The Sportsman's Corner

When I got hooked by fly-fishing more than 55 years ago, I lost at least several flies on each fly-fishing adventure. Flies weren’t outrageously expensive in those long-lost days; but as a student, I did not have extra cash lying around for store-bought flies. I knew that enthusiastic fly-fishermen tied their own flies, and the handwriting on the wall told me that I’d better learn to tie flies if fly-fishing was going to be affordable.

I had run into Ralph Haney and his son Randy on several of my adventures. Ralph was a fine fly-fisherman, and he tied his own flies. He offered to show me how to tie flies the next winter if I came up with the right equipment and materials. He showed me what to buy from a huge Herter’s catalogue, and I managed to save enough money to buy the necessities. In fact, I still use several of the tools from that original purchase.

During the winter of 1969, Ralph spent a couple of evenings showing me the basic fundamentals of fly tying. “You’re on your own now. It will take some time, but the basic movements will become natural to you the more you tie.”

My first flies were abominable, though I found a few trout foolish enough to eat them on my outings. Bruce Houck, my brother-in-law, had become interested in fly-fishing about the same time that I had, and he decided to learn to tie, too. Tying together, we whipped-up some real “creations” during those tying sessions. Bruce’s tying improved exponentially when he secured a teaching job at Bald Eagle Area High School and ran into veteran fly-fisherman Henry Malone, an expert fly tier who became Bruce’s fly-fishing and fly-tying mentor.

Over the years, my flies improved markedly; and though they are not works of art as some guys’ flies are, they are good enough to fool many fish each season. I am just now preparing to tie the flies I’ll need next season.

If you are interested in learning to tie flies, your best bet is to sign up for the John Kennedy Chapter of Trout Unlimited’s free Beginner Fly-Tying Class that will run on Saturday mornings from Jan. 4 through Feb. 22 at the Allegheny Volunteer Fire Department, 651 Sugar Run Road, Altoona. The class will run from 9:00 a.m. through noon each day. To register, contact Scott Kavanaugh at 814-515-4788, Creg Strock at 814-215-5532, or email to [email protected]. The instructors are experts and will get you on your way to becoming a competent tier.