Fly of the Month

The flies that I tie are made out of necessity, the necessity to create art, and the necessity to create fishable flies. Sometimes both of those driving forces combine and align, The All Night Diner is a great example of this. Named after one of my favorite Modest Mouse songs, The All Night Diner is fun to tie and an effective dry fly. This parachute emerger pattern is a great example of how the tying art flies leads to new techniques for effective fishable patterns. I first tied this pattern late at night on a long project fly using a VKsteelworks hook.

This is a fly originally designed by Bob Clouser as is obvious by the name. This is how Bob himself describes the fly.

Euro nymphing, tight line nymphing or high-stick nymphing, no matter what you choose to call it, can be an extremely effective way to catch fish. The key is to get the fly to the bottom and into the feeding lane of the fish. I, like a lot of trout fishers, grew up fishing the classic nymph patterns like Pheasant Tails and Hare’s Ears. Although these patterns are exceptional at mimicking the naturals as closely as possible in shape and color, I soon discovered with euro style flies, shape and weight were more important. I believe it is better to have four patterns in various weights than 100 of the same flies in the same weight. I often fish flashier flies when in high pressured waters for nothing else than to show the fish something different. I say all this based on my experiences. Not everyone will be the same and there are always exceptions.

The Grey Fox is a classic Catskill pattern developed by Preston Jennings to imitate a wide range of mayflies that the avid angler is likely to encounter while out on the water.

Guest Blogger + FOM Tyer: Mike Cline, Bozeman, Montana In the 1970s, Keith Fulsher, a commercial fly tyer fr...

Luckily, my mentor and friend Blane Chocklett posted a Full Dressed GameChanger he recently tied.  I have never tied a game changer like this before and knew it was going to be tough.  It took me about an hour and forty-five minutes to tie this fly and lots of Pheasant feathers.  I was very happy with how the fly turned out and entered it as my round two entry.  My Full Dressed Feather GameChanger went over well in round two of the Norvise March Madness Tournament and I was lucky to make it to round three.

Fly of the Month by J. Stockard Pro Tyer, Justin Aldrich, Habersham County, Georgia. Justin can be found on ...

I developed this Caddis pattern over many years of trial and error on The Neversink River in the southern Catskills of New York. It’s a low riding dry fly, as fish in these waters tend to prefer parachute style patterns or emergers that are fished in the film, but Caddis are the predominant food source.

A Christmas fly doesn’t get much better than a Royal Stimulator. So for the J.Stockard Fly of the Month for December of this year, we bring you a Royal Stimulator beautifully tied and photographed by John and Katie Demuth. Merry Christmas!

The Bunny Leech is a pattern that has been around for a long time. It wasn’t until I saw Pete’s (@Blueriverflies) Spawn Head version that it caught my interest and made me want to tie it and fish it. With any pattern, I love to over-complicate it and add more flash and materials. I really wanted to make this look even more minnow like by adding the white belly and speckled guinea, and who doesn’t like flash on a minnow.

Fly of the Month by J. Stockard Pro Tyer: Justin Aldrich, Haversham Co. GA  Put simply, local guide Daniel M...

Fly Tyer: Tony Sandrone, J Stockard customer & avid tyer The Bucktail Gamechanger Fly, which Tony Sandro...