I fish the Gunpowder every week, and have heard no other rumors of either a snakehead or a bowfin. In fact, there are very few fish other than trout in the upper Gunpowder at all; the water is too cold. (The lack of baitfish is one of the reasons that the browns are on the small side.) I...

I was surprised at how small a fish would eat a cicada.

Reminds me of the "If Ted Kennedy had driven a Volkswagen ..." fake ad in the National Lampoon back in the 70's. They ended up paying VW a tidy sum over that one.

In general, if I want a fly to float flush on the surface, I get better results with a wet, possibly treated with floatant. If I really need to fish a dry, I want one that floats high and dry. Just my opinion, some people like them; I find them largely superfluous, The sole exception is a...

I haven't used one of those things in decades, but they did catch some for me circa 1980. The lack of large stoneflies in the waters that I usually fish nowadays leaves me no urge go tie one anytime soon. I understand that for some strange reason they're popular in England for lake fishing.

It was a fun event all around. Thanks to everyone concerned.

Hilarious. At least he's now famous enough to be parodied. The lack of a blue shirt gives it away, though.

Nice, but now I want to hear the rest of Viola Lee.

That's a pretty standard instruction for tying soft hackles. Some people object to it on two counts: 1) How do get an even distribution of hackle fibers with an extra half turn on one side? 2) It harder to tie off the hackle when it's straight down vs. straight up. (I'm not sure that I buy...

Don't forget to tie some Orange Fishhawks with it. An example here: ClassicFlyTying.com - Orange Fish Hawk or google it.

If you have no confidence in the fly, you don't fish it; if you don't fish it, it doesn't catch fish. I don't believe that you fish a fly you have confidence in any better, just more often. I always fish it as a top dropper over a soft hackle, right in or near the film. That might be the...

That's an interesting observation. I fish this fly regularly, and have come to the opposite conclusion; it's one of the few patterns where I now always strip one side. I also leave the tail off, since I tend to use the fly as a caddis imitation. I guess it's a matter where you fish, what the...

That and Fly-Fishing Heresies (another of his books) really opened my eyes back 30 years ago or so. I've never understood why they're not more well-known.

There's a reason paralept's are called "mahogany duns", and I've seen them very dark winged. The shape of the rear wing is the only real identifier. However, he said they're not blue quills, so you may be right. There are several flies which fit the description.

Another possibility is paraleptophlebia of some species. Google p. mollis (they're hatching now) and see if there's a resemblance.