Category: Blog

Top Six Fly Fishing Nippers and Why! (Life is too short for crappy nippers) Is there anything more frustrating than trying to snip a piece of tippet off the fly you struggled tying on in the waning hours of light on an evening hatch (see 20/20 MAGNETIC TIPPET THREADER), and they won’t do their job?! (more…)

Choosing Your Next Fly Tying Vise A collaboration of ideas with Mike Mercer and Justin Miller When you first start tying flies, you learn on what you have, which is often someone else’s old rickety hand-me-down vise or some cheap thing that came in a beginners kit. But if you get hooked by the fly (more…)

The Importance of Eyes in Fly Tying By Eric Ersch Before he proved himself to be a highly-skilled permit fly fishing guide, Jesus Martinez fed his family by fishing with his eyes. Born to a family of fishermen who survived for generations by providing food from the sea, his elders recognized his ability at a (more…)

I am a Gemini. I enjoy foggy morning sunrises on coastal rivers, long walks down gravel bars with friends, single barrel bourbon … Oh wait, wrong bio. My father was a fighter pilot in the Air Force when I was born, so the list of places I have lived is long and short lived when (more…)

So the grass is always greener, right?! Despite having some of the finest wild trout fishing in the country right here in Northern California, for nearly forty years I have faithfully made the pilgrimage to the hallowed trout waters of southwestern Montana. One of the big draws of these Rocky Mountain streams is that with (more…)

Perdigon nymphs are currently one of the hottest items in the nymph fisherman’s vernacular and fly box, and I am right there with them. These small, dense patterns are designed to sink very quickly, even in the fastest of flows. Features like tungsten beads and UV-cured bodies make them heavy, and a relative lack of (more…)

Eric has traveled the globe guiding and managing several lodges in the world of fly fishing. We are excited to have Eric on The Fly Shop’s travel team. My relationship with The Fly Shop® began in the mid-80s when its owner, Mike Michalak, brought a group of friends to our Alaska River Safaris camp on (more…)

Justin has traveled the globe guiding and learning The Fly Shop’s international destinations. He has guided the Kamchatka Peninsula every season since 2008, and he has fished the world with a Spey rod, for every sea-run fish he can find. After graduating from Chico State University, Justin started his career at The Fly Shop in (more…)

Erik Argotti has spent all of his adult life guiding and chasing trout, salmon and steelhead in far off places around the globe. He spent 15 seasons guiding in Alaska and Kamchatka, Russia, and a few winters guiding in Argentina. When he wasn’t guiding, he spent lots of time traveling and exploring rivers and lakes (more…)

Bryan spent his early years chasing bass, trout and carp in the local Bay Area, and western Sierra lakes and streams with his fly rod. After having retired from the Air Force, he returned to Northern California to the waters he loves to fish and guide. Bryan first got started in fly fishing when he (more…)