WARM WATER FLY FISHING

It’s hard to say what exactly you would call “bluegill flies.” Basically, if it is small enough to fit in a bluegill’s mouth, they will eat it. Done! That’s all you need to know. Well, not quite. When fly fishing for bluegill, presentation is the most important part,...

Fly fishing for bluegill might seem boring for some. We often assume that a big fish is better than a small fish. It’s surprising, then, how popular bluegill are with both conventional tackle and fly anglers. We recognize the unique perks that these fish provide and...

Smallmouth bass flies have come a long way over the years. This arose from two main influences: the popularity and innovation in fly fishing streamers and the hundreds of designs and advances in general tackle smallmouth lures. The influence of general tackle would...

Smallmouth bass, despite their relatively smaller size, are the absolute favorite species of many general tackle and fly anglers alike. Smallmouth are an absolutely incredible species to pursue with a fly rod. The environment they are found in, their aggressive and...

Fly fishing for carp has become a popular, dare I say trendy, area of the sport.  As a kid, I remember watching guys walk along in the late spring, “pitch forking” carp, i.e., stabbing carp in the shallows and leaving them there dead or in the throngs of death.  This...

Carp flies “are like a box of chocolates”…. well, maybe more like chocolates. Forrest Gump’s mama probably didn’t do a lot of carp fly fishing, but she sure said something that applies to carp flies. Carp flies are like bonefish or steelhead flies; there is virtually...

Fly fishing for carp on the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Michigan, can be one of the most enjoyable experiences a freshwater fly angler can have. We’ve all seen the photos and read the articles, but what is not mentioned in these articles is that fly fishing for...

Musky fly fishing has become so popular that it is almost common to find someone in your fly fishing circle who fly fishes for muskies almost exclusively. The payoff with musky on the fly is a toothy fish with arguably the biggest appetite of any species taken on a...

Musky on the fly has to do with mindset as much as anything.  Dedication, skill, and knowledge all meet at the musky mindset.  How we cover the water, what flies we use, how we tie our flies, and what we consider big all change with a musky mindset.  In this podcast,...

Smallmouth bass, particularly for fish seventeen inches and above, are tough to beat as a freshwater fly fishing experience.  The fish are mean and tough.  They live in some of the most beautiful and unique venues of the Unites States and even beyond.  They are...

Trophy carp fly fishing is something that John Bartlett has specialized in for years now, and he is among the top carp fly anglers in the world when it comes to catching trophy carp on the fly.  What makes a trophy carp?  Well, that’s debatable, but we start with the...

Smaller fish never know what lies below the depths or what is lurking in the shadows. This was the case when I took my kids out to catch bluegills one summer and they kept catching a bunch of three to six-inch bluegills and sunfish. After they would land a fish, they...