Streamside Imitations by J Deshefy Jr

Streamside Imitations by J Deshefy Jr A page created to document my adventures in fly fishing and fly tying.

Golden DriftstoneOne of the things I enjoy most about fly tying is seeing how regional traditions shape the flies we fis...
06/02/2026

Golden Driftstone

One of the things I enjoy most about fly tying is seeing how regional traditions shape the flies we fish.

Here in New Jersey, the Catskills, and much of the Northeast, our heritage is rooted in classic dry flies and wet flies built around imitation. In the Adirondacks, that tradition expanded to include practical streamers and searching patterns for wild brook trout waters.

The Great Lakes steelhead scene evolved a little differently. Migratory fish and ever-changing conditions encouraged tiers to blend imitation and attraction, creating patterns that don’t always fit neatly into a single category.

The Golden Driftstone is one of those flies.

Inspired by a pattern I came across in a fly shop, I brought the concept back to the vise and adapted it to my own style. A gold bead, amber wire, yellow-dyed pheasant tail wingcase, and Hungarian partridge fibers suggest a Golden Stonefly, while the Daiichi 1120 hook gives it a compact, steelhead-inspired profile.

Is it a stonefly?

An attractor?

A steelhead nymph?

Maybe a little of all three

Tonight I decided to keep things simple—and sometimes simple is best. This pattern definitely fits that bill.It’s a stee...
06/01/2026

Tonight I decided to keep things simple—and sometimes simple is best. This pattern definitely fits that bill.

It’s a steelhead pattern that I primarily fish during the Winter months but honestly, it’s effective any time eggs are present in the system. Once the coho, brown trout, and steelhead start moving in and there are eggs drifting naturally, this is one of the first flies I reach for. While coho and salmon will certainly take it, I tie and fish this pattern primarily with trout and steelhead in mind.

This version was tied on a Daiichi 1120 hook in size 8 and paired with a black Cyclops bead (1/8”). The thread is black UNI-Thread 8/0. For the tail, I used black pheasant tail fibers. The abdomen is wrapped with black UTC Vinyl Rib, and the egg/thorax section is Hareline Dubbin Crystal Flash Chenille in Steel Blue.

One of the things I like most about this fly is its versatility. The Steel Blue color works great, but changing colors gives you countless options and presentations depending on water conditions and fish preference.

When it comes to sizing, my rule of thumb is simple: find your “meat and potatoes” size, then tie one size larger and one size smaller. Having those three sizes available will usually put you in a good position, even when the bite gets tough.

The best part? It’s an easy tie that consistently produces fish.

I will be following this up with a YouTube tying video soon. Hope everyone had a great weekend and found some time to get on the water! 🎣

Spent a little time around Round Valley again today. I’ve been making more frequent stops lately, mostly observing the a...
05/30/2026

Spent a little time around Round Valley again today. I’ve been making more frequent stops lately, mostly observing the activity on the water and waiting for one of those calm days to finally get the kayaks out. In the meantime, I’ve been fishing from the dock, either with my son or with a fly rod in hand. A couple of fly patterns have been producing some surprisingly good crappie this Spring.

One thing that has caught my attention is the amount of activity on the reservoir. It’s great to see people enjoying the outdoors, but Round Valley demands respect. The reservoir is beautiful, but it can also be unforgiving. Today wasn’t too bad, but I still noticed a few people out there without life jackets. I truly hope I’m wrong, but every year I worry that someone unfamiliar with the reservoir’s hazards may underestimate the conditions.

With the wind building throughout the afternoon, I decided to leave the reservoir and head down to the river. It didn’t take long to find a nice pool with good flow. After swinging a streamer through the run, I was able to bring a handful of trout to hand and finish the day on a high note.

Not a bad way to spend a Spring day in New Jersey,crappie at Round Valley and trout on the South Branch.

Stay safe, wear your PFD, and enjoy the water responsibly.

Just uploaded the full tying video for the “Steak, Eggs, and Legs” to YouTube, a pattern that really represents modern G...
05/27/2026

Just uploaded the full tying video for the “Steak, Eggs, and Legs” to YouTube, a pattern that really represents modern Great Lakes steelhead fly design by combining multiple trigger points into one highly effective fly.

While it carries the profile of a stonefly nymph, it also incorporates the attraction of an egg pattern along with the constant movement of rubber legs and soft materials that come alive in the current. Rather than perfectly imitating one food source, this fly fishes more as a suggestive attractor, something steelhead instinctively react to especially throughout the Fall and Winter months on systems like the Salmon River.

For this particular tie, I used a TMC 7999, one of the classic salmon and steelhead hooks that has remained a staple for larger nymphs and attractor patterns for years. Modern alternatives like the Daiichi 2451 and Alec Jackson Steelhead Iron also work extremely well, while older classics like the Mustad 9672 and vintage Partridge salmon irons still fish beautifully for flies like this.

Blue and pink have always been one of my confidence combinations because it creates strong contrast while still maintaining that egg-trigger effect, but purple, chartreuse, orange, blue, and red variations can all be extremely productive depending on water conditions and light levels.

At the end of the day, this fly isn’t about elegance, it is about movement, visibility, profile, and triggering reactions from winter steelhead.

And it flat-out works! 🎣

Going in a little different direction lately just to break up the daily routine and challenge myself to tie at least one...
05/26/2026

Going in a little different direction lately just to break up the daily routine and challenge myself to tie at least one new pattern a day.

This one was inspired by the classic peacock-bodied wet flies and spiders of England and Scotland, patterns designed less around exact imitation and more around movement, silhouette, and life in the water.

Tied on a vintage Mustad 9672 size 14 with peacock herl, small oval French gold tinsel, and a speckled brown hackle used for both the tail and collar. Simple materials, but definitely not a simple fly to tie correctly.

The more I work with these traditional wet flies, the more I realize how much they expose proportions and technique. There’s nowhere to hide with sparse patterns like this. It took me several attempts before I finally tied one that felt balanced and presentable.

Honestly, it’s been a refreshing change of pace from production tying, slowing down, studying older patterns and appreciating how effective simplicity can really be.

Fun fact… Many years ago when I traveled for work, I landed in EWR and on my way to baggage claim, I met Vincent(Alice Cooper) and we chatted for a few minutes. A very down to earth man.

Today I took a little time away from production tying to reset and refocus. I’m currently working through a pretty large...
05/25/2026

Today I took a little time away from production tying to reset and refocus. I’m currently working through a pretty large order for a buddy heading to Alaska this Summer and sometimes the best thing you can do is step away for a minute and challenge yourself with something completely outside your comfort zone.

For me, dry flies have always been that challenge.

I picked up Pheasant Tail Simplicity and tied the Mayfly Spinner on page 117 using a vintage Mustad 94859 in a size 16 just to make things a little more interesting.

Super simple materials, but honestly this was more about slowing down and focusing on proportions, hackle control, thread management, and not crowding the eye. The more I tie these styles of flies, the more I realize how much precision really matters.

Definitely seeing areas where I can improve already, but that’s the whole point. There’s always another level to chase in fly tying, and I’m looking forward to going down this rabbit hole a lot deeper.

Be safe out there today! 🇺🇸

It’s been a long time since I’ve really sat down and worked with deer hair, and when I say a long time… I mean a long ti...
05/24/2026

It’s been a long time since I’ve really sat down and worked with deer hair, and when I say a long time… I mean a long time. So with this one, I’m giving myself a little grace while also critiquing it honestly as a tier.

This X-Caddis was inspired by the pattern featured in Pheasant Tail Simplicity, and after seeing what unfolded on the river last night, I figured it was time to revisit it.

The hatch was incredible. Sulphurs, March Browns, caddis and everything in between from big size 10 bugs down to tiny size 22s dancing over the water. Fish weren’t really committing on top though. Most of the feeding was happening in the film and just underneath it. Emerger game.

I cycled through a few patterns before tying on the X-Caddis… and that’s when the night changed for the better.

That’s what makes the X-Caddis such a deadly fly this time of year. It rides low in the surface film, imitating vulnerable emerging caddis adults that haven’t fully escaped the water yet. Fish key in on that helpless transition stage hard during spring and early summer hatches.

One thing I’ve always appreciated about the pattern is its simplicity:
• sparse trailing shuck,
• dubbed body,
• deer or elk hair wing,
• and just enough silhouette to suggest life.

Color variations can be as simple as:
• tan,
• olive,
• amber,
• sulfur yellow,
• even darker gray or brown tones depending on local hatches.

Sometimes the simplest flies end up being the most effective.

Definitely room for refinement on this tie, but after watching fish respond to it last night, I remembered very quickly why the X-Caddis earned its reputation. 🎣

One of the aspects of fly fishing and fly tying that keeps me endlessly fascinated is studying the river beyond just cat...
05/19/2026

One of the aspects of fly fishing and fly tying that keeps me endlessly fascinated is studying the river beyond just catching fish. Throughout the year I collect and document aquatic insect specimens — photographing them, preserving them, labeling them by season and watershed, and returning year after year to observe how the ecosystem changes over time.

These images feature a mix of golden stoneflies, stripetail/perlodid-type stoneflies, smaller winter stonefly varieties, and even a free-living green caddis larva — all important components of a healthy river system and all insects that influence the flies I tie at the vise. Some are predators, some are crawlers, some are seasonal indicators, but all of them help tell the story of the water.

Entomology has always been a major part of fly fishing and fly tying for me. To what degree someone chooses to study it is personal preference, but understanding aquatic insects and their behavior adds an entirely different level of appreciation to the sport. I’m constantly learning through field observation, books, references, and time spent on the water studying these insects firsthand.

The more time spent observing life beneath the surface, the more creativity and realism finds its way into the patterns at the vise.

For me, this is just as much a part of fly fishing as the cast itself.

Stay cool out there today!

The heat has officially arrived here in Western New Jersey. It was warm yesterday, even hotter today, and the next coupl...
05/18/2026

The heat has officially arrived here in Western New Jersey. It was warm yesterday, even hotter today, and the next couple days are looking well above normal. Water temps are climbing, flows are dropping, and for me that means putting trout fishing on hold for now.

One of my favorite local rivers is running super low. The water is still cool, but it’s definitely starting to warm up. So instead of fishing, I decided to spend some time exploring the river and checking in on the trout food. The river was loaded with life, all kinds of subsurface trout candy tucked into the rocks and riffles.

Honestly, this stuff is just as important as the fishing itself. Seeing the insects firsthand tells the story of the river, what’s healthy, what’s hatching, and what the trout are really keyed in on when conditions improve again.

Hopefully the forecast sticks and we actually get some considerable rain Thursday into the upcoming weekend. Around here it always seems to show up in the forecast and then fizzle out before it ever arrives. The good news is that cooler temperatures are finally on the horizon, so we’ll see what happens. For now, observation mode feels like the right move.

Tonight’s tie was a little departure from my standard Iron Mike.The Iron Mike is one of those underrated modern utility ...
05/18/2026

Tonight’s tie was a little departure from my standard Iron Mike.

The Iron Mike is one of those underrated modern utility streamers that grew out of the steelhead and migratory trout scene, designed more around movement, durability, and triggering reaction strikes than strict imitation. Unlike classics such as the Mickey Finn or the Blacknose Dace, the Iron Mike is a simple but highly effective pattern that fishes well in rivers, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and bigger systems alike.

For larger water like the Delaware River and the Salmon River, I usually tie them in size 4’s,6’s and 8’s (always in 3 sizes) my local trout streams get 8s and 10s depending on flow and conditions.

Tonight I wanted to experiment a little while keeping the traditional Iron Mike foundation intact, so I tied this one in a rainbow trout-inspired color scheme using light olive mallard flank and subtle flash for extra movement and life in the water. Tied on a vintage Mustad & Son 3399A sproat hook size 7.

One of the best things about patterns like this is they don’t need to be complicated to be effective. Durable, adaptable, easy to tie, and they flat-out catch fish.

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