The Ultimate Go-To Trout and Bass Pattern With Irresistible Natural Movement

Learn to tie the Skulpin Bunny in today's fly tying tutorial video using the NEW Skulpin Bunny Fly Tying Kit.

This versatile fly has proven itself on rivers worldwide as a fish magnet. Designed to be fished on the river bottom, the Skulpin Bunny can be dead-drifted or slowly stripped to imitate a sculpin and swims in the hook-up position to avoid snagging.

The Skulpin Bunny swims hook up to avoid snagging on the bottom, shown here swimming in the NEW Fly Tester.

The Skulpin Bunny Fly Tying Kit contains everything you need to tie 6 Skulpin Bunny flies, including step-by-step tying instructions, to make it easy for you to get your hands on the various needed fly tying materials all in one place.

Fly Recipe

• Fish-Skull® Sculpin Helmet
• Fish-Skull® Living Eyes
• Kona® Trout Streamer 4XL (TS4) hook
• Hareline® Cross-Cut Rabbit Strips
• Hareline® Straight-Cut Rabbit Strips

The Essential Tool For Every Fly Tyer’s Table

Tie → Test → Fish

If you're a fly tyer, you've almost certainly experienced the incredibly frustrating feeling of carefully tying the perfect fly for your next time on the water only to find out on your first cast that your fly doesn't swim well at all.

That's exactly what led to the idea for the Fly Tester.

I spent an entire weekend tying up two dozen of the most beautiful looking streamer flies you can imagine, but when I went fishing the next day first fly I threw in the water swam upside down!

So frustrating!

I'd essentially wasted my entire weekend tying flies that simply didn’t work very well and obviously led to a less-than-ideal day on the water.

If you think about it, we as fly anglers are real optimists; we spend an incredible amount of time designing and tying a bunch of flies, then go straight to the river, throw them in, and hope they work!

I realized that we fly tyers didn’t have any method at the time to determine if the flies we design and tie are any good and in a lightbulb moment I came up with the idea for the first Fly Tester.

In this episode, Henry Cowen returns to update us on striper fishing on Lake Lanier and to tell us about his NEW book on freshwater striper fly fishing. In the second half of the interview, Dave Whitlock joins us. Dave wrote the foreward to Henry’s book and provided several illustrations.

We have limited SIGNED COPIES of Henry's book that you can order here.

Nick Groves' Polarceiver Fly Will Smash Smallmouth Bass and More...

Nick Groves' Polarceiver combines two of my favorite materials, Peacock Herl and Polar Chenille, into an easy-to-tie articulated streamer. 

Utilizing a Fish-Skull Fish-Spine for increased swim action and a Fish-Skull Baitfish Head to help the fly get deep and add a realistic head profile, the Polarceiver has quickly made its way to the top of my list for smallmouth bass fishing!

The popularity of fishing for striped bass in freshwater has exploded as more and more fly anglers have experienced the excitement and intense fishing action that comes with it.

In this episode of The Articulate Fly Podcast with Marvin Cash, Henry Cowen shares his experiences growing up and fishing in New York City, his striper learning curve when he moved to the South and how the gear guys have influenced his fly angling.

Henry is best known for helping to popularize chasing freshwater stripers on the fly and is releasing a new book, Fly Fishing for Freshwater Striped Bass: A Complete Guide To Tackle, Tactics, and Finding Fish.

Available through Flymen, if you pre-order one of the first 250 copies of Henry's new book you will receive a SIGNED COPY from the author! This highly anticipated book has an expected release date to you of October 15!

Not only that, 10 of these pre-orders will win a fly personally tied by Henry Cowen with a personally signed card!

Learn more about Henry's new book and reserve your copy.

Taking the Classic Deer Hair Diver to the Next Level

By integrating the new Fish-Skull Chocklett's Articulated Micro-Spine system into a well-established pattern, Braden Sherwood has designed a total winner – in fact, he won the recent Micro-Spine fly tying contest with this fly pattern.

The added movement and taper through the spines in this smaller diver pattern is fantastic.

A Good Caddis Pupa Should Be a Staple in Every Trout Angler’s Fly Box

I like Caddis Pupae that are easy to tie, have vibrant colors, and are super quick to drop to the bottom. Tradd Little's Neon Caddis covers all of these bases, and then some.

Tied with a Nymph-Head Evolution tungsten beadhead and the perfectly shaped Kona USP Scud/Pupa hook, this little Caddis Pupa will be all you need.

River Pike: A Somewhat Predictable Creature

River pike are one of my favorite fish species to target on the fly, both fishing for them and guiding clients onto them, pike always give me an extra level of excitement. Rivers, compared to stillwater are more susceptible to changes. Water levels fluctuates faster and make the pike respond in different ways. When you drift down a river it’s a forever changing landscape. Behind each bend could be your new record pike waiting in ambush.

So, what are some helpful tips you can use for targeting river pike?

The Golden Nugget Is a Modern Medium-Size Baitfish Imitation

The Golden Nugget is easy to tie and highly effective on the water! Using the Fish-Skull Baitfish Head to help with swimming action, profile, and depth, this versatile streamer fly pattern can be fished for most freshwater and saltwater applications.

You can find Robin Phillips on Instagram: @robin.phillips.flies

Fly Recipe

Want to Tie a Tough-As-Nails Steelhead Pattern?

The Flymen Sili-Leg Intruder is a completely synthetic Steelhead Intruder tied on the Fish-Skull Senyo's Articulated Shank for Steelhead and Salmon Flies. 

Intruder-style flies are designed to trigger aggressive strikes from steelhead by "intruding" on their territory and provoking an attack.

The movement of the bulletproof sili-leg skirt coupled with the the Kona Big Game Hunter stinger hook gives you an incredibly durable and deadly Intruder pattern.

Vote on Your Favorite Fly for a Chance to Win Prizes From Some of Your Favorite Brands

12 Prizes = 12 Chances For You To Win!

Over the last 4 weeks, fly tyers around the world submitted flies to the #MicroSpineFlyTyingContest which we put on with some of your favorite brands to challenge fly tyers to push the limits of fly tying.

The Flymen team chose a winner each week, and now it's up to YOU to decide the final grand prize winners and have the chance to win the same 12 prizes that the finalists will win, PLUS a Redington Fly Rod! If you vote, you will be entered into a drawing to win the following prizes.

Add This Craw Pattern to Your Fly Arsenal

The Flymen Fish-Skull Craw is a realistic, yet easy to tie crawfish pattern. The Fish-Skull Shrimp & Cray tail sends this fly straight to the bottom with an enticing swimming motion. The Flymen Fish-Skull Craw dominates warm and coldwater species!

Learn to tie the Flymen Fish-Skull Craw today!

Fly Recipe

The Mohawk Sculpin, Created by Cheech Pierce of Fly Fish Food, Is a Super Fun and Easy Sculpin Pattern To Tie

With its wide profile and short stature, the silhouette of the Mohawk Sculpin is a perfect match to the real thing and is sure to trigger predatory attacks.

The extra-heavy Fish-Skull Sculpin Helmet helps the Mohawk Sculpin drop like a rock to the bottom and this sculpin fly pattern even has a little extra "bling" from the new Hareline Magnum Bling Rabbit Strips.

Learn to tie Cheech's Mohawk Sculpin today!

Fly Recipe

The Micro Feather Game Changer is a snack-size articulated fly pattern that lands softly to avoid spooking fish, but still pushes enough water to get a predator's attention.

Imagine a fly that perfectly imitates a baitfish in your local waters, not only in profile but by swimming like a real fish and provoking the predatory instinct within your target fish... but you can still cast it with a 4wt to 6wt fly rod.

The Micro Feather Game Changer is fly a pattern developed by Blane Chocklett. This version is scaled down to about 3", and is a fantastic pattern for smaller water or picky fish.

The new Fish-Skull Chocklett's Articulated Micro-Spines open up a whole new world of possibilities for tying scaled-down Game Changer style flies.

The Flymen Big Game Needlefish Puts a Next-Generation Spin on a Staple Barracuda Fly

This fly will move Barracuda in Belize, Pike in Canada, and sizing it up or down it will catch musky, smallmouth, and trout in your local fishery as well.

Fish-Skull Body Tubing creates the elongated body of a Needlefish, and a Big Game Articulated Shank adds extra swimming action to attract your target species. Super fun tie!

The Perdigon Has Taken the Euro-Style Fishing World by Storm. 

This simple yet very fishy fly has everything that fast-water fly anglers are looking for... An endless choice of colors, instant sinkability, and 1000% bulletproof.

Fish the Heavy Metal Perdigon on its own, under a dry fly, or with a team of other nymphs – just fish it!

Fly Recipe

Paul Brown's Disco Deceiver is a big flashy streamer with TONS of swimming action.

For targeting everything from pike to brown trout in endless color combinations, the Disco Deceiver is a ton of fun to fish and tie. Combining Fish-Skull Articulated Fish-Spines in the middle of the fly's body gives it two extra break points for movement and a Fish-Skull Baitfish Head helps get this fly to the strike zone quickly.

How We Can All Contribute to the Next Generation of Fly Anglers

When we take our kids on their first fly fishing trip, we generally think about things like which areas to fish, what gear we need, and what weather conditions are best, but there are other important things we should be considering as well.

Here are 3 important things to teach your kids when bringing them out fly fishing for their first time...

This Often Overlooked Species Just Might Be the Challenge You've Been Seeking

Fly fishing in saltwater flats usually conjures up images of tarpon, bonefish, snook and permit; the "big four" so to speak in this realm of mangroves, grasses and sand. Then there are redfish and black drum. These two species are much more widespread and available, making them a viable target from Texas to the Carolinas. Again, these two fish are very popular among fly anglers and considered high on the list of angling achievements.

However, there is yet another species of the drum family that I consider even higher on the list than redfish and black: the spotted seatrout (cynoscion nebulosus). The spotted seatrout is perhaps one of the first fish that novice saltwater fly anglers target. The smaller versions of these fish are voracious feeders, attacking anything that gets near them, making them perfect for novice anglers.

Spotted seatrout are readily found from Maryland to Texas, in large groups, and it is not unusual once a single small trout is caught, to catch a dozen or more in the same area. Perhaps this is why many people forget about seatrout and don’t give them the respect they deserve, especially the large ones we call gator seatrout.

The original Copper John is a staple in most fly boxes — the Heavy Metal Rubber Leg Copper John is a next-generation take on this classic fly pattern.

Using the Nymph-Head Heavy Metal tungsten beads that are 15% heavier than standard tungsten beads of the same size and come in a wide array of colors, the possibilities for this pattern are endless. You can fish it in a variety of ways, from fishing it as an anchor fly in a Euro setup to a regular attractor under an indicator, fish this fly DEEP — trust me, it will get there.

Fly Recipe

This Nymph Is a Great Little Caddis Pupa – With Some Added Flair

Hot spots on nymphs are a great way to not only get the attention of the fish you're targeting, but in certain fishing circumstances they can help you track your fly easier by sight. Most hot spots are made with dubbing that is a different color than the body of the fly, but this fly sets itself apart by using brightly colored deer hair tied on top of the hook as the hot spot.

This technique helps the fly stay upright in the water while the fly gets deep in the water column from the weight of the Nymph-Head Evolution tungsten beadhead.

Recipe

• Hook: Kona Universal Scud/Shrimp/Pupa (USP) hook, size #12
• Head: Nymph-Head Evolution Mayfly Swimmer & Burrower tungsten beadhead, olive, size large
• Rib: Ultra Wire
• Shell Back: Kiley's Exo Skin
• Body: Ice Dub
• Hot Spot: Deer Hair

Why do I love tying and fishing big streamers?

The other day I was watching an episode of "The Office" and in it Michael Scott said, "What is better: a medium amount of good pizza or all you can eat of pretty good pizza?"

As weird as it sounds, that got me thinking about fly fishing and the reason why I fish and tie big streamers. With big streamers, you may not always catch fish, but the fish you do catch and the memories will be epic.

Growing up in Southern California I was always fishing for largemouth bass. Before I stated fly fishing, I was throwing big lures, plugs, swimbaits, etc. for bass with my baitcasting rod. Throwing an 8-inch lure was a common thing for me as well as at time throwing a big 12-inch plus rainbow trout plastic swimbait. So when I started tying flies I always thought why not tie big flies like the lures I was used to throwing. To me this made sense, but at that time a lot of people looked at me strangely. 

If you enjoy tying and fishing big streamers, the following are some things I'd recommend you keep in mind.