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 This week's fly of the week is pretty special.  Keaner Boyce is our guest tier with one of his favorite hopper patterns.  Erik, KK, Savannah, Sam and everyone else who gets to chat with Keaner have learned a lot from him.  I think this fly shows off Keaner's experience in fly fishing by having a near perfect profile, color, floatability, and durability which are basically the four key features of any fly.  Keaner has a lot of knowledge about fly fishing near Great Falls and has often hinted at Pike and Carp spots which supplement his trout fishing fever.
You never know what you are going to learn on Saturday mornings at Big R...but we just want to thank Keaner for sharing his hopper pattern with all of us.

We are now adding fly tying videos to the site every week.  Some are the basics, some are unique to our fly shop, and some just rule.  You can subscibe to our youtube site HERE.

Here are the past three weeks flies...

During the summer most kids get into the lemonade business, but 13-year old Jacob Bernhardt has taken a different approach to summertime entrepreneurship, and he knows what it takes to "lure" in customers.

Jacob has been making and selling his own trout flies at the Great Falls Farmer's Market for the last few years; he started out making about 10 different varieties and now has more than 20.

He has had to learn everything about running his own business, from purchasing supplies to scouting out the competition to pricing his merchandise right. An avid fly fisher himself, he's able to recommend the flies for the right conditions, and now, what started out a simple hobby has grown into a successful summer business.

Jacob said, "Someone we know gave me a little kit, I started like that and kind of taught myself. And then we thought maybe I should try this and it just sort of took off from there."

His mother Kathleen noted, "He's had to learn how to relate to the customers, visit with the customers; he's kind of shy so he doesn't like to talk to people all that much, so he's had to learn to do that, and visit with them and ask them what they're interested in and where they're fishing and whatnot. So it's really helped his communication skills a lot."

Customers say they come back to Jacob's stand because they like to help support young entrepreneurs and local businesses.

Jacob says he makes about $50 every week and is putting the money toward college and saving up for a fish-finder for ice fishing.

 Great Falls teen knows how to "lure" fly-fishing customers
By Alex Grubb (KRTV-Great Falls)

Right now we have on sale a product that I have used for the last ten years as a dubbing brush. (Sounds like a dude from an info-mercial). You can pick up a rifle bore brush/ dubbing brush for $2 in the rifle cleaning section. I think I snagged mine out of my dads .22 cleaning kit when I was starting out tying. The best thing about these brushes are you can gauge them out. Starting from a .22 for your #16 shrimpies or a .44 for your leechy stuff or angora goat on steelhead bugs. So whether you have an old bore brush that you don't mind getting some fur matted in or you just need a new brush. Here it is, an easy solution.
KK

Kris Keller's Montana Mouthwash is the week's fly of the week.  Check it out and pay special attention to how he finishes the end of the fly the a technique you may not be familiar with called "Sleezing" the fly.  Here is a link to more information on the fly  - Montana Mouthwash

Here is a video on how to tie Silverman's Eggs N Bacon "over easy"... same effect but not as complicated or as pretty.  Do the fish know the difference?  There is no way to answer that corrrectly.  Visit the tying page for more information on the fly developed by Joel Silverman.  The WORM!

This is a few day late but too cool not to share.  The guys have been in Belize over Easter which is the reason for the delay.  However, here is your Easter Hopper pattern by Brian Holum.

Kris Keller's Goodnight is a BWO nymph/emerger he designed to be a cross between the lighting bug and more traditional style BWO patterns.  The dun colored CDC wing gives the nymph a pre-emergent look and the flashy color makes this a great nymph when baetis are hatching, even in off color water.

How to tie video of Wike's Tailwater Charlie.  Sam Wike came up with this simple fly after not being able to decide between fishing pink, orange, and red in the winter months.  This has a scud/midge/shrimp look that takes less than two minutes to tie and has the best of all worlds.more...

Like 'em or Love 'em... or even if you don't like them at all orange hot head flies have been the talk of nymphing on the Missouri.  Whether it be a "hot head sow bug"... "hot head ray charles" .. or Solitude's new "sunkist".. they work.  It is pretty obvious what fish are eating these flies for this time of year and when the water begin's to rise we believe it also adds some visibility in off colored water.  Last year this style of nymph exploided with popularity on the Missouri.  We got the beads and a large selection of the patterns at the shop.  Come check them out.. they are fish catchers.