Posts by Fly Fishing the Sierra

Trico Spinner Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook Thread Body Thorax Tail Wing Trico Spinner The Trico Spinner Fall can be the highlight of any fly fishing excursion within the Sierra. This activity is found usually in areas of slow moving creeks and streams as well as lakes. The males hatch during the…

Baetis Thorax Dun Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook Thread Body Tail Wingpost Hackle Thorax Dun The Thorax Dun is a variation off the Catskill Dry by Vince Marinaro. During the 1940’s , Vince examined the smooth waters of the Letort Spring Run in Pennsylvania and concluded the need to develop a fly…

PMD Sparkle Dun Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook or Thread Body Tail/Shuck and Wing Sparkle Dun/Comparadun The Sparkle Dun/Comparadun pattern actually has it’s roots in another no-hackle fly known as the Haystack by Fran Betters in 1949 while Fran was still a teenager. Fran developed this pattern for slow-moving waters that were…

Sparkle Flag Dun, PMD Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook Thread Body Thorax Tail Wing Hackle Sparkle Flag Dun The Sparkle Flag Dun is a variation designed by the late Bob Quigley. It is a combination of two earlier designs of his: the Hackle Stacker Flag Dun and the Sparkle Stacker. The “hackle…

RS2 Callibaetis Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook Thread Body Thorax Tail Wing RS2 Designed by Rim Chung. RS2 stands for Rim’s Semblance #2. It was designed originally for baetis and midges on the South Platte in the mid 1970’s. The body of the fly hangs down into the surface file and the…

Rusty Spinner Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook Thread Body Tail Spent Wing Thorax Quilled Spinners Quilled Spinners are very slender in profile. They are mayfly duns that have molted their layer of exoskeleton. They do this to allow for ease of mating. Males fall into the water exhausted after mating while the…

Quill Gordon Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook Thread Body Tail Wing Hackle Quill Gordon Early American fly tiers, such as Theodore Gordon (photo at right), began the Catskill Dry Fly type in the late 1800’s with his Quill Gordon. Gordon is considered the American “Father of the Dry Fly” , a title…

Royal Wulff Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook or Thread Body and Tail Wing Hackle Wulff Flies Lee Wulff was an innovator. He designed the first fishing vest, popularized left-handed reels to keep the rod in the stronger right hand, created the first palming reel, and designed triangle taper lines. He designed the…

Green Paradrake Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook or Thread Extended Body Extended Body Support Tail Wingpost Hackle Paradrake The Paradrake pattern, also known as a Paradun, is an extended hair-body that was developed by Carl Richards and Doug Swisher in 1971. Richards and Swisher used hen hackle for the wing posts on…

PMD Parachute Dun Materials to Order Material, click the link Hook Thread Body Tail Wingpost Hackle Parachute Dun The parachute dun (Paraduns) differs from a standard dun due to the hackle being wound in a horizontal manner. The Parachute technique is generally attributed to a young Scottish fly tier by the name of Helen Todd.…