I’m retired and living in the small coastal fishing/tourist village
of Bodega Bay on the north coast of California. Fly fishing and fly tying
continue to be my passion after almost fifty-five years.
I enjoy innovation and experimentation in my tying as reflected in several
of the patterns shown on this page. Perhaps some of these ideas will spark
new ideas by others. I always look for ways to simplify and tie more
quickly as my overall philosophy of tying is that it should not be
complicated.. Many of the slots in my boxes are filled with my “generic”
flies. A “little gray parachute” or the “quick tie damsel nymph” may be
the fly of choice for the day. On the other hand one would be a fool to
argue with the proven success of the standard patterns that fill many rows
in my fly boxes.
About five or six years ago, in quest of trying to
improve and gain that extra edge, I started building furled leaders.
Research and experimentation followed with different materials and tapers
as I made hundreds of leaders in the following years. Thanks in large part
to Hans’ support, my thread leaders have achieved a bit of notoriety as a
user friendly leader.