Craig Thom at Stream.X Fly Fishing Blog doesn’t waste his time warning you about streamside safety. He and others know you will eventually do the awkward deed and he suggests ways to enhance the event at Creative Ways to Fall Into the Water.   Please check out Craig’s monthly newsletter and blog entries. If you

I don’t know about you, but this time of year makes me antsy for warmer weather and getting out on the water. In the past I have been fortunate to get out on the water with Winter steelheading, but this past few years have been absorbed by the more important, pressing commitments of life (and [...]

Ian Ference Photography & Provocations: Abandonment of a spot for sure. Abandonment of souls, troubled or maybe not so troubled souls, for certain. Not about the usual fly fishing, tying or outdoor pursuits that SwittersB likes to point to. But, take a few minutes to look and imagine.   IAN FERENCE PHOTOGRAPHY Filed u

“My younger siblings and I loved this creamy peanut butter pie growing up. Until one day when I was six or seven, when I was told she wouldn’t be making it anymore. Why? Mother Humble told me, and I quote “because it will kill you.” That was it.  No more peanut butter pies for twenty years.”

If you infrequently chase Steelhead with a two handed (Spey) rod then you may not totally understand all the talk about Skagit’s, Scandi’s, Shoot Heads, T this & that. Also, different manufacturers put their own labels to the same basic designs their competitors have so the nomenclature becomes further mixed

TRAVIS JOHNSON: PRACTICAL TIPS RE SKAGIT CASTING This is a nice, short reminder on foot placement, Snap T landing points and just the visuals of how the cast should look and what a Steelhead actually looks like…..been toooooo long. Video from FlyFishUSA (Bachmann) Filed under: fly casting lesson, Fly Fish Presentation

I frequently use a heavy weighted Caddis Pupa pattern as a point fly. The question of whether to tie a dubbed abdomen or a smooth abdomen has never been settled for me. I tie both and frankly have success with both styles. The scraggly, dubbed body has trailing fibers that suggest life and attracts, I [...]

SWALLOW THE FLY HAS SOME NICE PHOTOGRAPHY & PATTERNS  ”Our mission is nothing more or less than providing you with the most comprehensive, best-photographed multi-species fly pattern database on the world wide web.” Filed under: Art, Beginning Fly tying, Fly Fishing Photography, Fly Tying Photography Tagged

PG SUPER DUPER EMERGER FROM ARCTIC FLY FISH This is a nice Mayfly Emerger pattern. Notice a couple things that are not offered up during the video, that lend to the success of the fly: The Krystal flash tail (notice the one thread wrap behind the tail segments that helps lift the tail upward and [...]

Several times a year, I find myself up logging roads toward upper drainages/tributaries of big rivers. I string up the 9′ to 9’6″ rod and set forth weaving my way, this way and that way, through the trees toward the waters edge. Once on the water, I scout the canopy and other over hanging growth [...]

There is, for me, a decided uniqueness to the Fly Tying and Fly Fishing of SE Europe. One part of that uniqueness is the available Marble Trout of Slovenia. A cousin of the Brown Trout, the fish reaches large size and lives in some of the most pristine rivers, which pour into the Adriatic Sea. [...]

“An embarrassing spelling mistake outside a school in Manhattan’s Lower East Side reportedly remains unfixed months after the error was made. The word school was misspelled as “shcool” on Stanton Street in front of Marta Valle High School. The error was made sometime last summer…” I, for

BloodKnot Magazine, Blogger 2 Addition  May I promote SwittersB a bit? Inside this addition, amidst all the visually, creatively stimulating materials is a humble little piece called Lost Opportunity by SwittersB. As you receive your visual fix, maybe drop by my little way station for a nostalgia fix? Thanks! Filed under:

I was recently rewarded with an opportunity to review Ed Herbst’s (and friend’s) DVD, A South African Fly Tying Journey, Volume 1. I found that DVD very rewarding and suitable for the seasoned beginner to intermediate fly tier. (posted here 12/28/2011) As a followup, Ed asked me to also review Volume 2, which pr

Beginning Fly Tying Courses at Fly Shops and Community Colleges If no shops are nearby then find those Podcasts & other on line resources Find Hatch Charts for Your Local Streams or Planned For Destinations River Levels & Gage Station Reports for Your Area or Destinations Reporting Stations for Mountain Passes Hire

There are some excellent outdoor photographers that drop by here now and then. I have their sites down the right side of my blog listings. I like the work of Jeffrey Foltice too. Check out PhotoNatureBlog. Filed under: Art, Creative Stuff, Nature's Beauty, photography Tagged: fly fishing, Jeffrey Foltice, Outdoor Photograph

SEDGE PATTERN BY GLEN POINTON @ FLY FORUMS UK  I like the simplicity of this Caddis (Sedge) pattern and the use of CDC is an added bonus for floatation and the suggestion of life. The ‘cock de leon‘ feather fibers my not be readily available to you, but the author/tier describes their use for the [...]

OO AMERICA…PICTORIAL ESSAY OF TRAVEL….COOL!!!         Check this out…grabs you right away. Entertaining to say the least. “The background project is a documentary film featuring interviews of people I met on the road, as well as a series of large photos, trying to portray the diversity and beaut

This post, is aimed at the beginning fly tier, fly fisher who is attempting to clarify, exactify (my word) the confusing array of fly patterns and eventual variations. You will come across pattens that have many variations and some that claim to have been originated by one tier over here while over there another tier is [.

A FLY FISHER LADY’S LIFE Polly, the Fly Fisher Lady, does not write often enough, but read but a few passages and you will sense you wish she did. Just enough to titillate and perhaps that is the intent. An enjoyable read from the UK. The picture has nothing to do with Polly’s blog. I [...]

I have it on good authority that for those of you that dress some where between a rapper, skate boarder, jock and saggy assed fly fisher…how in the heck has this evolved?….the Fly As Me clothing line has come well designed cloth.   FLY AS ME CLOTHING CO. promotes an oft repeated phrase in their [...]

“You must not use this aforesaid artful sport for covetousness, merely for increasing or saving your money, but mainly for your enjoyment and to procure the health of your body and, more especially, your soul.  For when you intend to go to your amusements in fishing, you will not want very many persons with you, [...

WHAT ABOUT THIS MONKEY FISH CREATURE?   Filed under: Amazing World, BizzaroMundo, Crazy Shit Tagged: bee keeper, monkey fish, monkey fish pictures, odd creatures, swittersb

ETTA JAMES’ AT LAST LYRICS IN MEMORIAM Filed under: Art, entertainment, GOOD JUJU, women Tagged: Etta James, Etta James At Last, Etta James dead, swittersb

Many of you probably recall how the Donner Party ends up, stranded in the mountains and suffering enormous hardships and tragedy. This site, The Donner Party by Daniel M. Rosen delves, not just with the tragic portions, but also with the prelude, which makes the ending all the more wrenching. “In her 1891 memoirs, Vi

Many of you probably recall how the Donner Party ends up, stranded in the mountains and suffering enormous hardships and tragedy. This site, The Donner Party by Daniel M. Rosen delves, not just with the tragic portions, but also with the prelude, which makes the ending all the more wrenching. “In her 1891 memoirs, Vi

Current Conditions at a Glance U.S./Canada  Filed under: Amazing World, fishing, Nature's Power, Outdoor Safety, Recreation Tagged: fish eyes, Interactive Weather Map, NOAA, swittersb, weather map

ALL ABOUT HUMMUS FROM DURAMECHO Filed under: cooking, Food, Berverage, Cooking, Taste Treats Tagged: Hummus, HUMMUS recipe, swittersb

The vast majority of the flies you tie with have material wound onto the shank of the hook to form the abdomen/thorax of the fly. On smaller flies, I have experimenting with a more minimalist style of tying. On some patterns, I have simply used the tying thread for the abdomen with maybe a ribbing [...]

For me, this time of year is often a time of sorting fly boxes. Rearranging, noting what needs to be tied, mentally giving priority to those patterns that seem to work, or at least did the last season or two. I recently have come across some old fly boxes and old hook boxes that have [...]