Hogan Brown

I finally got to meet Hogan Brown, our local boy, Iydlwilde signature fly tyer and guide. He gave a presentation to our local, Gold Country Fly Fishers club.

A couple of things that he pointed out was that when you walk into your local fly shop the two things that are most mystifying are the fly bins and the fly tying materials.

As far as the fly bins, most people walk into the fly shop and ask the question, "What's the hot fly". The problem is they are looking for a fix to solve the riddle of what the fish are eating. The thing is the answers are always on the river, you just need to look. Turn over some rocks, watch the rise forms of the fish, look for signs along the river, stonefly casings, caddis in the bushes, spinners returning to the river. You don't need to be an amateur entomologist. As Dave Hughes once said " Trout don't read Latin", Hogan reinforced this by adding that basically all you need too do is determine whether the bug is a caddis, mayfly or stonefly and then match the size and color. When you're searching through the fly bins, look for a pattern that has the right profile, usually thinner than you think, and that has colors that breath life into the imitation. Unless of course you just want to buy Hogan's patterns at your local fly shop because he's already done that for you. Check out his patterns and the how and why's on his website at www.hgbflyfishing.com

That brings us to the fly tying materials part of the equation. Hogan stated that it is very important to learn the properties of the different fly tying materials and combine materials that breath life and movement into your fly designs. This is where true fly designing stems from as opposed to imitation or copying a pattern out of a magazine, book or online. When Hogan designs his flies he has the traits of a true designer, and incorporating the "Why" into his material selections and profiles of his patterns.

Hogan cut his teeth right here on the Lower Yuba River and has designed many patterns that should be in your fly box. Check out his fly patterns an his website and you'll learn something about fly tying creativity and presentation techniques.

You can also check out his flies at www.Iydlwilde.com