"My biggest worry is that when I am dead and gone, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it!"
-Koos Brandt
I know a lot of folks on this page enjoy fishing for all sorts of fish, but the Smallmouth that come out of Ozark rivers and creeks are by far the best in my opinion. One reason for my blatant bias is the flies that I tie to catch them.
Many years ago I took an introduction to fly tying. I enjoyed fly fishing in small creeks and streams and even visited trout parks. However, it was not long into the course that I became frustrated and downright angry at the size of materials I was working with. I distinctly remember a fly called Renegade that had a hackle wrapped on each end of the hook. For a guy with big hands and bad eyes this was a torture straight out of Dante’s Inferno! Needless to say, my tying trout flies did not last.
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| Mohawk Sculpin |
As I grew older, settled down a little more with my kids and got back into fly fishing, I once again considered tying flies. Each time the thought crossed my mind I would remember how furious I got with tying. It seemed the furthest thing from relaxing. It was only much later, and a chance meeting of a fellow fly fisher at an airport bar that I decided to dust off the vice and sit back down.
The first thing I did was to toss anything below a size 8 hook! Caddis, mayfly nymphs and mosquitoes were off the table for good. I started tying simple flies like Woolly Buggers and simple streamers. Before long I was using size 2 hooks to whip up large bugs and even jigs. I turned my back on the purist view and started focused on flies that would catch fish.
I used minimal materials and only added details only where they count the most, I excommunicated myself from the limitations of matching hatch conditions and studding what the variations of scuds are in different types of water. I dove head first into gaudy, gnarly, grandiose flies of the brightest colors. My flybox looked like something to be found at Grateful Dead concert. I could not have been happier. Deceivers, you betcha, but even better were Double Deceivers! Articulated flies leaped to life on my vice and landed fish after fish in the clear streams that I haunted.
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| Common Sucker Fly |
Some of these monstrosities could be tossed easier on an ultralite than on a 5 weight. They were big, they were heavy, they got to bottom and jigged for brown fish when crayfish were abundant and swam near limbs and rocks when baitfish were the preferred meal. And, as a result, I was happy. I began to remember what it was about fly fishing that I loved in the first place. The old thrill of tying up a pattern to outsmart a fish and getting giddy when it is slurped down.
I will not lie, the Internet and social media has had a huge impact on my tying. I love sharing photos with my friends that fish salt. I have been inspired by their large patterns as much as I have by other bass fishermen. In the end, I no longer have an excuse to not tie or fish. If you, like me, are a recovering trout fisherman, take heart and look to Smallmouth.
-Sean Seabaugh
