Ray.... the swap flies are two strands of tinsel, one red one gold , wrapped side by side up the shank.. rib is small black wire.

Ray, Now that my face is out there and the system didn't crash, I guess I could add an avatar to my profile. That fish was a nice one... came from the Metolius in a spot called the "idiot hole"... because the fish make you feel like an idiot most of the time...the picture doesn't do the fi...

I recently had some success with a Mike Mercer's "Missing Link", dry fly meant to imitate a dead or cripple egg laying caddis or mayfly. One of the unique elements to this fly is the thread body ribbed with a stretched piece of pearl flashabou, then covered with a UV coating. I decided to ...

Bill I hope to put one of those to use on the Metolius this week....enjoyed our day last week...

PS... that gentleman we talked to at the truck, Paul Petersen, is mentioned in John Judy's book pg. 138 in a discussion of stack mending with a hinged indicator set up...

So Ray... have you put the hackled killer to the test? It just seems like a natural adaptation for us soft hackle fiends. Admittedly, I haven't put my versions in the water either.... don't know why. I may get a chance later this week.

Bill when we get together later this month.. we need to work on a few of these cast keepers...I have plenty of beer coasters...

thanks Carl... the obvious seemed just too simple for my simple mind to grasp...

carl.. do you do a "how to" of that hopper?

I'm going to have to figure this one out... caddis time on the Deschutes..

Guys... I'm curious whether you experience your knotted leaders gathering debris as they are fished. One river I fish in particular, has a fair amount of floating vegetation and other debris that collects on any knots. I normally use triple surgeon's knots to connect tippet to leaders and at dropper...