At The Vise
At the Vise – Once More, with Feeling: The IOBO Humpy
I send an e-mail to my friend Fran Noel, the artist and inveterate angler, asking if he…
At the Vise: 50 Clousers
Of the handful of good decisions I’ve stumbled into during my fishing career, none seems…
At the Vise: A Better Hopper
It’s been some time since I did any serious hopper fishing. But when my old pal Peter Syka…
At the Vise: Adult Crane Fly
My buddy Jeff Cottrell first told me about crane flies. I was headed to an out-of-state…
At the Vise: All Syn Minnow
We’re going to have to get past the fact, right here at the start, that this column was…
At the Vise: Ally’s Shrimp
Deep into steelhead season, it’s easy to grow fidgety. Among those of us who practice…
At the Vise: Amiocentrus
I remember the humiliation as sharply as yesterday. The river was becoming my favorite. I…
At the Vise: Anadromous Stone
It had been awhile since I thought much about salmon. They were around, of course,…
At the Vise: Andy Guibord’s Striper Caviar
I’ve been acquainted with Andy Guibord for a long time, but I came to know him better when I…
At the Vise: Aqua Buddha
Is it too early to begin thinking about steelhead? My buddy Jeff Cottrell doesn’t think so,…
At the Vise: Badger Shrimp
One of the grave misconceptions shared by many inexperienced or misled fly fishers is that…
At the Vise: Baja Baitfish 9.9
Some problems don’t change. Ideas for imitating baitfish in Baja go back as far as the…
At the Vise: Balanced Peacock Bugger
As you settle into your winter tying season, you might want to consider doing yourself the…
At the Vise: Ben Byng’s Damsel Lite
I met Ben Byng approximately six years ago. He had been recommended to me by a friend as an…
At the Vise: Big Jelly
My buddy Joe Kelly is a hunter, noted within a small circle of friends as the guy who finds…
At the Vise: Bill’s Big Fish Fly
Once in a while in this column, I feature one of my own fly designs. For this issue, I have…
At the Vise: Bill’s Little Yellow Stonefly Nymph
During spring and early summer you may have noticed small, yellowish bugs flitting about on…
At the Vise: Blowfly Humpy
I’ve always called them “attractor patterns.” Dave Hughes, on the other hand, in his…
At the Vise: Bruce’s Little Red Steelhead Nymph
There’s a certain kind of day on a certain kind of water when all I try to do is catch a…
At the Vise: Claret and Hope
It’s hard to know what to say about steelhead flies anymore. With a number of runs this year…
At the Vise: Cock Robin Caddis
We were up north, just across the border, swinging flies on a wide river for rising trout,…
At the Vise: Czechish Nymph
An old acquaintance of mine, Gary Davis, was kind enough to give me a place to crash for a…
At the Vise: Dabblers
I shake the rain off my jacket and push through glass doors of the county expo center,…
At the Vise: Dan LeCount’s Scuba Caddis
Guide flies — you gotta love ’em. Guides are on the water day after day and get to observe…
At the Vise: Design Spiral Double
We’ll get to flies in a moment. First, some background. The idea of a design spiral comes…
At the Vise: Ed’s Grub
Just to put this in perspective, I should mention, right here at the start, that Ed Simpson…
At the Vise: Flymphs
We reeled in lines at dark. Joe was cold, shivering some, and when we waded the fast water…
At the Vise: Gabe’s Fly
When it gets you early, there is no escape. — Paul Gartside They’re building a hotel where…
At the Vise: Gene Kaczmarek’s Deep Purple Pseudo Spey
PHOTOS BY ANDY GUIBORD For the life of me, I can’t recall where it was that I first met Gene…
At the Vise: Gledswood Shrimp
The good news is, we still need steelhead flies. This time last year, I wasn’t so sure. Runs…
At the Vise: Grey Duster
If you’re restless, like I am, and you feel life’s too short to quit looking around trying…
At the Vise: Hen and Harelug
Fires in my neck of the woods knocked out a little stream that has always been a good place…
At the Vise: Hogan Brown’s RedHeaded Stepchild
In one of his recent fly-fishing videos, master angler and fly designer Kelly Galloup made…
At the Vise: Jason Hartwick’s Steelhead Crippler Tube Fly
I first met Jason Hartwick several years ago. The owner of the fly shop where I’ve been…
At the Vise: Jay Murakoshi’s Hula Girl
It seems like an eon ago that I belonged to the Salinas Valley Fly Fishers. Actually, I…
At the Vise: Jingler
I’m overseas, fishing a famous river for sea-run fish, when a scatter of resident trout…
At the Vise: Joe’s Wine Cork Popper
Here’s how it works. Come late June through early July, about the same time the juvenile…
At the Vise: John Ryzanych’s Two-Tone Stonefly
I met John Ryzanych many years ago at a fishing show, where I occupied the fly-tying seat…
At the Vise: Kaylee’s Stone, Plus or Minus
Scott Sadil, our new columnist for “At the Vise,” is no stranger to readers of this magazine…
At the Vise: Ken Hanley’s Pygmy Hopper
Ken Hanley is no stranger to these pages. He is a California Fly Fisher contributing editor…
At the Vise: Kinky Muddler
I’m not sure anybody needs another baitfish pattern. If you’re like most saltwater fly…
At the Vise: Light Cahill Wet Fly
Has there ever been a lovelier material for tying flies than lemon wood duck flank feathers?…
At the Vise: Lincoln Gray’s Hexagenia Stillborn
Lincoln Gray, a big man with an infectious smile, has been a familiar face in the…
At the Vise: Liquid Wrench
Anyone who glances at this column with any frequency knows that I’m the last angler in the…
At the Vise: Little Foam Beetle
I’m not sure who first introduced me to the idea of fishing beetle imitations. Probably that…
At the Vise: Mike Rieser’s Gym Sock
I was introduced to Mike Rieser by the late Pete Parker at the Sacramento International…
At the Vise: Morgan Thalken’s Double Dutch Bug
I first met Morgan Thalken in 1991, when he and his father, Michael, joined my fly-fishing…
At the Vise: My Mullet
We had seen the mullet when we first walked up the beach as we were stalking a fringe of…
At the Vise: Neo-Freschi Bulldog
I rarely write about stillwater fly patterns in this column. My attention rests on flies I…
At the Vise: Not Quite Koga’s Charlie
In a pinch, I could claim this a surf fly, one that can reliably fool surfperch and…