List of Master Tiers

Amanda and I spent some time in Redding this weekend to check out Redding’s Fly Tying Expo at Turtle Bay Aquarium. We got to meet and talk to some of the best tiers in the world as well as enjoy the rest of the exhibits at the park. All very friendly, knowledgeable, and amazing people. Fly fishing heroes!

Bud Heintz
Bud is the first person I talked to and he was tying mayfly dries. Bud is from the Modesta area and is a master tier who has tied for big names in the fly fishing industry. We talked about using the correct fly material, how to use it, and trying different things with different materials. Bud introduced me to one of his original patterns the “No-Hackle Dry Fly” which innovates the use of Puglisi fibers as the wings rather than natural animal hair. This makes the fly more durable, better floating, and adds some nice color to the wing. He also gave me some fibers and a few partridge feather to use. Thanks Bud!

Dorothy Zinger
Dorothy is a fly fishing master tier from the Los Altos area. She has been fishing for years and was teaching how to use turkey biots. I have always been interested in using biots, but I’ve haven’t gotten the chance to pick up any feathers. Biots are look great for a natural segmented abdomen look. We watched her tie a CDC PMD dry which she let me have. Thanks Dorothy!

John Ryzanych
John is one of the founders of the product Softex which is similar to epoxy. A true innovator who enjoys fly fishing using very unique flies tied with his Softex. Some of his flies looked like hardware poppers but they were made entirely from synthetics and feathers. John had some stoneflies that looked very realistic all tied with just one feather. Very awesome. We talked for quite some time about the theories of fly tying like what kind of hooks, feathers, etc. John told me that all in all his motto for fly fishing in general was basically, “Just go fishing.” Thanks John! Now I gotta get me some of that Softex.

Doug Ouellette
Doug is the originator of the famous “Popcorn Beetle” pattern that is used on Pyramid Lake. I didn’t notice who he was until he told me that the popcorn beetle was his fly. Needless to say I was starstruck! Doug’s fly pattern is responsible for catching some of the biggest fish in Pyramid Lake. A very chill, friendly, and awesome guy; Doug was demonstrating how to tie a Pyramid Lake Ice Cream Cone Midge. He gave me the midge he tied and two beetle patterns. These are definitely going into the collection. Thanks Doug!

Also shoutout to Bill Nelson son of Dick Nelson the originator of the Aztec fly. The Aztec was possibly the first fly to inspire a lot of minnow patterns. I didn’t get to chat with him much but he gave me a few of his signature flies. Thanks!

Fly Tying Collection

We spent the rest of the day exploring Turtle Bay which was pretty cool. There was a Candy Exhibit in the other room that Amanda really liked. There were also animal exhibits, points of interests, and an aquarium in the park to check out. Overall I learned a lot and met some great fly fishing legends.

Atlantic Salmon Flies

Ellis Lake
You know those days where you just feel like everything is off? I was at the Yuba and was having the most frustrating time with fishing, so frustrating that I just went home. You have good days and bad days. This was a bad day.
Instead of just calling it a skunk I just wanted to take it easy, so Nick and I headed to Ellis Lake. The bass fry have popped and the adults are guarding them. The adults don’t seem very responsive if your targeting them so bass fishing was slow. I had a 16” black crappie chase my fly but I pulled it out of the water too early before it could take. The bluegills that were trying to eat the fry were a lot more aggressive than bass so that’s what Nick and I caught most of the day. We had a contest of who could catch the most on a top water fly. I got 9 and Nick got 6.

Horseshoe Lake
Weekends are a busy day on Horseshoe. Too many dogs and people put the fish down. I had a catfish roll on the surface and eat my fly but I didn’t set the hook quick enough. Hopefully the carp out there will start becoming more active. I haven’t seen any feeding in the shallows yet and this is usually about the time when they are there.