One of the nice things about tenkara wet flies is that while they’re very simple in design, they allow for a lot of experimentation in body construction. This is probably the main thing that keeps me interested in them as a fly tier. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with wire bodies and epoxy bodies. Now, I’m…
In my last post, I talked about some of my experiments with epoxy sakasa kebari (reverse hackle tenkara flies). I was tying some more at my desk tonight and an idea struck me… Many tenkara wet flies use a bright-colored thread between the eye of the hook and where the hackle begins. It could be…
Several years ago, I started tying epoxy midges to fish a very tough local spring creek in Western New York. The flies themselves were developed in the UK and were brilliantly simple, yet deceptively effective. Across the pond, they’re called “epoxy buzzers” and are mostly fished in larger sizes on big reservoirs. But I…
While I tend to prefer dry flies and don’t fish sinking flies much, I thought it would be fun to start experimenting with some reverse hackle Tenkara wet flies. When I do fish wet flies, I usually want them to sink fast. So, I’m playing around with some different ideas for Tenkara-style flies that use…
So I’ve been tying different variations on the Japanese hammer and thought it might be good to tie some in a tried-and-true color scheme: the Adams. [/caption] This pattern pretty much has everything I want for fishing the high mountain streams of the Rockies: it’s buggy, buoyant, hi-vis, and easy-to-tie. Tied in the colors of…
[/caption] I almost exclusively fish dry flies for trout—not because I’m a “purist”. I just love to see fish rise to a fly. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with nymph fishing and I don’t look down on anyone who fishes nymphs. It’s just not my style. I’ve been thinking a lot about the “one…
All of us who tie flies have our own unique spaces dedicated to the craft. Whether crammed into the corner of a tiny apartment or sprawled out over the entire expanse of a finished basement, they are sacred places. Here is a quick video of my current one and some of the materials I’ve collected…
If you’d rather fish a #14 fly during a heavy Trico hatch than a #22, check out the Traffic Jam
How to Tie the Traffic Jam Trico Cluster from Jason Klass on Vimeo.
Many of us who have fished Trico hatches probably have a love-hate relationship with them. These notoriously prolific hatches bring a lot of fish to the surface but it can be impossible to pick out your #22 imitation from the thousands of others on the surface. A fish could strike your fly and you wouldn’t even know it because there are so many rises surrounding it. Probably many of us have wished we could fish a larger, easier-to-see pattern that we could distinguish from the mayhem during these exciting hatches. This led some people to design double and triple Trico patterns that were a littler easier to see, but were unrealistic because of the way they are tied in perfect alignment (trunk-to-tail so to speak). After years of observation, I had an epiphany that led to the creation of the Traffic Jam.
The Balloon Caddis is one of my favorite all-time caddis flies (and dry flies for that mater). It’s versatile, durable, and easy to tie. This innovative pattern designed by Austrian fly fishing mogul Roman Moser (one of my fly tying heroes) belongs in every fly box (especially for the backpacking angler). Materials Hook: Partridge Mike…
Here’s my favorite, general purpose midge pattern. It’s easy to tie and very effective. While you could tie them in any color I mostly tie them only in black. Materials Hook: Tiemco 2488 #20 – 24 Thread: Red 8/0 Abdomen: Hareline Ultra Chenille Micro, black Thorax: Hareline Ice Dub, Olive Brown Breathers: Polypropylene Yarn, white…
