Theo’s New Tying Material
Our friend, Theo Bakelaar from Holland has started growing his nose hairs for fly tying material. They tend to be a little curly, but make very good, inexpensive flies, especially for pike–according to...
View ArticleFur Bug
It’s hard to imagine after the coldest February on record, that the warm weather this week is a reality. But it is, and the snow is receding rapidly each day. I’ve begun my tying for the start of the...
View ArticleOpening the Season
Our friend from Holland, Theo Bakelaar, has started his spring season with a trout fishing excursion to a Dutch stream that harbors trout. His successful fly of the day was a black and chartreuse...
View ArticleDown and Dirty Flies: the Knotted Egg
I tie a series of “down and dirty flies” whose intent is speed without sacrificing fish-catching ability. Actually my definition of a “Down and Fly” is one that can be tied while sitting in the back...
View ArticleJuan Juan
My Dutch friend, Theo Bakelaar, came up with a great idea for a new version of the San Juan Worm—a double worm tied from Powercord or other similar material used in beading. Powercord is stretchy and...
View ArticleTheo’s Ant
My friend, Theo Bakelaar from Holland, has been fishing a foam ant over the last few days, and doing very well with it. It’s very fast and easy to tie, and uses readily available materials. His precut...
View ArticleKnotted Egg Revisited
I’m always searching about “sussing out” the best materials with which to tie my flies. Sometimes I find new materials that look promising, but which turn out to be no better than the materials I have...
View ArticleTheo’s Caddis Socks ‘em
Theo has been out giving the trout a bad time, again. This time it was with his foam caddis (http://www.garyborger.com/2014/05/04/theos-foam-caddis/). It floats very high and offers a great profile—at...
View ArticleKnotted Eggs—Clowns
There are those that love the “clown” eggs—eggs of two or more different colors. I like them, too, and tying them with the Knotted Egg method is very simple. Rather than using one strand of chenille,...
View ArticleFry Flies and UV Cure Head Cement
I’m headed to Alaska with my friend, Dave Graebel, in search of some big rainbows on the dry fly. This is the time to do it. The trout are not yet so fixated on eggs that they will take nothing else....
View ArticleTwo Generic Patterns from Theo
Here are a couple of generic patterns from Theo Bakelaar in Holland. His Little Black One is simplicity to tie, but very effective. Body: black ostrich herl, bak, Swiss straw, tail: red yarn. It can...
View ArticleDetached Body Pins
Our friend Theo Bakelaar, from Holland, has been tying many imitations of recent days. He is kind enough to send along photo instructions of his very fine work. Some of his imitations call for an...
View ArticleFolded Foam Humpy
This great idea came from Harrisson Steeves, a friend of Theo Bakelaar. It’s a fabulous idea, and I’m already seeing it as a possible Down and Dirty tactic for many imitations. Fold the foam and glue...
View ArticleFoam Heads
Our friend Theo Bakelaar is foaming at the vise. Here’s a neat idea for using a circle of foam to make a muddler head. My friend, Mark Rayman, from Colorado, uses a circle of foam to make a great...
View ArticleBottom Walker
Another great idea from Mr. Goldbead, Theo Bakelaar. This concept allows the fly to ride upside down with the bead scraping bottom, making both noise and kicking up mud. The placement of the bead above...
View ArticleKisscud
Joe Kissane (Drag-Free Drift, 2001, Stackpole Books) sent along his favorite scud imitation, which like Theo Bakelaar’s scud is tied with ostrich herl. And, like Theo’s it is fast to tie. Joe weights...
View ArticleParachute Flies, Stage 3 Emerger
Stage three of emergence of the three groups that hatch at the film—mayflies, cadis, and midges—occurs as the adult pulls itself free from the nymphal or pupal skin. The wings have started out (Stage...
View ArticleSparkle Snail and Hair Leg Crystal Bugger
Marc Williamson and I are planning to fish Cold Water Lake later this month. Cold Water is an offspring of the Mt. St. Helens eruption on May 18, 1980. When fishing the lake, one looks right up into...
View ArticleTheo’s New Rattle Flies
My friend, Mr. Goldbead, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland, is constantly coming up with great ideas for using gold (and other color) beads. His former rattle streamer used a loop of nylon on which the beads...
View ArticleTheo’s Eel Skin Rattlers
Theo’s at it again. He loves to use freshwater eel skin for many of his long flies. When wet it undulates, well, like an eel. And then adding rattles? Wow. He will be fishing with Chuck Furimsky later...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....