Out of the Box Fly Patterns
California is known around the world as a place of great creativity and a high tolerance for weirdness.…
Robert Ketley
81 posts
Chucking Chickens
Every winter and spring, the small lake I manage receives several truckloads of chum in the form of…
Quill-Bodied Flies
Judging by the huge boil, my fly had just been spurned by a very large trout. To make…
Fly Fishing for Calamari
Every summer, schools of calamari invade the shallow edges of Monterey Bay. These finned mollusks have one goal…
Stripping Baskets for the Surf Zone
As you look down a California beach, it’s easy to distinguish fly fishers from the regular bait-and-hardware guys.…
Mistakes Were Made: Hard-Earned Lessons in Buying Gear
I am not ashamed to admit that over the years, I have spent quite a bit of money…
Fine-Tuning Fly Lines
Modern fly lines are marvels of chemical engineering and computer-controlled production. The experts at the major line companies…
Monterey Bay Hatches
Any good trout fisher knows that a working knowledge of insect hatches will lead to better angling. Through…
Choosing Shooting Lines
Shooting heads are the machine guns of the fly-line world. In the right hands, they cover more water,…
Improving Your Back Cast
Over the years, I have watched countless people struggle with their casting. Some suffer in silence, while others…