DuPage Rivers Fly Tyers

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DuPage Rivers Fly Tyers

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We are a non-profit organization working to promote water resource conservation and education through fly fishing.

There's nothing like being knee-deep in a stream looking for bugs under a rock to understand how complex relationships lead to healthy, or unhealthy, waterways. Unless it's the thrill of watching a 13-year-old release the bass she's been raising in her classroom back into a local river. DRiFT members get their hands dirty, or should we say wet, in giving countless hours of time, experience and guidance to important conservation and education projects. DRiFT gets involved and supports projects that preserve, protect and enhance fisheries for current and future generations of fly fishers. DRiFT provides both the manpower and the money to fuel passion for, and involvement in, the sporting nature of fly fishing. We meet every Tuesday (September - May) at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL - 7pm in Room 1144 of the Student Resource Center (SRC).

09/29/2026

Join us Tuesday at College of Dupage for a Crease Fly tie!

The Crease Fly was invented by Captain Joe Blados for salt water – striped bass/blues/albacore/tuna. A few of club members fished with Kyle on the Wisconsion River this summer. One of his go-to flies is the crease fly. Similier to a top water popper but light weight and productive. It is a realitively simple fly to tie: some bucktail, flash and 2 to 4 MM foam folded over a wide gap hook.

Materials

Hook: Gammy B10S # 1 or #1/0
Thread: white (heavy for bucktail)
Bucktail: white (can add contrasting color on top)
Flash: Pearl Krystal Flash or Flashabou
Body: 2mm to 4 mm foam
Foil covering: silver holographic
Eyes: Flat Stick on Eyes ¼”
Tools

Needed:
Superglue: gel control
Bulldog clip (about length of hook shank)
Scissors to cut foam (will have foil on foam – don’t want to dull your good ones)

09/22/2026

Join DRiFT tonight as we tie a One Material Loop Wing Emerger! This is a great fly for the trout feeding subsurface, and uses minimal materials!

We'll be starting at 7pm in the TEC-1038 room.

08/29/2026

It's been a fun August for our warm water fishers. The local rivers have been very active!
This week we had another great day of fishing with our Veterans. They were catching monster bluegill and some nice bass.

Several of our DRiFT members spent some time on the Wisconsin River with Black Earth Angling Co. and found some beauties! After a hard day of fishing they were treated to a gorgeous sunset. Does it get any better than this?

Don't forget, September is the start of our fly tying season! We'll have updates coming soon!

08/17/2026

A few DRiFT members had a great time Saturday with the Lineworkers Fly Fishing club at the Deer Creek Sport & Conservation Club in Southern Wisconsin!
The Lineworkers Fly Fishing Club is embarking on their first big tying adventure with the Tie-a-Thon! So Mark and Denton spent the day with them and their mentor, PJ Smith from PJ's Guide Service. Together they tied over 110 Woolly Buggers!
And to make it really awesome, they had some very nice raffle prizes, some beautiful art work and a lunch that was over the top, with slow smoked brisket, pulled pork, fried chicken, baked beans (with brisket and apple slices) as well as large fruit and veggie platters. Delicious!

08/10/2026

As the Dog Days of Summer come to an end it's a great time to check in and see how things are going!

Last week DRiFT members supported the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County with fly tying and fly casting lessons for their fishing summer camp. What a great way to spend the day!

Saturday was the conclusion of our Fly Casting Lessons at the Batavia VFW. It was an awesome summer! We had more fly casters than we've seen in years! The casting curriculum is getting better each year and it shows through our casting abilities! And we've had more members achieve their FFI casting certifications!

Tomorrow DRiFT will be hanging out at Goldfinger Brewery in Downers Grove socializing and tying flies, so stop on by if you'd like to tie a fly!

We have another Veterans fishing day scheduled for August 26th. If you can volunteer to help out let us know!

Our tying schedule is starting to take shape with our first planned tying night at COD on Tuesday, Sept. 15th.

And now, what you've been waiting for... The fishing photos!

Joe and Pete got into some good smallies with Kyle Zempel and Black Earth Angling Co. and Mark got on some beauties with Mike Allen and Midwest Waters Angling. Kyle and I chased some fish on the Dupage and landed a handful of smallies and one little rock bass! (Plus we pulled about 2 dozen golf balls out of the river. Yeah there's a joke somewhere here, but we won't go there.)

Get out there and fish!

07/31/2026

Yesterday was an amazing day to fish, especially if you were with the DRiFT crew that supported the DRiFT Veterans fishing program! These amazing Veterans have lost most or all of their vision, yet they still want to get out and feel that tug on their line. One of the Veterans told the VA facilitator, "You think you can teach a blind guy to fish?" He was a bit apprehensive. He spent the most time fishing of anyone, and I think he caught the most fish!
Everyone had a great time, caught Blue Gill, Red-Ear, Large Mouth Bass and one WHOPPER of a catfish! And we ate a delicious lunch.
It's really rewarding to have a great day of fishing, especially when you make new fishing friends.

07/29/2026

We've got some tight lines this summer! Joe and Dennis had some fun on the Dupage and Mario followed up with some beauties! The Smallies are ACTIVE! Get out there and show us what you've got!

07/09/2026

DRiFT had a very nice day out on the pond today! We visited the private pond that we use for our Veterans fishing program since it hadn't been fished lately due to the storms. It was a great opportunity to expose a few new members to the Veterans program before they're working with the Veteran fishers!

Our next scheduled Veteran's fishing days are July 29th and August 26th. Let us know if you'd like to volunteer to help out!

06/25/2026

Get your summer fishing fix and let us see the pix!
This week our esteemed Vice President chased some beauties in Colorado! Those are some solid trout!
And back home Kyle pulled out some nice bass from our local forest preserve pond, including this fighter.
Let's see your fish!

06/14/2026

DRiFT has a fun day out with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County at their Just For Kids Fishing Derby! We tied flies with participants, taught some kids and adults to cast fly rods, and even got in on the official measuring of the fish!

Watching kids feel the tug on the line when a fish bites will never get old. But a new one is watching kids who are just learning how to cast a fly rod trying to break bubbles with the flies! They had a blast!

Address

425 22nd Street
Glen Ellyn, IL
60137

Website

http://driftorg.com/

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