I ventured out on a hot June evening, three days into an official heat wave, rigged for dries. I found another angler in the spot I intended to fish and we struck up a conversation on the bank. “Nothing showing,” he said. I aimed my infrared thermometer at the water and was surprised to see
Author: Damon Matus
Lifelong angler, retired military. My main effort now is fly fishing for wild brown trout, although I grew up surfcasting for striped bass on Cape Cod and throughout Southern New England.
Rich Strolis’s ‘Shucked-up Emerger’
There’s no shortage of fly pattern tutorial videos these days. Many of them are an impressive display of the fly tyer’s art, but one has to wonder if some of them actually catch fish. I get on a creative streak from time to time, whipping up experimental patterns that look great but most of them
At the Bench: Organization
It’s March, but right now it’s 18 degrees with a 22 mph wind out of the northwest; perfect fly tying weather. I’ve had an enjoyable tying season so far, filling boxes with old reliables and some new stuff. Whether I’m in production mode with a list of patterns to tie, or tinkering with experimentals, it’s
Get the Most Out of Your Mop
There’s no denying the effectiveness of the infamous Mop Fly. What other fly has been featured in the Wall Street Journal? “Fake news!” say the purists, and they’re right – literally. We love to theorize what the Mop might represent; crane fly larva, caddis larva, beetle grubs, cigarette butts, Cheetos, the list goes on. If