Panfish On The Fly

06/04/2026

As I get older it gets harder to see the eye of smaller hooks, especially in the low light conditions of early mornings, late afternoons or shady river banks. Over the last two seasons I have been experimenting with large eye hooks from . These big eye hooks make it easy to tie on flies in any light. I have even been able to tie on a fly in complete darkness using a method shown to me years ago using your tongue (I know it sounds weird but it works). My first worry is that the extra large eyes would affect the performance of the fly. As it turns out there have been no such issues. The large eyes can even be painted, as in the case of this small woolly worm, to create a hot spot at the head of the fly. If you struggle tying on flies these hooks (and finished flies tied on them) may be worth looking into.

06/03/2026

The top water bite is on! The problem is deciding where to spend my afternoon/evening fishing. Do I head to the trout stream or the bass pond. Last night the bass ponds called louder.

06/02/2026

Pumpkinseed sunfish are one of the most beautiful warm water fish in North America. It is always a treat to catch one.

05/28/2026

I have been carving some popping bugs using synthetic wine corks. This material is not as easy to work with as real cork, but I think it will be far more durable. I can get two size 2 poppers per cork. You could go even larger if desired. To achieve the unique coloration, I am using permanent markers instead of paint and coating the cork with Solarez UV Resins. I am using a yellow resin on the bottom, a red resin on the popping face, and then coating the whole bug with a clear flexible resin. Once cured, it receives a final coat of Solarez's new Top Coat 77 Resin. They cast and float great; let's hope the bass approve. Off to the pond for testing.

05/26/2026

It is often the case that larger predators like bass eat the flies meant for panfish. It sometimes happens the other way around too!

05/25/2026

There are a hundred more productive things I should be doing with my time on this rainy Memorial Day but I decided that carving a synthetic wine cork into a popper was the best use of my time. I have made scores of poppers with real cork, but I never worked with synthetic ones before. This one will fish just fine!

05/25/2026

Fish face.

05/24/2026

This is a teaser for a new collaboration with JP Ross Fly Rods & Company . Previously we collaborated on what I believe to be the perfect panfish rod, the Panfish On The Fly edition of their Toad 4wt (which is still available on their website). On a recent trip to Maine I had an opportunity to fish the prototype for our next collaboration, an eight weight S-Glass model that will be called the “Phat Glass”. I was blown away by the performance of this fly rod. During my trip we cast a variety of lines and fished a wide range of different sizes and styles of flies and the rod handled it all. Dozens of largemouth and smallmouth bass were caught, including one fish that was lost at the boat side that would have pushed the scales between 7 and 8 pounds! The loss was not due to the rod but my old knees as I tried to bend over to lip the fish. I am anxiously waiting to get my rod in my hands. Once I do I will share some photos and more information about this incredible fly rod. If you are a fly fisher that targets larger predators this a fly rod for you!

04/28/2026

I was interviewed by a journalist last week at the Fly Tiers Reunion at the Seven Springs Resort in PA. Brian Whipkey an Outdoors Columnist for USA Today interviewed myself and a few other tiers on different aspects of fly fishing and fly tying. Of course I discussed my favorite topic - panfish. You can access the article and videos through the link below.

https://www.goerie.com/story/sports/outdoors/2026/04/28/fly-fishing-tips-for-trout-bass-and-panfish-with-euro-nymphing-streamers-frog-imitations/89817504007/

04/23/2026

I hope to see some of you there this evening!

This is where it all goes down 👇
Highlands Sporting Clays is set for the Fly Tier’s Reunion this Thursday, April 23.
If you love fly tying, this is the place to be.
See you soon!