55 on the fly

What's your bench look like? This is mine right now, it's been worse... What's for lunch today? Leftover chicken, onions and brussel sprouts done up in the old #8 Blacklock skillet. Note the skillet cover... I needed one and picked up this nice old no-name 1950-60ish heavy cast aluminum lid for $1.99 works great ...

Hi friends, this is a Frank Sawyer fly pattern variation that I've fished for many years. Davey McPhail has an excellent video showing the tying steps here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogp5F7bmVcA&t=0s I tie them the same way Davey does in pheasant-tail to imitate mayfly nymphs but also in turkey-tail to imitate the small early stone fly nymphs here in NY. They are fast and easy to tie using just XS or SM Uni-copper wire along with your choice of tail material and a nymph #14 1XL hook. Turkey-tail and copper nymph (side view)

UK Bomber fly - the body is made with sheeps' wool that I collected from the Lake District in England..... Some folks will get to fish these flies in Montana next year for wild brook trout.... Lucky them!

Tying up some Fran Betters Bombers today, just for fun.... Looking forward to chasing the Brookies here in NY and out West in Montana in 2018... also, getting packed up for Deer Camp this afternoon with Opening Day of the Gun Season on Saturday. It's suppose to be cold and wet! Bombers pictured here with my Shane Gray Brook Trout Rod

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

I hit the West Branch of the Delaware River again today, same spot as Thursday, but different game plan and different results. Water was still very cold at 46 degrees this morning so nymphing was the order of the day. Fished till noon. Hooked three and of course lost the "big one" a good brown of 20 inch range. He made three runs and I had him on for 10 minutes or so. I could't do anything with him in the current. I had him to the leader once and then he just bolted and ran way down river with me trying to follow in cold deep water up to my boys….. Needless to say I couldn't stay with him and he broke off with the point fly…. Bummer, but what fun…. that fish got me going for sure…. a couple of photos below….. Doug.

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!

I made this call today..... Osage with stacked leather mid section and a Delrin mouth piece... thanks Doug.

I went for a scout today to check out a new piece of land to turkey hunt. I took along some toys to play with,  from top to bottom: Richard Hudson Hen Box Snakewood over Spalted Pecan and my own Osage Trumpet and crow call... What a great morning I had. Sunny and almost 65 degrees.... I was scouting a new area and slowly worked along the edges of it, lots of glassing the fields and looking for sign, but not seeing much.... I got to a likely looking corner of the field and woods and crow called into the woods.... nothing.... So, I sat down and had a snack and a cup of coffee, just enjoying the day. I had been sitting there about 30 minutes or so and decided to give my Hudson box a run and sent out a series of sweet old hen yelps.... A couple of clucks was my reward, from a hen not very far away..... I sent out a second series of yelps and got a reply yelp and then spotted the hen coming down the edge of the field coming right to me. I froze with no mask or gloves and a steam...

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.

Well hi there folks... It's been a while. I hope all is well and that your busy tying flies. I haven't posted recently because, even though I have been tying lots of flies they have all been one's that I have blogged about before. But today, I started tying these neat little pink caddis larva and I thought I'd share it with you. Materia;s List: hook: #16 scud bead: 5/64" gold (1x undersized) thread: 8/0 pink abdomen: light pink DK#30 dubbing rib: pearl midge krystal flash hackle: gray partridge collar: Hareline HD4 dubbing

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...

I've been tying dozens of these: Korn's Tinsel Caddis

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...