The hot summer months usually don’t allow us to visit trout waters with the notion of getting the better of the fishes’ activity throughout the day, as is possible at the beginning of the season. Salmonids at that time of year are rather active only in the early morning or late evening, while they spend the smothering heat of the day in the most-oxygenated and coldest parts of rivers and lakes (at the bottom) and are practically not active at all, with just some exceptions. During such days, we have 3 choices: A) Futilely spend our precious energy on these trout waters. B) Put on our swimsuits and lay on the bank all day. C) Stay true to our “addiction” and go a completely different way – fly fishing for carp basking in the sun!

For this edition of “At the Vice” I have chosen one of my favorite river fly patterns designed for barbel. It is a type of fly meant to imitate the natural food of the fish we are hunting. In this case that means a free living caddisfly larva – Rhyacophila.

For this next episode in our fly tying series, I have chosen my absolutely favorite wet fly...

This time I've decided to show you a fly for year-round use, which is very typical and favored for lake fishing in England.

For my first article in the “At the vise” series, I chose my favorite streamer pattern. It is an imitation of a small wounded and escaping fish, so the materials used are natural and thus represent ideal natural food for a predator.