guide fly /ɡīd – flī/ noun. An artificial imitation designed to catch maximum numbers of fish with minimum effort or production time. Typically comprised of inexpensive, durable, and/or readily available materials. Guide flies are a crucial part of a fishing guide’s arsenal. The ability to turn out a day’s worth of flies in an evening allows…
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fly tying
Custom Dyed Arctic Fox from Waters West
If you’ve ever tuned in for some of our step by step fly tying posts, odds are you’ve noticed we love tying with Arctic fox. Arctic fox (particularly the tail) is an incredible material. It’s easy to handle, extremely durable, and offers incredible movement in the water. Plus, unlike many natural materials, it also holds color…
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The Morrish Mouse 2.0 – Tying Instructions
Ken Morrish’s ‘Morrish Mouse’ is arguably one of the most well known (and effective) mouse patterns ever created. In fact, it’s one of our favorite flies at Rapids Camp Lodge. However, originally tied on a traditional down-riding hook, some believe the original Morrish Mouse has a tendency for shorter strikes and potentially a higher rate…
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Steaming Fly Tying Materials
A few weeks ago we shared with you a clever hack for rejuvenating those beat-up flies at the bottom of your boat bag or wader pocket using a quick steam treatment. Admittedly, we forgot to include the tip that gave us the idea in the first place.. The same process works wonders on tying materials too!…
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Timeless Tips: How to Tie Better Flies Faster
Winter is here, and for many of us that means it’s fly tying season. If you’re looking to restock your boxes for next season, try a few of these tips to fill them up faster! Take Your Time on the First Pattern. Before you hit production mode, take your time on your first fly pattern. Experiment…
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OPST Shank Chuck Tool – Why We Like It
We a tie a lot of trailer-hook style flies on both tubes and shanks at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia. That’s mostly because salmon, steelhead, and even trout in our neck of the woods typically prefer big flies, and a trailer hook allows us to fish large profile flies with fish-friendly sized hooks….
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Fred Telleen’s ‘Twisted Sculpin’
Our pal and legendary Alaskan fishing guide, Fred Telleen, just put together a great video for North 40 Fly Shop on how to tie his ‘Twisted Sculpin,’ a deadly pattern originally developed for big Alaska rainbows. It’s no secret we love tossing sculpins for our resident rainbow trout, and you can be sure we’ll have…
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The Undertaker – Tying Instructions
Yesterday marked the first official day of winter, and for many that means it’s officially fly tying season. To celebrate, today we present you with a great step by step by legendary fly tyer, Stuart Foxall, on how to tie a classic salmon/steelhead pattern, the Undertaker. Not only is the Undertaker an effective fly for…
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Top 3 Reasons to Clean Your Tying Desk
Love tying flies? We do too. And if you’re anything like us, that means there’s a good chance that you’re tying space is a mess. Sound about right? We thought so. Fret not, no matter how cluttered your tying space is, we’d be willing to bet we’ve seen worse. Trust us, the images of tying…
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Tying Different Color Heads
Last week we shared some fly tying tips from Stuart Foxall on how to finish your flies with tidier looking heads. Today, Stu’s back with a quick tip on how to class up those same heads with some color. Tying Different Color Heads So now we know how to tie neater, cleaner looking heads. But…
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