The following interview with Evan Brant of Sideling Hill Hackle first appeared in the February/March 2025 issue of Dark Skies Fly Fishing Magazine. DSFF: How did you get into raising chickens and roosters for fly tying? Evan Brant: My family has owned a farm since 1866. I started tying flies when I was 12, and […]
Choosing and Using the Right Hackle for Fly Tying Read More »
The Little Black Stonefly is one of the first insects to hatch every late winter/early spring. Sometimes it occurs when there’s still snow on the ground, earning the nickname “the snowflake hatch,” and can provide some of the first surface fishing opportunities here in the Eastern United States. But don’t get too excited yet. There
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Perdigons are Spanish nymphs, and their name loosely translate to mean “pellet,” like the pellets found in shotgun shells. Indeed, these slim, dense flies drop as quickly as lead balls through the water column, which contributes to their effectiveness on all water types, but especially high and fast water. Although they were originally developed by
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I started tying flies about 30 years ago, but I still remember the first handful of patterns I learned to tie and fish. Maybe that’s more proof that I’m getting old – things that happened decades again are crystal clear in my memory, but I can’t quite recall what I had for breakfast this morning!
Fishing and Tying the Picket Pin: A Classic Fly for Trout and Panfish Read More »
My introduction to the Golden Retriever came in a fly shop in Rangeley, Maine, in early June. A few friends and I had planned a trip to the “land of legends” in hopes of experiencing brook trout fishing the way it should be. And, of course, every good trip starts with a stop by the
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Semperfli’s Dirty Bug Yarn is a specially designed mix of natural and synthetic materials, and in many ways reminds me of a modern version of Chadwick 477, the original material used to tie patterns such as the Utah Killer Bug. In fact, Semperfli also now offers a material called Chadwick 477 Substitute for tying this
Tying with Semperfli Dirty Bug Yarn Read More »
In my box of terrestrial tricks, you’ll invariably find the Letort Cricket. Developed by Ed Shenk in the 1950s, Shenk often touted the Letort Cricket as his most effective fly, and he wasn’t wrong. He said he’d used it to catch trout on rivers all across the United States as well as Argentina, and although
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The Smokejumper was developed by Montana fly fishing guide Mike Hoiness for fishing the Bighorn River. The fly works everywhere, though, and is particularly good in small sizes for matching midge hatches here in the Eastern U.S. One of the things I appreciate about this pattern, other than its effectiveness at catching trout, is that
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The Micro Mayfly did not make my initial list of confidence flies. Nevertheless, it is just too effective to leave off. As with the Frenchie and Shop Vac, the Micro Mayfly is one of my go-to tag patterns. As a matter of fact, fishing the Micro Mayfly is identical to fishing the Shop Vac as
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Summertime wild browns love eating the Green Weenie. I will never, ever be caught dead on a Class A brown trout stream in July, August, and September without a dubious quantity of Green Weenies in my fly box. In fact, both limestone and freestone wild browns crush the Green Weenie in the summertime when fished
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