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The final eight: how to tie some great trout flies
Eight flies, one tournament. May the best fly win
The TU-Loon Outdoors Spring Fly Showdown is in its final week, and the tournament is down to its final eight flies. Not surprisingly, given that most of us learn to fly fish for trout before we branch off and try to tackle other species, like bass and pike, or saltwater critters like bonefish and tarpon,…
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Spring Fly Showdown: Pheasant-tail Nymph vs. San Juan Worm
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This a matchup between two proven subsurface patterns that trout really seem to love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr-sHHtgJiE Tying the San Juan Worm. No, it's not cheating or even unethical to tie a San Juan Worm to your tippet— worms are an important part of a trout's diet, and if you're not fishing because you think it's on…
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Spring Fly Showdown: Chernobyl Ant vs. the RS2
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This matchup in the Spring Fly Showdown pits one of the best big-fly attractors against maybe the best emerger pattern ever tied for picky trout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GaOWLOM9rE Tying the Chernobyl. Honestly, this fly pattern might be the only good thing to come out of the disastrous nuclear meltdown in the former Soviet Union in 1986 (too…
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Spring Fly Showdown: Bead-head Hare’s Ear vs. Woolly Bugger
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The second round of the TU-Loon Outdoors Spring Fly Challenge wraps up today, with several intriguing battles. This particular face-off includes what might be the best streamer pattern ever tied against a staple nymph pattern that most anglers go to when nothing else works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qddVdhAFFg Tying the Woolly Bugger. The Woolly Bugger is perhaps the…
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Spring Fly Showdown: Prince Nymph vs. Dave’s Hopper
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The TU-Loon Outdoors Spring Fly Showdown continues with four matchups today. The first face-off is between what might be the best attractor nymph ever tied, and a classic grasshopper pattern that populated fly boxes for decades. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfAFJvbgWTk Tying the Prince Nymph. The Prince Nymph might be a nymph angler’s answer to the Royal Wulff. Tied…
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Spring Fly Showdown: Lefty’s Deceiver vs. the Adams
Vote and win great fly-tying gear
Editor’s note: The biggest sporting event of spring, the NCAA basketball tournament, is simply not happening this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Anglers, though, can still effectively “social distance” and go fishing in areas where it’s safe and legal to leave the house, using their favorite flies. In that spirit, TU and our friends…
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Spring Fly Showdown: Purple Haze vs. Copper John
Vote and win great fly-tying gear
Editor’s note: The biggest sporting event of spring, the NCAA basketball tournament, is simply not happening this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Anglers, though, can still effectively “social distance” and go fishing in areas where it’s safe and legal to leave the house, using their favorite flies. In that spirit, TU and our friends…
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