TL;DR: Syl’s Midge is a go-to wet fly when trout are active but picky. One of my favorites. I first read about this pattern in Dave Hughes’ book, Handbook of Hatches: A Basic Guide to the Food Trout Eat and the Most Effective Flies to Match Them. He rapturously writes about how incredibly effective it
Category: Flies and fly tying
The JT Special Streamer (Re-Visited)
TL;DR: A good streamer for the Swift and Westfield rivers. When I was new to fly tying, I made a white marabou streamer for situations when I wanted to see the take. It miraculously worked (N.B.: many, many of my flies have been duds!), and I wrote a post about it. The JT Special has
Fluorescent Orange Flies: They Work
One of the most effective colors in my fly tying arsenal is this: fluorescent orange. That color has worked wonders at the Farmington, Millers and Westfield East Branch rivers. I work with UTC thread to incorporate that color into some of my nymphs. Easy to do so. View this post on Instagram A post shared
Best Flies and DIY Spots: Easy Links
These flies work, and these rivers produce. Links are below. Note that these are all amply-stocked waters that many already visit and about which much information already has been published. I’ve found that many rivers are sub-par. I track in my fishing journal what fly patterns work on which waters. So, the links below are