In my own trying, I like to take an idea and polish it to the best of my ability. I compress a pattern into the essential qualities to which a fish responds: size, shape, color and texture, in that order. In doing this, it is important to distinguish between a tying style and the various patterns within that style. One of the most important western dry flies, the Humpy, or Goofus Bug, is an offspring of the Horner Deer Hair, invented by Jack Horner. I have modified his original tying style. As a result, the fly is more durable, more effective, and has a broader range of uses, although the basic concept should be credited to Horner. The Blue Dun Humpy is one pattern within this modified tying style. Simple solutions to designing a fly are often the best. The Loop Wing series is so simple that I could not believe that I was the originator. The Loop Wing Macaw Adams applies a new tying style to an old pattern. It was inspired when I fished the Owens River in California with the late Jim Quick. Fishing along a section of undercut bank that looked like a trout haven, caught only two fish. Jim handed me an Adams with a macaw body, which he called his "problem solver." It produced then and has been so successful since that I adapted it as a pattern in the Loop Wing series. I seek to tie the perfect fly, even though the perfect fly has never been tied. I refuse to let a fly out until I am unable to improve it in any way. I do not want to cast that fly five times and have it perform well only three. When I create a fly, I want it to fish right with every cast. |
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