Hatches & Patterns

Fly fisherman often ponder, “What is the most effective fly ever invented? If I had to fish with one fly for the rest of my life, what would it be?” Well, I know what my answer would be. I’d choose the Woolly Bugger. Whether fishing for musky, bass, bluegills, steelhead, or trout, Woolly Buggers tied […]

  It’s not often that nobody complains about bugs in their hair, but that was the case on First Fork Sinnemahoning that evening. Huge clouds of Gray Fox mayflies floated in the twilight above the stream. They flitted and landed on my arms, got caught in my hair, and occasionally I even swallowed one. The

In a sport that values aesthetic beauty, fly fishermen have no shame when it comes to flies. Take salmon egg patterns, for instance, which are sometimes referred to as Glo Bugs in an attempt to make them sound more sophisticated. Or sucker spawn, which is a piece of yarn on a hook meant to represent

 I first laid eyes on beadhead flies in the mid-1990s and life changed forever. I’d read about them in a Fly Fisherman magazine article and soon began tying every nymph and streamer with gold beads. I caught fish, sometimes lots of fish, and I never looked at those traditional, bead-less flies the same again after

The special regulation section of Yellow Breeches Creek behind the Allenberry Resort is legendary trout waters. It only seems appropriate that my first experience fishing there was during its most famous mayfly hatch, the White Fly. The White Fly occurs on numerous streams throughout the state but it’s perhaps the most consistent and predictable on