Feb212007
Five Minutes AwardsFly Tier

A horrific car accident in the mid 1960s left my father’s back in constant physical agony. Within a decade, the pain got so bad that he was forced to give up skiing altogether – a difficult decision to make in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But it gave him plenty of time to tie flies. And despite the pain, he never gave up rowing the river or guiding his many clients that returned year after year. Unfortunately, more than anything else, the accident impacted my father’s relationship with friends and family – including me. As he grew older, he tried to fend off the agony with alcohol and painkillers and it almost destroyed my bond with him. We argued about everything from politics to money to basketball, even the direction flyfishing was beginning to take – new boats, new rods, slot limits, and tackle restrictions – it all became issues of contention between us. But there was always flies and fly tying and as time passed our fly tying discussions became the salvation of our relationship.

My father died of a heart attack last summer. Ironically, he was on a little stretch of trout water called Flat Creek, a stream he grew up on and no doubt held his earliest fishing memories. His funeral was attended by several local legends of fly fishing and river-running, people like Jack Dennis, John Simms, Tom Montgomery, Charlie Sands, Dave Hansen, and Paul Bruun, just to name a few. Bruun helped deliver the eulogy, and when he eventually got around to talking about my dad’s flies, he produced from his pocket a Double Humpy that was among that first batch distributed on the Snake River in the spring of 1981. He had been one of the recipients. When the funeral was over, Paul approached me and gave me that fly – an incredible gesture and one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received.

As you might guess, that fly has never been used, and never will be. It rests in a small plastic fly box my father gave me when I was nine years old, a box buried amongst the mounds of material now collecting in my own tying room. It contains other flies tied by the likes of Jay Buchner, Howard Cole, Bob Jacklin, and my grandfather. When I look inside this box, I see that Double Humpy sitting among other classic flies tied by classic tiers. It’s one of the best ways for me to remember the importance of this fly in the history of the Snake River. And it is the best way I can think of to remember a fly tier.

Boots Allen is a writer and a fishing guide from Jackson Hole Wyoming.

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