November Fly of the Month: Black Sparkle Bugger
- November 9, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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This is a bug that spends an inordinate amount of time on the end of my tippet this time of year. It’s a winner in the rivers for sea run cutthroat when fished around the wood piles and snags and if the water is relatively clear, coho salmon can’t seem to resist it either. It’s […]
October Fly of the Month: Pumpkinhead Booby
- October 11, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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Boobies are no doubt a weird fly. I don’t know what they necessarily imitate, if anything, or why they work. I just know that I’ve experienced many days when they seem to catch fish to the exclusion of just about anything else. Between the buoyant foam eyes and the typically densely wrapped body, they tend […]
September Fly of the Month: October Chubby
- September 13, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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When I was a kid we used to collect periwinkles in the Cedar River and watch them crawl around in the bottom of a yogurt container. These critters fascinated me with their carefully crafted stone cases and little heads and legs that would cautiously emerge from their mobile homes and lumber around. As I learned […]
August Fly of the Month: Just Another Humpy Fly
- August 12, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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This one’s somewhat of a Comet style fly, not unlike the old Pink Floozie but is quick to tie and hyper effective for pink salmon wherever they swim. We tie a version with small lead eyes and a little lighter one with large bead chain and sometimes vary the colors from a fluorescent hot pink […]
July Fly of the Month: Crazy Dad
- July 13, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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On those sticky hot July evenings, one of my favorite ways to cool off is by donning swim trunks and fins and kicking around Lake Whatcom in my float tube or pontoon boat. The surface temps are typically in the high 60’s or low 70’s and it’s a pretty comfortable and relaxing way to whittle […]
June Fly of the Month: Pink Tag
- June 8, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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Addison tied and gave me one of these a few months back along with a picture of an absolute goliath whitefish he caught on it this winter. It’s a lot like the Blow Torch pattern. Always on the hunt for new additions to the nymph box, I tied up several and have given them a […]
May Fly of the Month: Film Star
- May 6, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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One autumn evening on Grandy Lake, the trout were going nuts on small emerging chironomids in the surface film. The lake was awash in boils and bulges from feeding trout that would not give a second glance to a small dry fly or anything largely sitting atop the wind rippled surface of the water. A […]
April Fly of the Month: Olive Willy
- April 9, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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The Olive Willy has been a staple in my stillwater box for nearing a few decades now. This little wunderkind was developed by Allen Peterson of Swede’s Fly Shop many moons ago and continues to produce throughout the northwest open water season. Being the opportunists they are when it comes to sucking down a meal, […]
March Fly of the Month: Go To Bunny Leech
- March 11, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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As much as I really enjoy the art of tying complex Intruder Style flies and getting all fancy with materials that include the name lady and cost a pretty penny, there’s something to be said for the blue-collar patterns that are quick and relatively inexpensive to tie. I’ve been tying some version of this critter […]
February Fly of the Month: Hall Pass
- February 10, 2021
- by Confluence Fly Shop
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Minnows represent a significant portion of the trout’s diet in Pass Lake near Deception Pass, particularly at times of the year when chironomids and other staple insects are much less abundant such as during the fall, winter and early spring. Sometimes when big rainbows and browns key on minnows in the shallows the action can […]