Fly Tying

One of Sawyer’s favorite flies is described in Fly Fishing With a Buzzer Nymph, as described by my old pen pal. By Nick Sawyer  |   Submitted On May 03, 2010 There are a great many representations of buzzer nymphs available on the market. Some of them are very good and no doubt most of them will have caught fish at some time. As far as I know, there is only one bow-tie buzzer and that is the pattern designed by Frank Sawyer. Any others are simply copies of the original in just the same way as all weighted nymphs are developments of the Sawyer Pheasant Tail Nymph. Frank Sawyer spent a lot of his life teaching others how to use his original nymphs, the Pheasant Tail, the Killer Bug, the Sawyer Swedish and the Grey Goose. All require much the same technique and are used the world over with varying levels of skill. The Frank Sawyer Bow-Tie Buzzer (BTB) is completely different. It is true that a few fish will be caught whilst using it as a conventional weighted nymph but as such it is far from deadly. When fished as Frank intended, it really comes into its own. The natural buzzer nymph hangs in still water, just a few centimetres below the surface. In its struggle to transform itself from nymph to fly, the buzzer seems to rotate in the water. All buzzers appear to have a kind of frill around the head. As with all things to do with fish and flies, Frank Sawyer spent years observing what happened underwater. He knew that if fish were to take a representation of a buzzer with any sort of frequency, something unique was required. He tried all sorts

What ever happened to my fly tying picture framer friend, Mark Roth? If anyone knows how I can reach him, please let me know, as the mail I sent to his house/garage workshop in Woodland Park seems to have been returned. You can drop me a line at sportingroad@gmail.com. The following used to appear on his site about his hand rubbed wooden fly frames, which are unparalleled: Roth AnglingAll items are hand made one at a time...nothing here is mass-produced or farmed out. I started fly-fishing at age 11, and then filled my first professional fly order at age 12 in 1973, after being taught by Andy Puyans while working in his shop in Pacheco, Calif. I took up framing in 1988 following a number of customer requests. Some fishermen may have seen my small magazine ads in the late '80s and early '90s in 'Fly Rod & Reel' and 'Fly Fisherman' magazines, at which time I put out a small mail order catalog...this web site now functions as the catalog.A fly plate presentation consists of assorted flies mounted in a recessed shadowbox-depth frame, either with or without angling art or a photograph to correspond with the chosen flies. Each finished fly plate on this page is signed and dated, flies tied by Mark Roth. If you would like your own flies mounted in a fly plate, see: Custom Fly Framing page. Or if you see a design below you'd like to add your own flies to, inquire for a quote for a 'kit-only' on these without the flies.Each fly plate includes archival mats with gold & black French mat lines, acid-free backing, and each fly carefully mounted in a cherry frame. The depth of

Euro nymphing is all the rage among marketing and fly shops these days as they tought their wares of "tactical angling" and "competitive angling." This is nothing really new compared to the methods that Rim Chung has employed for the last 30 years with his light-line nymphing methods here in Colorado, but the European methods seem to have evolved along similar paths. Fly shops have jumped on board, in an effort to sell more rods and a whole new line of leaders and flies, in an industry that has been largely stagnant for the last ten years. I have to admit that the premier guru of this euronymphing method is Lance Egan who has now produced probably the two best fly fishing videos/movies that have ever been produced to date, and the links to these movies are below. So being curious about his flies, I decided to order a few of his flies from his www.flyfishfood.com site. The ones we have found most useful in Colorado and Montana, we have posted tying directions here. Gut Sack Sow Bug Gray - 18 Stonefly Chenille - Coffee/Black Egan's Rainbow Warrior - Red - 18 Egan's Rainbow Warrior - Pearl - 20 Egan's Tungsten Surveyor - 18 Egan's GTI Caddis - Amber - 14 Egan's Frenchie - 18 Egan's Jig Frenchie - 12 Egan's Jig Rainbow Warrior - 16 Transfoamer Pink - 10 Pat's Black and Tan Rubber Leg - 8 The Thread Frenchie, a take on the classic Frenchie a very well-known Euro style fly is a great way to get a super slim bodied Euro style fly. This fly has evolved thanks to Lance Egan of Fly Fish Food and for good reason. Not only is

It's funny how time flies and how over time, some flies disappear while others just get repackaged with easier to tie foams, etc. One day, the Madam X is a popular pattern, and then you wake up and it's two decades of Turck's Tarantulas, and now there are dozens of knock-offs including the The Chubby Chernobyl, the Rubber Legged Stimulator, or the Stoneflopper. Thirty years has gone by since the Madam X. Sounds like a country song doesn't it? But, so is life, time passes, things change, some get easier, some just get uglier. And the flies are in essence the same, but have gotten easier to tie with foam replacing spun hair, etc., which not only makes the flies uglier, but much easier to tie. I have to say I am glad I stocked up, back when flies were good looking. One of my favoite flies is Guy Turck's Tarantula. I was one of the first to order it from him from his site back in 1995. In 1990, Guy began guiding float fishermen for Jim Jones’ High Country Flies in Jackson.  In August of 1990, while searching for a pattern that improved the durability and visibility of the increasingly popular Madam X fly, Guy developed his clipped deer hair head, rubber leg hopper/stonefly imitation.  During a slow afternoon Guy handed his creation to a client, World Bank head Jim Wolfensohn.  Noting the fly’s bulky, leggy appearance, Wolfensohn quipped, “What is this thing, a tarantula?” This wonderfully creative fly name stuck like head cement.  By September when the Snake’s hefty Classenia Sabulousa stoneflies become active, another guide pal, Shannon McCormick, introduced Guy to master fishing entrepreneur George Anderson of Livingston.  Turck gave the “Montana