The Latest News from the Bench

Welcome to The Latest News from the Bench!

A new book, podcast, article, talk, fly, or any fly-fishing- or fly-tying-related topic we dive into, will be posted here.

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Survival Guide for Beginning Fly Anglers

Survival Guide for Beginning Fly Anglers. Author and master angler Skip Morris has written the ultimate beginner's guide for new anglers that want to learn how to fly fish.

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Skip Morris Searun Cutthroat Flies

Skip Morris searun cutthroat flies...also used effectively to push salmon and steelhead into striking instinctively. A lively attractor fly designed by master tier and fly fishing author, Skip Morris.

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Skip Morris Books: Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Insights from a Master Angler

Skip Morris books on fly tying and fly fishing. Skip's over forty years of experience in fly fishing are the basis of these books for the beginner, intermediate, or advanced angler and fly tier.

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Skip Morris Presentations: Fly-Fishing & Tying Talks and Clinics

Skip Morris Presentations: Master tier Skip Morris offers a variety of talks and clinics on fly fishing and fly tying that have been popular at fly fishing clubs and shows around the world.

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Carol Ann Morris Nature Art and Photography

Carol Ann Morris is a fly fishing and nature artist, photographer, videographer, illustrator, and speaker. In addition to her own work, Carol partners with her husband, fly fishing author and speaker Skip Morris on his fly fishing books, articles, essays, and videos.

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Top 12 Dry Flies for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them

Fly fishing author and speaker Skip Morris writes about the top 12 dry flies for trout streams, and how, when, and where to fish them.

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Top 12 Nymphs for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them, 2nd Edition

Fly fishing author and speaker Skip Morris writes about the top 12 nymphs for trout streams, and how, when, and where to fish them. An updated 2nd edition.

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Third Thursday Flies with Skip Morris

Every third Thursday, Skip introduces you to yet another solidly established fly—he tells you what kind of fish it's meant to catch, where it's best fished, how it's best fished, under what conditions it's best fished, a little of its history, and, in case you tie flies, he gives you the pattern (or dressing).

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Third Thursday Flies 12. Morris Minnow

Third Thursday Flies 12. Morris Minnow. Over the past fifteen years or so, nearly all my biggest stream-caught trout--the three-, four-, six-pounders, even a ten-pound wild rainbow--have taken my Minnow.

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Third Thursday Flies 11. Parmachene Belle

Third Thursday Flies 11 Parmachene Belle. The Parmachene Belle is arguably as lovely as any of the many traditional wet-fly patterns. ('Belle' meaning a 'pretty or the prettiest girl'; 'Parmachene' for Parmachene Lake in Maine, odd because the fly has surely been fished mostly in streams.)

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First Tuesday Tips, Tip 10: Meet the Basses and Panfish

From Skip's book, 365 Fly-Fishing Tips for Trout, Bass, and Panfish, this is Tip 10: Meet the Basses and Panfish. The basses and panfish (with a very few exceptions) prefer warmer to much warmer water than trout can tolerate.

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First Tuesday Tips with Skip Morris

From Skip's book 365 Fly-Fishing Tips, a new, really practical tip every month that'll catch you more fish.

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Third Thursday Flies 10. Partridge and Orange and March Brown Spider

Third Thursday Flies 10 Partridge and Orange and March Brown Spider. Trout flies come as nymphs, dry flies, emergers and streamers, and these categories each comprise unimagineable numbers of patterns. Not so, however, when it comes to soft-ackled flies; they pretty much conform: a slim to rarely stout body or abdomen, a supple cone of overlong fibers in front.

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First Tuesday Tips, Tip 9: Carry a Foundation Set of Flies to Trout Lakes

From Skip's book, 365 Fly-Fishing Tips for Trout, Bass, and Panfish, this is Tip 9: Carry a Foundation Set of Flies to Trout Lakes. Gathering up a sound group of flies for trout lakes, flies that cover all the important bases and work together as a team, is a daunting task even to the seasoned lake fly fisher who takes up the lake habit. Overwhelming for the beginning fly fisher. My purpose here is to de-daunt and underwhelm that task.

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Third Thursday Flies 9. Miracle Midge

Third Thursday Flies 9 Miracle Midge. The first time you see a catalog page of midge larva/pupa patterns, the first thing you'll notice is that these flies all look a lot alike. Each has a slim untapered body, a fine rib (though some lack a rib), a bulging thorax (of built-up thread or dubbing or suggested by a metal or glass bead). What you cannot see on the page but will see if you're looking at a bunch of midge flies in someone's fly box or in fly shop bins is that they're always very small to downright damned tiny.

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