The past few nights I have been busily tying nymphs and I wanted a break so I thought I would tie something fun and very different. Beetles. I had to put the in a box to take the picture because they kept crawling away!. It is nice to tie them because they are VERY simple and they are made of foam so it doesn't really matter how much the weigh! They will still float! Here are the little buggers.
Rigging up for the day.
Daniel picking out a fly.
Selecting a fly... so many to choose from.
Nate Barker trying to remember how to tie an overhand knot... I had to show him or we would have frozen to death.
A beautiful hole that we should have pulled a fish out of but no luck.
Nate fishing.
Both Daniel and Nate trying a different fly.
Daniel has a nice cast. Most of the time I wish I could cast and fish as well as my brother.
Daniel contemplating the next hole.
Here I am tossing a line into the next hole. By this time my gloves were pretty wet and not doing much good for me.
Nate and I standing in the river.
The next pattern is a Copper Nymph. It is a generic fly used to imitate a hatching midge, caddis or other insect.
The last was a made up fly taht I came up with tonight. it is another hatching insect. Red wire, muskrat thorax and a green glass bead head. I call it Christmas dinner for fish!
I will get back with you and let you know the results of the day of fishing!
I also tied Brassies tonight. It's an easy one to tie and always nice to have in your box.
The next are a classic called the Royal Wolff. A pain to tie with squirrel tail but I wanted to be authentic. 
The last fly is a soft hackle called the Partridge and Orange or Partridge and Yellow depending on the color you use. they are fished under the water in a sweeping motion through a hole. Most people use it as a generic searching pattern.
Bright and shining lights
A glow across the rooftop
But there is no snow
(Sharon Johnson)
Light and ornaments
Tall evergreen with presents
Joy and love surround
(Tamara Parker)
Yup, they are just as ugly as an artificial fly as they are in real life. I liked this particular version though because I found some cool curved hooks in my fly tying stuff from when I took fly tying in college. The next pattern was the dreaded Elk Hair Caddis. I hate this fly because if you don't have the right diameter elk hair your wing is either WAY too big or you don't put enough hair in so it looks skimpy. Anyway here is the fly. 
The last pattern was what some people call "The hardest dry fly to tie". I don't really think that they are that hard they just take a long time (about 10 minutes each). This is a Humpy pattern.
It is supposed to mimic ants, beetles, stone flies, and other insects. Tonight I added a variation that I saw while perusing in Fly Fisherman magazine at the grocery store. I added rubber legs. This variation will mimic spiders and other larger beetles. Here is a picture of a fish I caught on one last summer. 
Like I said, it takes a while to tie but they are worth it!
After
Me and My Pie
Who can resist this man in the sunglasses? He is one cool dude!
For those of you who know the story this is pretty funny. For those of you who don't, don't ask us, you don't want to know. We found this in a thrift store in Denver. We were going to get it for Daniel. He asked me if there was a similar one there with Jay as the name and 1 as the number!
Silly times in Gramma Kaye's garden.
This summer we went to Washington to visit Kris' parents and my grandparents. I wanted to go on a bike ride and so I went past a lot of the old places that I used to go to when we would visit as kids. This is my grandpas old warehouse where he made wooden boxes for all sorts of things. I learned a lot about hard work and doing my best job there working there for him.
Some of you might recognize this from the TV show Northern Exposure. My ride ended in the quaint little town of Roslyn Washington.
This is the Pizza place we ALWAYS go to when we visit Washington. It is the best pizza in the world!
The Yakima River. This picture does not do it justice. It is a magnificent sight.
The Thorp Grist Mill. My Grandpa was on the committee that helped to restore this old mill and make it a museum for people to come and visit to learn about the area. To learn more about the mill click here.
Logan found a nice relaxing place to play at Nana's house. I am surprised his head was not hanging off of the back.
Logan giving Mommy a push on the swings.
Logan wanted to wear Uncle Jeremy's "hat". He almost fell over a number of times because it was so heavy.
