Paradise Fly Tying

05/30/2026

When I launched Paradise Fly Tying in 2021, I had hoped to introduce the Softshoe to a few folks to keep the name alive in memory of my old buddy Vin, who named it at the instant of creation all those years ago. I pictured myself sharing the way to tie it with some folks and maybe selling a couple flies to folks who didn't tie. Then it slowly began growing. The folks at Casting for Recovery who I sent a few to for their own use told me stories about success they had fishing it. Another fly tier I followed who I greatly respected sent me a private message thanking me for sharing the pattern as he had hooked two of the largest fish of his life on it - in one run. Folks started sharing pictures of fish they caught. The folks at Hellbender Fly Fishing asked me to let them include my flies with purchases of their fine nets and rods. It was really beginning to grow beyond my wildest imaginings. Well. This morning I got a text from my friend David Studnitzer telling me he had a client in SC that has ordered a bunch of Orange Softshoe from him, as it is his new confidence fly. My friend Anthony Urbano has tied them for clients as well as The Local Fly Co in CT. My friend Quinn is selling them at Quinn's Fly Box in Livingston Manor. Brian Campbell has tied them for clients as well as shops he supplies (including a cool beadhead variant he came up with). These four guys are all folks I met through promoting the Softshoe, and have all agreed to carry on tying it when I no longer can.

I feel very humbled and fortunate to find myself in this position. I'm sure Vin is up there pulling whatever strings he can to help and hopefully finding some good fishing for us to visit when I join him. Many - really, all - of the folks who follow this Paradise Fly Tying page have contributed to spreading the word, and I thank you. Sometimes I need to take a moment and just be amazed at how this has all unfolded. Everyone reading this has played a role. I am very grateful. Thank you.

05/29/2026

CFR Upstate NY is a group I have supported with flies for years. Great folks, great program, and now a great sweepstakes!

Do we have an awesome new sweepstakes that you can enter and help support our Upstate NY Retreat? Oh yes, we do!
https://www.tapkat.org/casting-for-recovery-inc/y5OL1E?promo=UPSTATE

05/29/2026

The lake is awake! Slow retrieve of a very small (12) dark Kreelex. Got a few. It's just starting. By the time the Hexagenia hatch in July you can catch them hand over fist on the surface.

05/29/2026

Having people catch fish on flies I tie is second only to catching them myself. I love hearing from folks. This note from my friend Joe was especially pleasing: he had mentioned the Dark Hendrickson a few weeks ago right before I went out for a few days, I tied some and they were the ticket for me. So this closed the loop, as it were. Fun stuff.

05/29/2026

Karma. I was just about to post something like 'if you need stuff order soon because this time next week I'm packing the camper and heading out' and an order comes through 😃. But it's true, one week and I'm gone most of June so if you want anything get it in!

05/23/2026

March Browns are starting up! This year's March Brown collaboration box includes flies from Quinn at Quinn's Fly Box, Anthony at Anthony's custom Flies, Dave at Dae's Fly Box, and Paradise Fly Tying. Covering all phases from nymph to emerger to dun to spinner, this box will insure you have the flies you need as this hatch unfolds. Limited quantity this year. Available through Etsy https://paradiseflytying.etsy.com/listing/1657926390/2025-collaborative-march-brown-fly

05/21/2026

Caught up at last! Orders shipped and back to tying for my own upcoming trip. Tonight it will be playoff hoops and Isonychia spinners.

A few years ago, a combination of being lazy during the winter and very busy with orders in spring left me in the position of scrambling to get stuff tied for my annual June trip. I was meeting up with a bunch of guys and wanted to have a box for each person, and although I still needed to tie some stuff for myself, I figured the 10 or 12 thousand flies I have accumulated would cover my needs. I finished the boxes for the guys the night before I packed my tying gear for the trip but finish I did.

The trip was great as it always is: old friends, plenty of food and campfires and even good fishing. As the trip unfolded, the Isonychia hatch began to pick up as I had hoped and expected. I was fishing the Softshoe version and doing well throughout the day. One of the evenings I was down stream with Don (who had just arrived) and we were fishing the series of pools there, where fish were rising periodically. As dusk settled, the rises picked up, and it was easy to see the large Isonychia spinners coming down around us. Don reached into the box I had given him, and took out one of the Iso spinners I had tied, and began picking off the fish around him. I kept fishing the Softshoe, but began getting refusals.

I hadn't tied any spinners for myself.

I was fishing one of the best pools and there were some nice fish coming up. Swearing I would never make this mistake again, I reached into my pocket for my Swiss Army knife. Opening the scissors, I took a fresh Softshoe and trimmed all but a few wisps of the soft hackle off, and took the snowshoe rabbit wing down to a small white post - getting as close as i could to a spinner with what I had in my pocket.

It worked.

On my first cast, a fish rolled up and took it, and I set the hook. For a split second I thought everything was fine. Then the fish took off. A big fish. A very big fish. It stripped about thirty feet of line in a second and a half, taking up the slack in front of me and about twenty feet off the reel as it ran downstream. It then reversed course and shot to the head of the pool, taking another twenty feet of line off the reel, my 4 weight rod bent in half. Don, hearing my reel from twenty yards away, had reeled in and was making his way up to see what I had hooked and maybe snap a photo, foolishly thinking I might have the situation under control. I didn't. As the fish went to run downstream again, it got about even with me and my line went slack. I may have cursed loudly. I reeled in to find it had snapped my tippet, taking my improvised spinner. Sigh.

I learned two lessons that night: now every year when I make the boxes for the boys, I make one for me too, so I at least have the odds and ends - like spinners - I usually include along with the staples. The other thing I learned is to always have that knife in my pocket, so I have scissors to make streamside adjustments if needed. That night those scissors helped hook a beast, and even if I did not land it, hooking it is where it all begins.

One other thing I learned is to always have a few spinners in the box, and since I am low on the Isonychia spinners I need to remedy that. That big fish could very well be right in that same pool, and I need to be prepared just in case. Just in case.

05/19/2026

Just took my truck through inspection, breezed right through no problem. 20 years old. 87K miles. Hit by a tree and totaled (camper too, see below). Insurance company agreed to cover me if I went the repair route, so had the frame straightened successfully. Took a sledgehammer to the camper. Works fine. A little beat up. So am I. 🤷🏻‍♂️

05/14/2026

Had an order from a new customer (thanks Jason) for, among other things, The Usual from Fran Betters. Entirely rabbit foot. How cool is that? And it's a killer pattern that launched me on a journey that continues to this day, as the Softshoe is a direct descendant. Thank you Mr Betters, you were a fly tying genius for this and other patterns you created.