55 on the fly

It's been a crazy winter here in NY with warmer than usual weather and little snow. I've been itching to get out on my creeks but it just hasn't happened yet..... I seriously injured my left elbow on my casting arm back on August 5th, 2016 out in Montana while fly fishing. Taking a fall on a big arse rock. Many doctors and surgeons visits later and I am still dealing with a tricep and bursa sack problem and elbow pain. Thus the lack of fishing reports since the injury. Anyway, I hope to get out on the water soon, regardless, this is getting ridicules..... I NEED to go fishing! I've been tying two patterns this week, beetles and streamers....... two killer patterns for Brown and Brook trout. Beetles are an excellent summer terrestrial pattern, often overlooked by fly fishers. The Joffee Jewel Streamer is a killer in the Late Winter and Early Spring seasons when the trout are looking to put on weight fast... Joffee Jewel size #10 Streamer  #18 Beetle

Hi folks - I fished a small creek here in Western New York yesterday. The creek has not been stocked since 2006, but has a steady population of browns and a few rainbow trout. Here's one I picked up with my Wright and McGill, 7' 5wt., that I like to use with a DT4, she's an oldie but goodie.... I caught the fish on a "Graham's Cracker", a great little caddis pattern.

Hi folks - it's been a while since I posted a fly. But today, after tying up a bunch of flies for Parks Fly Shop, I had some time to tie a few Apple Caddis for my local waters. This fly is especally good on the West Branch of the Delaware River where these flies hatch in abundance. See my "Korn's Spruce Moth" video on YouTube for tying and fishing instructions, then just switch up the materials for the caddis on your streams. Materials list: #14 & 16 Dry Fly Hooks (this is a #16) Olive thread Butt section: Chartreuse GSS dubbing Mid/Thorax section: Tan dubbing Wings: Two Pheasant wing feathers, stacked and then folded back over for the head. Legs: Red Fox Squirrel dubbing

Hey folks - I know summer is coming when the shop has me tying 30 dozen flying Cinnamon Ants. That's a lot of ants.... but hey, they work and the fish love them. If a hopper is the cheeseburger in a Happy Meal then Cinnamon Ants are the french fries...... Fished as a dropper off the hopper it's a great combo for those dog days of summer. Here is the PFS version. side view bottom view - what the fish see... PATTERN:  Hook: #16 MFC 7000 Thread: 8/0 Uni Rusty Brown  Front hump: small ball rusty brown DK dub  Rear hump: rusty brown DK dub  Wing: white MFC Widow Web, fairly thick, split.  Hackle: 5-6 turns brown or furnace Whiting saddle.  Use high-end hackle, we want this sucker to float on the Yellowstone!

Hi folks - it's been a while since I last posted but it's good to be back at the lathe turning a call. I've been looking forward to hunting season and taking a bird to supply more tail-feathers for tying my turkey tail stone fly nymphs. These nymph's are very active in early spring and a sure bet in our local streams, the trout love them. Korn's Wire Head Turkey-tail Nymph I made this simple, clean lined osage call yesterday for a little lathe practice. The trumpet has a delrin mouth piece that I turned and is 8-1/4" overall. My thanks for giving it a look.

Today was an excellent morning to be out in the woods.  I harvested several squirrels, both red and gray's for fly tying dubbing and the tails. My old 22 LR did the job. There's nothing like a little lunch in the woods.

This is a variation of my Korn's Wrapped Foam Hopper that I tie for Parks Fly Shop.  It makes a super Salmon fly and you can use the same pattern for Golden Stone flies as well.  I just change the hook to a size 8-10 and the foam over body to a golden yellow.  Out West it's a killer fly when the Salmon flies are hatching and in the East for the small Spring Black Stone flies. I just change the color and downsize them to size 12... Materials: Hook: MFCo. 7026 4-6 Thread: black 6/0 Uni Legs: MFC med. black legs Underbody: orange craft foam wrapped Over body: black or dark brown craft foam, hook gap wide with split-tail Wing: deer tail hair Indicator: orange craft foam SBS tie in back legs split tie in underbody foam at eye extending out from hook superglue thread base, wrap orange foam back to tail-legs attach over body with 3 wraps at tail-legs, then loop thread over the top of the underbody to the eye (this way no wraps ...

The RS2 has always been a good producer for me... I tie them to represent many different Mayflies from Green Drakes to Trico's.  The only thing that changes is the color of the thorax and the size of the hook. Hook: #1560 12-24, wet fly (1x long) Thread: UTC 70 Wing: fluff from base of dun rooster or turkey feather Tail: pearl flash, tied split Abdomen: rusty brown dubbing, rabbit Thorax: PMD dubbing, rabbit

Ben Jewell's - Slough Creek Spinner Fishing Yellowstone National Park's famous Slough Creek can be a real test of skill and fly fishing knowledge.  The Cutthroat trout are tough to catch and by mid-season have seen most every fly available.  Knowing a few key flies and how and when to fish them can make all the difference. There are a few flies I would not be without on Slough, this is one of them.  That's why my fellow guide Ben named it as such.  Anytime you see a fly with a creeks name, and you are going to fish that creek....... Yeah, you're going to want some of those. an average Slough Creek Cutt'y... I enjoy tying this fly even though it has more materials than I like and they can be troublesome to manage. Here you see wing bundles, each made up of white and dark gray Widow's Web and 2 strands of Krystal Flask.  Turkey rounds of Gray-olive biots are used to wrap the body and moose  body hair is spilt to form the tails. usi...

Hi folks, Today I was tying up some of my Korn's Spent-wing Caddis flies with Opal Tinsel bodies.  The tinsel was a real pain in the butt to handle as it was full of static.  It was so bad I almost couldn't put it down! Then I remembered an old trick.  I ran downstairs and grabbed a dryer sheet from the laundry area and put that on my tying bench and laid my tinsel on it, bingo!  The anti-static dryer sheet solved the problem and I could get back to knocking out 15 dozen of these killer flies... Here is a photo of the Opal Tinsel body, nice and slim. Anti-cling dryer sheet does the trick... finished fly - bottom Korn's Tinsel Caddis - top

Early last year Bruce Staples contacted me and asked if I would be willing to contribute some of my original fly patterns to his new book.  Needless to say I was flattered, and said yes.  I sent off to Bruce examples of eight flies, a materials list and a short description for each.  I just recently received my copy and I was very impressed with both the content and quality of this publication... My "Korn's Marabou Caddis" even made the cover! My flies included in this book are: Korn's; Spruce Moth, CDC Spent-wing Parachute Caddis, Green Lantern, Holiday Golden Stone, Marabou Caddis, TNT Golden Stone, TNT Green Drake and my Wrapped Foam Hopper. It is truly an honor to have my flies listed alongside some great fly tiers like: Bob Jacklin, Hans Weilenmann, Walter Wiese, Craig Mathews as-well-as many others... If you get a chance please give this book a look especially if you plan on fishing in Yellowstone Country!  Thanks Bruce...

Hi folks, I've been "tied up" with my knee surgery and some other health issues as-well-as the Holidays.   Needless to say I've fallen behind on my fly tying... But now I'm back up and at them. Today I'm tying up a bunch of my favorite fly - the "Korn's Spent-wing Caddis". You can check out my YouTube video titled; "Korn's Spruce Moth".  The Spent-wing is tied using the same methods with just slightly different materials.  See my list of materials and tying instructions below.  The thing to remember is, caddis flies have a narrow wing profile, where the spruce moth's wings are wider. Korn's Spent-wing Caddis, tan version.  Tied with narrow hen pheasant feathers producing the perfect profile in the water. Hook: MFCo. #7000 Dry 14-18 Thread: Serafil 200   Rib: tag end of thread  Abdomen: DK Tan dubbing Palmered hackle: ginger rooster neck. Wing: 2 hen pheasant wing or neck feathers Steps: 1. St...

step-by-step- Bubble Back Nymph - BWO Here’s a great nymph to use in the film or slightly sub-surface.  I say that because the fly starts out as a trailer nymph up in the film, but after the first few fish beat it up it rides a bit lower in the water column.  It behaves very much like a Pogo Nymph, another favorite of mine in that when it swims in the water column it bounces and bobs-n-weaves all over the place and drives the trout "to the take"...  Tie some up in the Mayfly colors you need to match the hatch. This is my version of this nymph.  I've seen many nymphs featuring some kind of foam used as a shellback. But mine differs slightly, because it also uses the foam to form the head and the eyes of the nymph providing a little bit more floatation especially in the bigger fly sizes. Materials list: Bubble wrap for electronics:  This is the thin, tightly packed, small bubble wrap in Tan/Gray/Dun really nice stuff... cut a pie...