I spend a fair amount of my fishing time flicking flies on small creeks. Arizona has a good number of these small waters to choose from and the fish are usually quite opportunistic and willing to take a well presented fly. The Frye Creek Special is a super simple pattern that I always turn to if I need trick that picky fish holding in one of those deeper plunge pools. Plus, I’m always looking for a use for my Mearns quail feathers.

The Frye Creek Special is available for purchase in the Arizona Wanderings Shop.

• Hook/Bead: #10 streamer hook with a 2.8mm bead
• Thread: 6/0 Uni
• Tail: Marabou
• Body: Arizona Simi Seal
• Collar: Male Mearns Quail feather

The Frye Creek Special is available for purchase in the Arizona Wanderings Shop.

The post Fly Tying: Frye Creek Special appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

I remember the first time I fished the San Juan River, my friend Mike, from Dry Flies and Fat Tires, gave me a couple of flies. In that collection of flies he passed on to me were a couple of Flash Thread Midges (also called the Bling Midge). I learned first hand that flies don’t have to be overly complex and difficult to tie to be productive. Ever since then, I keep a couple of Flash Thread Midges in my tailwater fly box. Typically, I’ll tie them from size 18 on down to 24.

• Hook: #18-24 curved hook
• Thread: UTC 70 – Brown for body/Black for head
• Thorax: Holoshimmer Tinsel Thread – Silver (found this at a local craft store)

If you are looking for a cool variation of this pattern, check out Juan Ramirez’s video of the Biot Bling Midge. Excellent pattern.

The post Fly Tying: Flash Thread Midge appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

The original Higa’s S.O.S. fly pattern has long been a staple in my fly box and has proven itself to be a dynamic fly that seems to work just about everywhere. With many fly patterns I like to make small variations to use up different materials that I have or to meet a need that I have for a particular creek. This variation of Higa’s S.O.S. makes for the perfect dropper here on our AZ creeks and is extremely quick and easy to tie.

Hook – any size caddis style hook

Bead – to match wire

Thread – UTC70

Tail – Gambel’s quail

Wire – size small

Wingcase – Danville 4 strand Rayon

Thorax – Haretron Dubbin to match

The post Higa’s S.O.S Variations appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Ingredients –

• #18-12 curved caddis hook
• Gold bead
• 8/0 Uni thread (Brown or Black)
• Small Ultra Wire (Brown or Black)
• Green Holoshimmer tinsel thread (available at your local craft store)
• Haretron Dubbing (Brown or Black)
• India Hen soft hackle

Finding myself at home this winter with our new baby, I’ve been spending some more time at the vise and filling a few fly boxes. While working on some caddis patterns, I found myself wanting to tie something a bit flashier, and after pawing through materials I found some Holoshimmer tinsel from a while back. I give you the “Shimmy Caddis.”

The post Shimmy Caddis Nymph appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

The sunlight filters through the east facing windows and warms the tile in the kitchen. By the way, if you have wood shutters, it gives beautiful combination of style, versatility and durability that adds a warm, rich dimension to any setting. The baby swayed rhythmically in her swing next to me as I spend the morning attempting to refill a few different boxes. She’d gurgle, and occasionally squawk, when I would show her a finished fly, which of course I took as her approval of my technique.  I certainly didn’t maintain my usual speed at churning out flies, but having a cute partner at the table was worth the decrease in output.

The post Fly tying with a baby… appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

One of my good fishing buddies, Jason Jones, runs AZ by the Fly which is a local fly fishing site with some great local information. Mr. Jones has recently expanded his enterprise and started offering a smoking deal on a heft batch of fly tying dubbing. There are 46 colors in the pack, and each bag holds at least 2 grams while most run between 2.3-2.7 grams each to be safe. They come packaged in 3″ x 5″ bags individually labeled.

46 Color Dubbing Kit from AZ by the Fly

If you’re looking for a sweet deal on dubbing this is an excellent place to start. Check his site out and support a local.

The post Dubbing for Days appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Tis the season when bugs start filling the banks here in Arizona and throughout the rest of the country. The past few weekends that I have made it into the mountains, the fish are already starting to look up. I typically like to set up with either a 5 or 6 foot uni-thread furled leader with another 5 or 6 feet of tippet to the mini hopper. Often I’ll tie a ice-dubbed pheasant tail or another beadhead about a foot off of the mini hopper. When all else fails, this always seems to get the fish to move. If you need to restock your box with mini hoppers or you need a furled leader or two, you can pick them up online in the Arizona Wanderings Shop.

I also can fill special orders, so if you see any particular flies on AZW that you like the look of, feel free to shoot me an email at Ben@AZWanderings. In additional promotional articles, take a look at costa mesa drug rehab center.

Best of luck on the water.

The post Arizona Wanderings Shop – Mini Hoppers appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Gearing up for my upcoming fly fishing trip to Pyramid Lake in search of some big Lahontan cutthroat trout, I kept running across the Pyramid Lake Tadpole fly pattern. The Pyramid Lake Tadpole is a fairly simple pattern and can be tied up in a number of different color variations. The Pyramid Lake Tadpole is typically fished in tandem with a wooley bugger on a fast sinking line. Its buoyancy coupled with the heavy sinking line allows the fly to bounce back along the bottom of the lake as it is stripped back.

Material List:

Hook: #6 Curved Caddis Hook (extra heavy for strength)

Thread: 6/0 Black Uni-thread

Tail: Marabou (optional to switch out for Krystal Flash)

Foam: Loco foam (Northern Lights) Note: Loco foam is expensive so I tied a bunch up using regular 2mm craft foam and some glittery craft foam I found at the local craft store.

Underbody – Purple Estaz Chenille

The post Fly Tying: Pyramid Lake Tadpole appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

When I started doing research for flies for Pyramid Lake, the Maholo Nymph kept popping up on every Pyramid Lake fly list that I read. After some more research I found some pictures of what the Maholo Nymph was supposed to look like and made a stab at trying to recreate it with the materials that I had at hand. Although I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s going to work at Pyramid, I also think that the Maholo nymph could be tied up in some smaller sizes and make a great attractor pattern on some of the small creeks here in Arizona. Since it’s so bright and shiny, the Maholo nymph could be the ticket in the early spring when the water is still a bit high and off color.

The original Maholo Nymph was designed by Rod Anderson of the Reno Fly Shop. The name comes from a cross between the Hawaiian word for “thank you” and the Holographic tinsel used for the body of the fly.

Material List:

Hook: Curved Caddis/Shrimp Hook (I’ve been tying #10 and #8s for Pyramid)

Gold Bead

Thread: Black 70 Denier Thread

Tail/Wingcase/Legs: Pheasant Tail

Body: Red Tinsel (Sulky Holoshimmer Tinsel available in multiple colors at craft store)

Rib: Small Copper Wire

Thorax: Olive Ice-Dub (I substituted some red Simi-Seal Material on some of the different colored tinseled bodies)

Clear Cure Goo Tack Free

Optional: Pearlescent Tinsel for flashback wingcase

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