December 2010 – Lacky Wacky

The one fly I rely on when all else fails is the Lacky Wacky. This fly, first tied by Fontinalis Fly Fishermen charter member and local legend Russ Malone, has pulled the bacon out of the fire for me on streams all across the country. At first the fly had

November 2010 – Hemmingway Caddis

Mike Lawson developed this fly in the early 70’s to match the dark colored caddis hatches on the Henry’s Fork. He named it after his friend Jack Hemingway who used almost exclusively when fishing that hatch. It is still used with great success today. It is often tied with wood

October 2010 – Grey Fox Variant

Art Flick developed this pattern to imitate the Green Drake. He also used it as a general searching pattern for dark days. Although the original pattern as illustrated was tied with a light ginger hackle stem body, I’ve found that using dubbed synthetics increases both the durability and ease of

September 2010 – Hairwing Dun

Developed by Rene Harrop for use on the Henrys Fork this pattern is easily tied and can be adapted to any hatch. Start by dubbing a small amount of material at the tail position. Use this to split the tails. Move forward and tie in the hackle 1/3 body length

August 2010 – Cream Variant

The Cream Variant has been around since the early days of fly fishing in this country. It can be used as a general searching pattern or as an imitation of the various light colored flies that hatch in our area. In the past I’ve used it with great success on

July 2010 – Mr. Rapidan

This Wulff style fly was conceived by Harry Murray of Edinburg, VA. It is very popular on the mountain freestone streams of the Blue Ridge and southern Appalachians. Perhaps it will prove effective in our waters. The pattern can also be tied parachute style with a single post wing. When

June 2010 – Henryville

The Henryville (a.k.a. Henryville Special) was created years ago by Hiram Probst of Palmerton, PA and named after the famed section of Brodhead’s Creek. It has remained a popular and effective caddis imitation ever since. My version has a dubbed body instead of the original floss. I also tie the

May 2010 – Renegade

This most popular (and one of the oldest) fore and aft patterns was first tied in Idaho c.1928 by Taylor Williams. The original had two white hackles, but after fishing it for several seasons Taylor decided that a version with the rear hackle brown was more effective. He christened it

April 2010 – Purple Haze

Several years ago Andy Carlson of Stevensville Montana developed a series of patterns based on the popular Parachute Adams. Of the all the color variations experimented with the most successful and seemingly most unlikely one was the Purple Haze. This fly has become a standard addition to all fly boxes

March 2010 – March Brown Nymph

This fly is tied and fished by Fred Donatelli, PWTU Member and guide for River View Outfitters. Fred says to use the fly around the march brown season (usually mid May here in PA and NY). An effective way to fish it is to tie it as a dropper 8

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