Aside from the more commonly used patterns like GRHE, Cahill, etc. - what are some of the more 'offbeat' pattern(s) have you fished which ended up being surprisingly (to you) effective?
Assuming this question is oriented toward wet flies, I was tying and fishing standard wet fly patterns as a teenager. Many of these were the common, usual flies of the day. Hare’s Ear in both standard and Gold-ribbed, Coachman, Royal Coachman, Leadwing Coachman, California Coachman, Light & Dark Cahill, Professor, Grizzly King, Governor, Rube Wood, Blue Quill, Black Gnat, Black Prince, Yellow Sally, White Miller, Scarlet Ibis, Hackles, Orange Fish Hawk. About 1972 I tied some Bumblepuppys from a Chauncey Lively article in the Pennsylvania Angler magazine. This was the first ‘offbeat’ wet fly I ever fished and it worked well on Lycoming Creek. More recently in both Pennsylvania and Maine I have caught fish on these patterns: Colonel Fuller, Trout Fin, Parmachene Belle, Alexandra, and Split Ibis. While not really offbeat, I never fished these fancy flies in my youth because I never thought to tie them. I have to admit that almost no fly I use has been ‘surprisingly’ effective. I know from experience that any fly under the right set of circumstances will take fish.
How do you feel to be teaching your students the art of tying wet flies and see them do well tying and fishing them?
It gives me great pleasure to teach anyone to tie classic wet flies. I love seeing other tiers succeed in their successful and accurate replication of wet flies. While I am not the only one promoting their rebirth, I have felt that the traditional wet flies and the tying thereof must be preserved. My interest is primarily in trout patterns, and while I love to tie many other types of flies, even for bass, panfish, and some saltwater, my first love of fly tying was generated by my early exposure to the color plates of Ray Bergman’s Trout. Many older anglers come to me at shows and events and remark about how they still fish wet flies, saying, “they still work.” I get a charge out of any situation where anyone is taking trout on wet flies; the gaudier, larger, flashier, the happier I am for some reason. Just last week my niece, Emily, from Maine, came to fish with me for a week. One morning she caught thirteen out of seventeen trout over on the delayed-harvest section of Lycoming Creek, just two miles from my house on a Yellow Sally, an Alexandra, and a Parmachene Belle. Ha! She was trailing the wets behind a Woolly Bugger and the trout showed a decided preference for the wet flies.
What do you like about teaching your students to tie wet flies?
I just enjoy teaching others to tie these flies. I especially get a great deal of satisfaction when I see the students really learning, picking up tricks and techniques they were previously unaware of, or mastering procedures they were struggling with due to improper technique, etc. What I enjoy most is the students learning from me, various methods and material handling techniques, faster than they would on their own. I believe there is no substitute for a few good lessons.
What was it like tying wet flies at shows before "Forgotten Flies", and are there any fond memories that you had that influenced your tying of wet flies more?
I had started tying wet flies at the shows in 1994. Back then I was really the only tier doing any wet trout flies, except for a few flies here and there by other tiers. As I mentioned earlier I grew up tying and fishing wet flies from the age of 12, along with my brother. In 1974 I made a shadow box of wet flies for my dad, including my first ever attempt of a Parmachene Belle. At that time I vowed that someday I was going to tie and frame all the wet flies from Ray Bergman’s book Trout. Ever since that date, I had actually been collecting odd and unusual materials wherever I could get them, stockpiling the materials.
In the summer of 1995 I actually started on this project, completing the first row of six flies from color plate No. 1 of Trout. Within a week or so I lost the motivation for the “frame project”, and it was just as well. Turned out there is a reason for events in life. The Forgotten Flies project came along at a perfect time, in June of 1997. I’d have to say that the tying of the wet flies for Forgotten Flies was the turning point in my fly tying career. But I can not ignore the opportunity that came in November of 1996 when Paul Schmookler asked me to tie some classic wet flies; these fifteen or so flies appeared in Volume II of Rare and Unusual Fly Tying Materials. Perhaps I could surmise that without this initial opportunity things would have turned out differently.
What other tiers have had a strong influence on your own tying (mentors)?
I have to give credit to my Dad. Even though my parents were divorced when I was 12, Dad gave my brother Larry & I our first tying lesson. He tied three flies and then gave us all his stuff. He hadn’t tied ever since we were born. Watching my dad tie three flies, and Ray Bergman and the tying chapter of Trout, and E. C. Gregg’s book How to Tie Flies (1940) was the sole source of our initial tying instruction. I read Trout five times before I was 18. Later on as a member of the Outdoor Life Book Club, I bought various fly tying books. Most notable was Schwiebert’s Matching the Hatch. I remember tying this whole nymph series and taking them in a Perrine fly box to school in tenth grade, showing it off to the two friends I knew that fly fished.
Neither my brother nor I ever saw anyone tie a fly for ten years, except for that first lesson by my dad. The first other fly tiers I finally saw were at the Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited Annual Limestoner Seminars and Banquet in Carlisle, PA. I can not recall who it was, but it could have been any one of these fellows. Vince Marinaro, Charles Fox, Charlie Meck, Ed Koch, Ed Shenk, Joe Humphreys, Poul Jorgensen, Larry Solomon, Al Caucci or Bob Nastasi, Jim Bashline, Eric Leiser. All were guests at one time or another at these events. I wish I knew who the first person was who I watched tie a fly other than my dad. I just can not recall. Among current tiers, I have to say I admire those tiers who are able to produce excellent quality work, regardless of the type of tying they do. Having done a stint of commercial tying, like A. K. Best, I have shared several conversations with him. He is a good tier.
Even though you have been tying classic wet flies for many years, what things have you learned or discovered recently about wet fly tying? What things that would have made your tying easier or better?
There are two things that stand out to me as recent “discoveries” regarding my tying of wet flies. And I say that because both are so new that they are not in my DVD. One is a simple matter of applying a floss rib on a body, making it much easier than twisting the floss by hand, which is what I used to do. So simple I don’t know why I did not think of it years sooner. But as fly tiers we are often set in our ways. The simple use of hackle pliers to twist the floss uniformly makes it wrap as a rib very evenly and smoothly. The other thing is what I believe to be a breakthrough technique that greatly simplifies, and therefore speeds up, the process of marrying feather slips for wings and tails. My new method eliminates 90% of the problems encountered by fly tiers struggling with this technique. Either of these techniques, had I discovered them sooner, would have made my tying easier. I am working on an article for Fly Tyer Magazine that will reveal and explain this process in full detail. Outside of that, the wet fly techniques I employ are the result of my experience, and I can not underestimate my time spent in commercial tying as improving every aspect of my tying talent.
How has the state of materials (quality, availability, novelty) for classic wet flies changed over the past 20 years?
Probably what has changed the most in the state of materials over the last 20 years has been a gradual decline in the availability and quality of wing quills. Much of this is more recent, like just two years ago one of the wholesalers discontinuing their sale of orange dyed duck quills. That is no good for those of us who love to tie the Trout Fin patterns.
Some feathers, particularly flank feathers, are more available because of the increased interest in the tying of full-dress salmon flies. Bronze Mallard, teal, and other feathers are widely available, at good quality, and a higher price, all due to increased demand. Many of the commonly used wet fly materials - wool and spun fur for bodies, floss, and quills for wings and tails are still available, if you know where to look. On the whole, most fly shops are not carrying much of an inventory of wet fly materials. My suggestion is always to visit as many fly shops as you can, keep your eyes open, keep a written material list, and buy any item you think you may need.
What skills and techniques used in the classic wet flies do you see making one's tying of other styles more effective?
There was a time some years ago if you took a fly-tying class that the first pattern you would learn was a Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear wet fly. Or maybe a Coachman. Tying wet flies requires basic tying skill. That said, I’d say there needs to be a bit more of precision work and fine-tuning when tying wet flies. Some are very easy, simple three or four ingredient patterns. But when you get to the Silver Doctor, Tycoon, Prouty, Cassard, etc., which have eight to ten or more ingredients, then the layering of the materials as the fly is built becomes critical. Decrease the size of these more complex patterns to #10 or #12 and one can see where an eye for detail, exact proportion, and proper and minimal (where necessary) use of thread will make the difference between success and abject failure. Counting thread wraps, like A. K. Best, is a good fly tying ethic. This becomes automatic with practice. And, also, I agree with AK that most every thing you do in fly tying should be done with the thread just under the breaking point. Tight tying yields durable flies. Tying of wet flies does not generally require heavy threads or high torgue. Consequently, to tie good wet flies one simply needs a mastery of thread control and material handling.
If someone was to attend one of your classes, what should that person practice before attending?
I have no unreasonable demands or expectations for any tier attending one of my classes. For obvious reasons I do not accept beginners in a mix of intermediate and advanced tiers. All one really needs is basic tying skill. This includes experience wrapping thread, having tied (at least) a few dozen flies, an eye for proportion, an ability to listen, and eagerness to learn. An understanding of the necessary tools, how they are used, and competent experience with the equipment is all that is necessary. I have had students tying less than one year and they have been successful in tying wet flies.
If one were to practice in advance, I’d say try to get as much familiarity with wing quills as possible. Single strip and some marrying would be beneficial. But not necessary.
Mr. Bastian, you have mentioned that you are putting together a book on wet flies; how is that project going and when can we expect to see it in print?
The book on wet flies is my next big goal. So far there is no timeline extending far enough out to say when that would be available in print. So I have to say the project is going slowly, sort of on hold as I cultivate ideas, make notes, and develop an outline. And as I envision the book it will contain photographs of over 600 wet fly patterns and recipes. It will be comprehensive in every way with historical, tactical, and how-to tying info.
Have classic wets been neglected and why? If so, why the new interest?
Classic wet flies have been neglected and almost totally forgotten by the angling public. Wet flies are practically unknown to the new generation of fly fishers. I don’t think anyone can put their finger on one specific reason. Many factors have contributed to their gradual decline. I have a major feature article on classic wet flies that will be in the Fall 2006 issue of Fly Tyer Magazine. I discuss the possible reasons at length in this piece. But, I believe it occurred primarily as a result of books like Schwiebert’s Matching the Hatch and Hatches by Caucci and Nastasi. These books helped to cause a shift in angling interest from the suggestive and attractive to the role of more exacting, imitative fly tying. In other words, the fly fisher as amateur entomologist.
Again, it is difficult to place the blame for the decline of wet flies on one specific thing. But it did happen. Even ten years ago, the Orvis catalog still listed the Royal Coachman and a half-dozen wet fly patterns. Currently most mail-order fly catalogs have no traditional wet flies listed for sale. This is quite a change from sixty years earlier when Weber Lifelike Fly Company sold over 200 wet fly patterns in stock sizes from #6 to #12. The new interest in wet flies is kind of easy to figure out. The flies are fun to tie, with the complex variations of colors and materials, and they catch fish. Fun for fly tiers and fun for fly fishers.
If I were to make a small fly box filled with classic wet flies, which patterns would you consider the most successful fish-catching patterns based on your own fishing experience?
My list of over two dozen wet fly patterns I fished as a youth and young adult was probably larger than necessary. But I could select a dozen patterns that would comprise a good list. Of course, I’ll neglect some favorite fly, but this is a basic list.
Royal Coachman, Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear, Yellow Sally, Black & Silver, Gray Hackle Peacock, Professor, Grizzly King, Alexandra, Governor, Orange Fish Hawk, Greenwell’s Glory, and March Brown. This list thus far contains patterns most tiers can tie without difficulty. If I had to add a few more, they would be married wing patterns: Parmachene Belle, Colonel Fuller, Trout Fin. These flies work well in Maine on both brook trout and landlocked salmon
Don Bastian Biography
Featured author of Ray Bergman biography in Forgotten Flies, (April 2000)published by the Complete Sportsman in Westborough, MA. Don has approximately 765 flies published in Forgotten Flies (more than 25% of the total), including 499 classic wet flies in the Bergman section, and 265 additional streamers and bucktails in the chapter titled, "Checklist of Streamers and Bucktails."
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Price: $6.95 for each issue
The Premiere issue is ready for shipping & the Fall 2008 issue will be available September 1st.
