By: Joel Anderson

You might think that a guy who recently returned from a trip to Montana that featured world class trout fishing on the Big Horn River wouldn’t have much interest in chasing 6-8” mountain brookies. You might think that, but you’d be wrong. 
 

By: Joel Anderson

In his otherwise excellent book, “The Fly Tyers Nymph Manual”, published in 1986, Randall Kaufmann’s chapter detailing the fly tying sequences of Gary LaFontaine’s Emergent Sparkle Pupa is a travesty. So poor is Kaufmann’s representation of the pattern, I seriously hope he had an opportunity to apologize to Mr. LaFontaine before Gary’s untimely passing in 2002 as a result of Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
 

By: Joel Anderson

“Plop!” We’ve all heard that awful sound. It’s the sound that tells us something just fell out of a fly vest pocket carelessly left open. It sounds expensive. You just hope it’s not the new Orvis sunglasses or that 100 meter spool of 6X fluorocarbon expensive. Hopefully it’s something with which you can live without for the rest of the day.

By Joel Anderson

After a cold and record breaking wet spring, the fishing was just starting to pick up over the past two weeks on my home water. My worst fear was then realized last week when an extended stretch of hot weather warmed the water and, in turn, slowed the fishing. However, this latest stretch of cool, wet weather has effectively breathed life back into my river. Last night provided time for a couple hours of fishing before the Bruins game.

 

By Joel Anderson

The late Jack Gartside left a legacy of fly patterns that will serve fly fishermen well until the end of time. While the list contains such great flies as the Sparrow Nymph, Gartside Gurgler, and Gartside Hopper, perhaps the most well-known and innovative of all his creations might just be the Soft Hackle Streamer. In hindsight, a few earlier lessons on how to tie this pattern correctly would have benefitted me greatly and perhaps caused me to fish the fly more often through the years. However, a recent revisit to the SHS, as well as a serendipitous occurrence, has once again open my eyes to the genius of this simplistic, yet incredibly elegant and effective streamer. Here's a few lessons learned from both personal experience and directly from Gartside’s website that I have found helpful.