Dollar Store Tying Materials

If you are looking for a cultural experience and fly tying materials, then go to the dollar store. Not only will you find a whole lot of random stuff, but you also get to experience a ethnic potpourri. You might even be able to transcend some of the traditional ideas of fly tying and find some killer deals.











































Bradlee Waker














Why pain dollars for foam at the local fly shop when you get ten times as much for a buck. Now I am a proponent of supporting the local fly shop, but you can save those three bucks and buy something else. Plus foam on a skater just plain works and we all know about Chernobyl Ants. Hmm, Chernobyl Ant skaters????

Clouser Minnow











I am sure someone out there has caught a steelhead on a clouser, but as we all know this is a fly much better used in the salt for numerous species. The multiple colors and partially translucent qualities of the hair makes a good synthetic for saltwater flies.


Rhyacophila Wood (Green Rock Worm)














Here is the old reliable rock worm caddis that you find in fast riffle water. This guy would be great for both trout and steelhead. Although I have no idea why you would want to nymph the Deschutes, I hear this is an effective pattern in the Fall for steelhead. You can easily substitute the green for yellow or orange and have yourself an October caddis pupae as well.

Hot Head Shad Wood















I love swinging flies for shad, but really hate to tie flies for them. Fishing the Bonneville Pool for shad from the bank leaves you with a few less hooks and you end up tying flies before each trip. A total pain in the ass if you ask me. Here is an easy way in my favorite color combination that I know will work.

Scenes from the Skagit and Sauk

Upper Mixer










Dawn Fischer-Chou on the Sauk




Dec's Iguana apparently ran away a few years ago and ended up hitch-hiking in Chris Deleone's boat. I guess he didn't want to move away from the Skagit.











I have no idea who could have done this.






















Bulkley the DOG!












Hannah kicking some butt!























Marty Sheppard and Brian Chou tying a few. Notice the shots of Jaeger on the table.















Brian sure is ugly.













Finally a wedge on the Sauk.

Beware Boys

Dawn Fisher Chou, Kate Taylor, April Vokey, Adrienne Comeau and Hannah Belford

Boys beware, there are some badass women out there with some game. Over the years I have become friends with a few gals that have some serious skills with the fly rod. On my recent trip to the Skagit and Sauk Rivers, they kicked the boys butts hooking and landing more fish then any of the guys.


















I had the pleasure of tailing this buck for Hannah Belford on the Skagit River. Hannah is the Co-owner and head guide for Damdochax River Lodge. On her spare time she runs Flyfishergirl.com, a site for women fly fishers. Did I mention she caught her first steelhead at only five years old?

Kate Taylor is a guide in Bristol Bay. She is an energetic fishing bum that I have known for years. She runs the Rogue Angles website. Adrienne Comeau and April Vokey are guides for salmon, steelhead and sturgeon in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. Together they help promote women fishing in this male dominant sport and help to show a woman's perspective in BC. Adrienne even runs a blog called the Female Angle. Together these gals play an integral part in the promotion of females into the sport of fly fishing and help to prove that that women can not only do it, but they can sometimes do it better.

Red Gold

Bristol Bay is the largest fishery on our beautiful planet. Red Gold is a documentary on the proposed pit mine in the headwaters of this beautiful watershed. Please check it out and help avoid a natural disaster. Stop the Pebble Mine it is not a renewable resource!

Showing Some Class

Although the breakup of AEG is a mystery to many of us, including friends of the guys, the majority owner of the company is showing some class by altering the Rogue Angels original website. I think someone needs to step away from his computer and actually leave the house from time to time.

Flies of the Month

Smuddler Minnow

















I am already thinking about summer and dry lines. The smuddler was a pattern originally tied by Greg Smith. Greg a native to Southwest Washington has used this pattern for decades locally with great success. It is the original skater that was later turned into an after dinner mint by a local fly shop owner. This fly will take fish skated, especially in boulder fields in the summer.

















Brad Smith with a SWW Native taken on a Smuddler

Marabou Flies

















Lakers suck variant

















The all purpose marabou fly has been around for decades. They are a blast to tie and can be very easy, depending on how you want them to look. I like them tied with a varying contrast and bulk, providing a larger profile for winter months. I tie them using tubes or stinger style, depending on my mood and fish them with confidence. Now if I can just find a fish in this winter sea of sorrow, I would be in good shape.

A Glue Egg???


































Oh that's right, no need for pegging, chenille or McFly Foam here my friends. Just some straight up glue on an Owner SSW. Drop some glue, grab a lighter and start spinning until it feels just right. Swing them, chuck them, dead drift them or throw them off the end of a centerpin and you will catch some fish. This is a great fly for the omelette hatch on the Wet Side part of the Pacific Northwest in the Fall and creek fishing in the winter.

Wild Steelhead Coalition

Well I finally became a member of the Wild Steelhead Coalition. The Wild Steelhead Coalition is a group representing conservationists, recreational fishermen, businesses, and citizens who seek to preserve the future of the Pacific Northwest's greatest resource. This group working in conjunction with others are vital in maintaining and bringing back native steelhead and salmon to the Pacific Northwest. The future of our fish are in our hands and this is one of the groups that can help by voicing our opinions in areas such as fishing, habitat and hatcheries. We sometimes need to step outside our boxes and look at the big picture and groups such as this can help us form rational decisions in how to look at the future of our fisheries.