by John Merwin

It is indeed possible to sometimes go trout flyfishing without doing any fly-casting*. The casting act is the most difficult and intimidating part for beginners. So sometimes, when starting out a beginner, I skip the casting part entirely. That way, they can get a fish on the line more easily and quickly, which does wonders for novice enthusiasms.

All that’s needed is a trout river/stream/brook with some current. Rig up with a 9-foot leader tapered to 4X, say, and tie on a small, weighted nymph--a size 14 Hare’s Ear is usually a good choice just about anywhere.

by Joe Cermele

Can I take full credit for inventing the Snozzberry? Not really. The premise has definitely been around. But when I searched for a similar fly that had been given a name other than "berry," nothing came up. So I will take some credit for giving a moniker to an otherwise nameless little fruit imitator. If you flyfish for carp and don't want to drop money on spun deer hair berries, or, like me, you're not very good at spinning deer hair, you can make about 100 Snozzberries for the price of one dyed bucktail and whip out a dozen in the time it'd take to spin one deer hair version. Check out the video for tying instructions and to see the Snozz in action.

by Joe Cermele

by John Merwin

Let’s talk for a minute about the whip-finish knot as used in fly tying. Many people are intimidated by this knot, but success here is simply a matter of practice. There are various tools available for tying the knot, but the best way is to learn to make it by hand.

There are at least three different ways to make a hand-tied whip-finish. One method, as illustrated in the accompanying video, is by wrapping thread with two fingers at the head of the fly. This is also the fastest method. I can tie a whip-finish knot this way in less than 10 seconds, although that comes after many years of doing it.