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This page was created to be a place where we can offer our guests information on the many facets of fly tying. In the future look for fly patterns, Tying instruction, Tips for fishing specific patterns, information on new tying material and more.....

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This year we plan to continue our tradition of having Guest Fly Tyers in the shop on the weekends during April, May and June. In addition to our guest Tyers we have plans of offering FLY TYING LESSONS periodically throughout the Season!

Look for our Schedule of tyers to be set soon.

Upper Delaware Surface Flies

In our fishing report I regularly refer to the flies we use on the water each day. Most of the time we can be successful on the Upper Delaware waters with a CDC Parachute Dun, CDC Knock Down Dun or a Hackle Wing Spinner. We tie all of the Mayflies using the same procedure but substitute the correct color materials and hook size to match the hatch.

These flies are very realistic and work well even on the slowest of pools.

Below is a photo of a few of the CDC Parachute Duns and CDC Knock Down Duns along with the materials to tie them.

CDC Parachute and Knock Down Dun

Hook; Mustad 94831 dry fly

Tails; Microfibbets

Abdomen; Trout Hunter Turkey or Goose Biots (color to match natural)

Thorax: Trout Hunter Dry Fly Dubbing (color to match natural)

Wing; Trout Hunter CDC (color to match natural)

Hackle; Quality Dry Fly (color to match natural)

I tie these patterns on the 94831 mustad which is a fine wire long hook. The Light wire makes it possible to float up to a size 10 imitation with only the CDC wings. It is important to use 4 fully developed large feathers for the wings on size 10 through 16 imitations. On size 18 and smaller 2 feathers will usually do the trick. I only use the Trout Hunter CDC when tying these patterns. This CDC is the best quality I have ever tied with.

When wrapping the biots to create the abdomen I have experimented with using both sides of the biot. One side will create a smooth waxy look while the other will expose a ridge that will add more realism. I don't think it matters to the fish as both methods work well. When tying the insects from the Stenonoma family I like to rib the abdomen with brown 6/0 monocord as these insects have very pronounced segments. In the photo above you can view patterns tied with biots wound on both sides. The fly furthest to the right has been ribbed with monocord.

Early Season Patterns

With Springtime just around the corner. Most fly fishermen have been tinkering with their equipment and checking fly boxes to see what patterns need to be replaced. For most of us, our current selection is never enough. So here are a couple of extra's to tie up and add to your early spring roster. The Alwive Chew Toy and the Hendrickson Slow Water Cripple.

Alwive Chew Toy

Hook; Streamer sz. 2

Weight; Large Conehead and lead wraps front 1/3

Tail; Pearl Ice Wing Fiber (Looped)

Under Wing; Ice Wing Fiber Pink

Over Wing; Rabbit Zonker Strip (white)

Topping; Ice Wing Fiber Minnow Back

This is a heavy pattern that should be fished with short jerks and pauses. This type of erratic retrieve is a dead ringer for a wounded baitfish. This is a big fish fly!

Hendrickson Slow Water Cripple

Hook; DaiRiki #270 szs. 10

Shuck; Dark Brown Antron

Rib; Copper Wire

Abdomen; Turkey Center Tail Fibers

Thorax; Dun CDC spun in loop

Wing; Dark Dun Snowshoe Hare Foot

This pattern will consistently fool Trout in the slower glassy pool. It does however have enough buoyancy to also use in riffles and fast water runs. This fly should be fished as drag free as possible. We prefer a downstream presentation with a reach cast.

Summertime Sulfurs and Olives

During the summer months the East and West Branches of the Delaware offer some of the most reliable dry fly fishing found in the east. Although quite a few species of insects will be on the water during this period the ones most important to fly fishermen fall under the category of Sulfur's or Olive's. From early July through Mid August tiny Sulfurs (#18 and Smaller) make up the bulk of our Trout's daily diet. From mid August until cold weather shuts down the fishery tiny Olive's (#18 and Smaller) become the daily staple.

Because these insects emerge by the thousands, are tiny in size and found in the slow glassy pools typical of summer and autumn, fooling fish at this time can be quite difficult. While our guides may use a variety of patterns and stages of these insects at times, we still have our best luck fishing the dun stage of both of these insects during the emergence.

During all of our early season hatches we prefer dun imitations that sit low and have bodies that penetrate the surface of the water such as parachutes, comparadun's, cdc comparaduns and klinkhammer's. For our summer fishing however we find these patterns to be just so-so.

After observing thousands of these tiny insects floating down river drying their wings one can quickly see the reason why flush floating flies don't get the same results as during early season hatches. These tiny Duns float on the surface film with only their legs making an impression on the water. The majority of these tiny duns hold their abdomens so high that their tails almost touch the tips of their wings.

After some trial and error with different dry fly styles I've found that on a daily basis Thorax Style dry flies will produce the most action. Although this style has lost some of it's popularity to parachutes and cdc comparaduns, during summer and autumn it is my go to style when guiding on the East, West and Main Delaware. When fished downstream in a drag free fashion this fly will sit high on the water with the same silhouette as the naturals and consistently produce confident takes.

Here are a couple of our favorite Thorax patterns Please note the x wrapped hackle on the photo enlargements. This style of wrapping the hackle is what produces the correct impression on the surface of the water.

Thorax Sulfur- Thorax Olive

Hook; standard dry fly #18 -22 Hook; standard dry fly #18 -22

thread; 8/0 uni-thread yellow Thread; 8/0 uni-thread yellow

wing; Light Dun CDC wing; dark Dun CDC

Tails; Light Dun Microfibets Tails; Light Dun Microfibets

Abdomen; Sulfur yellow turkey biot Abdomen; olive turkey biot

Thorax; sulfur yellow dry fly dubbing thorax; olive dry fly dubbing

hackle ; light ginger dry fly hackle ; dark dun dry fly

New DVD! Successful Patterns for fishing the Upper Delaware

Ken Tutalo, the owner of the Baxter House River Outfitters in Roscoe, New York, will share with you some of the Fly Patterns that his guide staff uses every day to fool the selective Trout that live in the Upper Delaware system.

He will show you how to tie and fish 10 patterns that were developed through years of guiding and pursuing Trout in the famous waters of the Beaverkill, Willowemoc, East, West and Main Delaware.

These Fly Patterns along with the tips on fishing them correctly, are sure to improve your success while fishing the Upper Delaware system. IN STOCK NOW $20.00 (includes shipping)

The Baxter House is proud to offer a limited amount of Presentation Quality Flies Tied By Ralph Graves. All of the flies are mounted inside of Beautiful Domes with Hardwood Bases. All Flies come with a Signed Business Card from Ralph's Old Glory Fly Shop!

We also have a few copies of Ralph's new DVD in stock

"Tying Wet Flies in the Catskill Tradition"

Master Tyer Ralph Graves demonstrates the art of tying some of the most classic and effective wet fly patterns ever created. They've proven their fishing-catching ability for many generations. These are the wet fly patterns that are forever part of the Catskill landscape and a part of any anglers fly box.

$29.95 Per Copy

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Baxter House
Old Route 17
Roscoe, New York 12776
Phone: (607)-290-4022

ken2tut@aol.com

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