A colorful fly pattern known as the Royal Coachman Bucktail was my Grandpa Harry’s secret weapon. This conclusion follows two decades of observing his catch on the South Fork of the Walla Walla River.

A close second would be, “What (or how many) fly patterns do I need to have to be successful most of the time? Those are both valid queries, and ones which reflect the quintessence of fly-fishing. On ...

Traditionally fished in the down-and-across presentation common to wet flies, the natural materials of a soft hackle fly impart dramatic and lifelike motion in river currents, resembling mayflies and ...