The willingness to experiment with fly patterns for me is all about improving a pattern as it relates to a particular situation I have encountered on the water or something that I have observed.

I will also admit that I play with new fly patterns at the tying vise because it is fun and that is what I enjoy about this wonderful sport.

These are two out of many "tested at the creek" and "approved by trout" flies. The midge APE is a surface dry-fly pattern and APE stands for Adults, Pupa, and Emerger. Indeed this can imitate either one or anything between of three stages at the same time. Pupaerger is the made-up term of Pupa + Emerger. I can't emphasize enough how effective this pattern is on midging trout. Sooner or later, Pupaerger will be approved as an official English word and be added to the Oxford Dictionary! I have been using both in black, as black is the most common midge color on the Livingston's spring creek and many other waters.

It is early Monday morning and I looked at the Weather Channel and saw this would be the last day with temperatures that would be much above freezing. Staring the coming of shack nasties in the face, and I told my wife that I was going to a pond in the afternoon. She said "What if I don't want you to go?" My reply was that the shack nasties would hit faster. Her reply  was "Goodbye".

To the casual observer, when a smattering of bugs suddenly hit the windshield it is just that, a bug; nothing more, nothing less. It's just another bug that they will have to scrub hard to remove later from their windshield. However, when that same smattering of bugs hits your windshield, an entirely different thought process takes place. Instantly, your breathing stops for just an instant upon recognition of the entomological gift that has just been bestowed upon us.

Fly fishers often speak of two types of streams; freestone and spring. Steams that are classified as freestone are generally streams that depend upon precipitation, rain or snow, for their water. Spring creeks rely upon water that emanates from underground springs and generally do not rely upon rain or snow to sustain their flow.