Fly Fisher Knows How To Tie One On

Talk is of “Stimulators,” “Pheasant tails,” “Irresistibles,” even a “Rat Face McDougal.”

Never fails, someone will claim his Hare’s ear is far superior to another’s Kauffman Stone or Royal Wulff. Or that someone has uncovered a new source for synthetic fibers, that their supply of, say, muskrat has dwindled.

These are the words, the phrases of those involved in fish fly tying.

One avid hobbyist is Bayview’s Ronald Rodgers.

“As I remember, I got interested in fishing, gosh, 50 years ago. Fished in various Colorado rivers with my dad. Sometime along in there I got serious about tying my own flies,” he said.

“Initially, I thought I could save money by tying flies. Only to discover I had more money invested than had I bought someone else’s flies.

“But, you always have the dreams of catching the big one, that tying the perfect fly … This is after tying, oh, probably thousands of flies over the years.”

The art of fly tying, Rodgers explained, is “an attempt to duplicate what nature offers. Duplicate something that the fish will bite at, you know, be attracted to.”

In fly tying, “you try to offer the fish what they are ‘keying on.’ Let’s say there are four groups of fishing flies …”

First, Rodgers said, are the aquatics, the mayflies, caddis flies and the dragon flies. Then come the terrestrial varieties, such as ants, beetles and grasshoppers. Next, the attractors that include, say, pine needles, even cigarette butts.

And fourth are the “streamers,” flies tied to resemble smaller fish, certain crustaceans.

“People think fish exist on a diet of worms,” Rodgers said. “Not so. Generally they feed on bugs, flies, things either in or on the water. Don’t get me wrong, they do dine on some worms.”

“So you attempt to duplicate their diet. Match the hatch, they say.”

To do so, Rodgers said, “You start with a fish hook that can vary from a size 32 (about the size of a paper match head) up to a 5/0, which is the size of your index finger.”

Then comes the skill of blending an array of duck, beaver, muskrat, deer or elk hair or even chicken feathers into a duplication of nature. The result is “tied” with transparent line or glued to the hook shank.

Fly tyers tend to follow a format, “sort of like a recipe for cooking. A certain kind of feather or hair is blended with another kind of hair or feather. How much of each is spelled out in the recipe.”

And, one needs specific equipment, such as a vice. Bobbins to hold the thread are necessary, as are hackle pliers, tweezers, needles, scissors, a bit of glue and various epoxies.

Rodgers said he can tie maybe six flies an hour. His hobby is supported by a virtual library of magazines, books and trade literature he has collected over the years.

There are commercial fly tyers who turn out up to 25 flies an hour and wholesale upward of a buck each.

“Now a commercial fly tyer,” he said, “ties every fly of a specific kind virtually identical. Mine, well, might be just a very slight bit different.”

Interestingly, Rodgers said, “is that one fly will attract fish, while another just like it may not. And a fly that has caught, say, 25-30 fish tends to become rather crude looking. And still, it’ll work to catch fish.”

“Fish don’t care what a fly looks like.”

Rodgers’ hobby is supported by at least two organizations, the North Idaho Fly Fishers and Spokane’s Fly Fishers.

, DataTimes MEMO: Tom Burnett, a former newspaper reporter and editor, is a longtime Rathdrum resident. Panhandle Pieces appears every Saturday. The column is shared among several North Idaho writers.