X

Combine Hare’s Ear, a bead, and a soft hackle and you have a winning combination for almost anywhere, anytime.

Here is a Cicada version.

This version incorporates a set of spent wings, incorporates some flash, and sports a bushier head. It works everywhere we’ve fished it.

The biggest challenge to tying Pat's Rubberlegs are the pesky legs…..what to do with them? We show a method that works for us for this fly and others.

The original wings of this fly are medallion sheeting. We’ve been using Flash Back Plus from Sybai.

A beautiful mess. We like CDC…a lot. Here’s a classic Parachute Adams tied with CDC.

Green Drake nymphs are short, stubby insects. This fly is simple and HEAVY, which is great for a point fly.

While these flies can look intimidating to tie, several new materials simplify the process.

Inverting tungsten beads and SemperFli’s Eggstatic Egg Fritz combine to make an irresistible egg.

In smaller sizes, it can be used as an annelid or rock worm. In larger sizes, maybe fish take it for one of the skinny leeches that live in many rivers.

While we have a couple of techniques that we like to use when tying this fly, the overall design and materials list is straight forward.

Antron (also a trilobal fiber) and poly (round) fibers also work, especially since Z Lon is no longer manufactured.

The CDC Emerging Dun is one of our favorite BWO emergers.

This is our version of a melon quill color scheme married with Mr Mathews’ brilliant sparkle dun.

This pattern is effective when dead drifted or swung. Here is a Jig version.

There are several recently released materials that make this top producing nymph even easier to tie.

Our goal with this video is to show a few basic techniques and design concepts as well as highlight a few alternative materials.

Dread drifted as point fly is our favorite way to fish this fly. There are numerous variations to be tied and tried.

Don’t skip dubbing between the beads! This bulk of dubbing acts as the foundation for legs and wing case - a brilliant concept to be used in other flies

This is one of the first streamers we reach for whether we are fishing it dead drifted, swung, or stripped.

The key to this fly is to tightly cord the thread prior to wrapping it forward. This creates fantastic segmentation.

We use a quill body covered in UV resin. We think the quill keeps the segmentation and durability, but it is easier for us to tie.

The Orange Bearded version is a great spawning shrimp imitation.

We include a few tying notes with thoughts on techniques that make tying this fast and fun.