Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
The path to greatness in fly fishing is quite simple. A tried and true formula transformed the angling unknowns of Skues, Sawyer, Gordon, Leisenring, and Marinaro into fly fishing legends. If you aspire to greatness, you too can follow the plan. First, put down this column and read no further. Disbelieve all fishing advice offered by friends and family. Doubt everything you read or hear, no matter how celebrated the source. Be especially wary of ‘experts’. G.E.M. Skues perhaps said it best in 1921:
“An authority is a person engaged in the invidious business of stereotyping and disseminating information, frequently incorrect. Angling literature teems with examples.”
Learn instead from your own observations and experiences. Your education will take longer than a quick read of some book, but you’ll develop a deep understanding of the foundations of fly fishing. Take time each angling day to sample and identify prevailing insects. Quietly watch how trout respond to them. Collect samples, take them home, and tie flies to match. Then, fish the flies in ways that mimic behavior of the naturals. If any meet with success, vary the patterns little by little and fish them again. And again. And again. Withhold judgments and opinions until you’ve tested your ideas over and over. Many thousands of angling techniques are described in the literature, but you need only two – observation and experimentation – to be a world class angler. Ignore the pundits but listen to the trout, as they will teach you how to be great.
E.H. “Polly” Rosborough (1902-1997) was a self-taught angler who pioneered flies and methods of fishing the American West decades before it was fashionable to do so. He lived in Chiloquin, Oregon and primarily fished rivers west of the continental divide. Rosborough was a hunter, trapper, and outdoorsman whose only instructional guides were a couple of angling supply catalogs. Untainted by the opinions of others, Rosborough started from scratch. He studied rivers, insects, and trout and experimented with methods of fly fishing. He taught himself fly tying, because local stores sold nothing that matched the insects he collected. Rosborough’s most famous flies are his two dozen “fuzzy nymphs”, so named because their indistinct fuzzy bodies are tied of soft animal fur. He created with fur the seductive underwater movement of materials that two centuries of soft-hackled wet flies achieved with feathers.
Rosborough studied western rivers big and small, and in time became one of the country’s most knowledgeable and successful anglers. In 1965 he condensed decades of fly fishing insight into a humble 88-page masterpiece entitled Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymphs. The book is one of the most original in all of angling. Fuzzy nymphs are stout flies designed for stout fish. They are big, furry, durable, and very effective. The Fledermouse is one of Rosborough’s finest creations. He once stated that, if forced to choose a single fly for fishing at all times under all conditions, he would opt for a size #8 Fledermouse, which he viewed “as near all-purpose as it would be possible to devise. Its hazy outline cons the fish into thinking it might be any of a number of nymphs.”
A relative lack of exposure by the popular angling press limited Rosborough’s national recognition until late in life. Among cognoscenti, however, he was acknowledged early on as one of fly fishing’s most original and creative talents. Rosborough never stopped tinkering with fly patterns, and he advised fly tyers to “never feel that you have tied a fly that is good enough. You never will. Always try to tie the next one better.”
Polly Rosborough could inspire you to greatness. But remember, be skeptical of his maxims until you’ve confirmed them for yourself … over and over again.
Copyright 2019, Rusty Dunn
Polly Rosborough’s Fledermouse
Polly Rosborough nymphs have slim bodies and a, clean prominent head of thread behind the hook eye.
| Hook: |
3XL heavy-wire nymph hook, #2 – #16 |
| Thread: |
Golden brown or tan |
| Body: |
Muskrat, mink, and rabbit fur (2:1:2), blended light grays and browns; roughen the body with a brush to be fuzzy |
| Collar: |
Muskrat belly fur, length ~1/3 of the hook shank |
| Wings: |
Barred teal or mallard flank topped with brown widgeon, length ~1/2 hook shan |
| Head: |
Tying thread; long, tapered, and coated twice with clear cement. |
Polly Rosborough’s Fledermouse
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Last Updated: May 2, 2019 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
The path to greatness in fly fishing is quite simple. A tried and true formula transformed the angling unknowns of Skues, Sawyer, Gordon, Leisenring, and Marinaro into fly fishing legends. If you aspire to greatness, you too can follow the plan. First, put down this column and read no further. Disbelieve all fishing advice offered by friends and family. Doubt everything you read or hear, no matter how celebrated the source. Be especially wary of ‘experts’. G.E.M. Skues perhaps said it best in 1921:
“An authority is a person engaged in the invidious business of stereotyping and disseminating information, frequently incorrect. Angling literature teems with examples.”
Learn instead from your own observations and experiences. Your education will take longer than a quick read of some book, but you’ll develop a deep understanding of the foundations of fly fishing. Take time each angling day to sample and identify prevailing insects. Quietly watch how trout respond to them. Collect samples, take them home, and tie flies to match. Then, fish the flies in ways that mimic behavior of the naturals. If any meet with success, vary the patterns little by little and fish them again. And again. And again. Withhold judgments and opinions until you’ve tested your ideas over and over. Many thousands of angling techniques are described in the literature, but you need only two – observation and experimentation – to be a world class angler. Ignore the pundits but listen to the trout, as they will teach you how to be great.
E.H. “Polly” Rosborough (1902-1997) was a self-taught angler who pioneered flies and methods of fishing the American West decades before it was fashionable to do so. He lived in Chiloquin, Oregon and primarily fished rivers west of the continental divide. Rosborough was a hunter, trapper, and outdoorsman whose only instructional guides were a couple of angling supply catalogs. Untainted by the opinions of others, Rosborough started from scratch. He studied rivers, insects, and trout and experimented with methods of fly fishing. He taught himself fly tying, because local stores sold nothing that matched the insects he collected. Rosborough’s most famous flies are his two dozen “fuzzy nymphs”, so named because their indistinct fuzzy bodies are tied of soft animal fur. He created with fur the seductive underwater movement of materials that two centuries of soft-hackled wet flies achieved with feathers.
Rosborough studied western rivers big and small, and in time became one of the country’s most knowledgeable and successful anglers. In 1965 he condensed decades of fly fishing insight into a humble 88-page masterpiece entitled Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymphs. The book is one of the most original in all of angling. Fuzzy nymphs are stout flies designed for stout fish. They are big, furry, durable, and very effective. The Fledermouse is one of Rosborough’s finest creations. He once stated that, if forced to choose a single fly for fishing at all times under all conditions, he would opt for a size #8 Fledermouse, which he viewed “as near all-purpose as it would be possible to devise. Its hazy outline cons the fish into thinking it might be any of a number of nymphs.”
A relative lack of exposure by the popular angling press limited Rosborough’s national recognition until late in life. Among cognoscenti, however, he was acknowledged early on as one of fly fishing’s most original and creative talents. Rosborough never stopped tinkering with fly patterns, and he advised fly tyers to “never feel that you have tied a fly that is good enough. You never will. Always try to tie the next one better.”
Polly Rosborough could inspire you to greatness. But remember, be skeptical of his maxims until you’ve confirmed them for yourself … over and over again.
Copyright 2019, Rusty Dunn
Polly Rosborough’s Fledermouse
Polly Rosborough nymphs have slim bodies and a, clean prominent head of thread behind the hook eye.
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