Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
Before Babe Winkelman netted his first walleye, before Jimmy Houston kissed his first bass, and long before John Barrett was “Fly Fishing the World” while traveling first class, Lee Wulff (1905-1991) set the standard for fly fishing videos. If your childhood memories include Saturday afternoons with a black-and-white television and leaping trophy fish, Lee Wulff was probably holding the rod. His books, articles, films, TV shows, lectures, and fishing schools inspired millions on the thrills of fly fishing. Wulff was the first true media personality of the fly fishing world, one whose impact has not been equaled.
Few people have changed the landscape of modern fly fishing quite like Lee Wulff. He designed and sewed the first pocketed fishing vest, engineered the first reel with a palming spool, hosted the first fishing shows on network TV (“CBS Sports Spectacular” beginning in 1960 and ABC’s “American Sportsman” in 1964), and popularized short light fly rods at a time when “normal” was long, heavy, and very tiring. Wulff educated Americans about fly fishing for Atlantic salmon, “the king of fish and the fish of kings”. The Canadian government hired Wulff in the 1950s to explore Labrador’s wilderness and report on its potential for fishing and tourism. Wulff discharged his duties with great thoroughness, piloting a float plane throughout Labrador while wearing waders and having a fully-rigged fly rod stashed behind the pilot’s seat. When Wulff realized that development of the wilderness would likely hurt salmon populations, he helped found the Atlantic Salmon Federation to fight for their conservation. Lee Wulff urged anglers everywhere to practice catch-and-release, because in his words, “A game fish is too valuable to be caught only once“.
Lee Wulff had a passion for personal challenge, a penchant for big fish, and a flair for showmanship. He was famous for landing oversized fish on undersized tackle. He caught a 10 lb. Atlantic salmon on a #28 hook, a 15 lb. Atlantic using only a reel (no rod), and a 148 lb. marlin with a 5 oz. rod, 12 lb. tippet, and fly reel having no drag. He held numerous world records for fly rod, including a 597 lb. bluefin tuna.
Lee Wulff was lean, strong, and athletic – a man who did not ease gently into retirement. He caught a 960 pound tuna at age 77. He fought unassisted and eventually landed a fiercely combative sailfish at age 86, after a 3 hour 10 minute ordeal in a scorching, mid-day, equatorial sun. It was the first sailfish known to have been hooked on a dry fly, one he concocted the night before just to see if it could be done. Only two months after that sailfish, Lee Wulff died tragically while piloting his bush plane in upstate New York.
Lee Wulff is probably best known for his Wulff dry flies. The Gray Wulff, tied to imitate gray drakes of New York’s Ausable River, was first of the series. It is a uniquely American pattern, designed by Wulff for our turbulent rivers. The austere Catskill dry flies available to Wulff at the time wouldn’t float in rough water. He searched for a material strong enough to float big dries and durable enough to take many fish, eventually choosing bucktail as the main ingredient. The Gray Wulff became the prototype of a new class of dry fly – heavily hackled and floated by tails, wings, and sometimes bodies of hollow animal hair.
Lee Wulff tied all his flies – from #4/0 streamers to #28 midges – using only his fingers. No vise, no bobbin, just a hook held firmly in his fingertips and a spool of thread in his palm. He tied the first Gray Wulff in 1929, initially naming it the Ausable Gray. But Dan Bailey, Wulff’s fishing buddy at the time, insisted that it be called the Gray Wulff. Wulff and Bailey then developed ten related patterns, including Gray, Grizzly, Blonde, White, and Royal Wulffs. All are classic attractors and proven fish catchers. If you’ve not teased a trout into an explosive rise with a Gray or Royal Wulff, it’s high time you introduced yourself to Lee Wulff’s legacy.
Copyright 2019, Rusty Dunn
Gray Wulff
The Gray Wulff was originally designed to imitate gray drakes, but it is a versatile attractor dry suitable for “fishing the water” during non-hatch periods.
| Hook: |
Dry fly, #1 0- 14 |
| Thread: |
Gray |
| Tail: |
Wulff’s original recipe used brown bucktail, but calf tail or deer hair work well also |
| Body: |
Gray angora wool; rabbit, muskrat, or beaver dubbing can be substituted |
| Wing: |
Original recipe calls for brown bucktail, but calf tail or deer hair also work well |
| Hackle: |
Blue-dun, tied heavily as a collar |
Gray Wulff
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Last Updated: December 4, 2019 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
Before Babe Winkelman netted his first walleye, before Jimmy Houston kissed his first bass, and long before John Barrett was “Fly Fishing the World” while traveling first class, Lee Wulff (1905-1991) set the standard for fly fishing videos. If your childhood memories include Saturday afternoons with a black-and-white television and leaping trophy fish, Lee Wulff was probably holding the rod. His books, articles, films, TV shows, lectures, and fishing schools inspired millions on the thrills of fly fishing. Wulff was the first true media personality of the fly fishing world, one whose impact has not been equaled.
Few people have changed the landscape of modern fly fishing quite like Lee Wulff. He designed and sewed the first pocketed fishing vest, engineered the first reel with a palming spool, hosted the first fishing shows on network TV (“CBS Sports Spectacular” beginning in 1960 and ABC’s “American Sportsman” in 1964), and popularized short light fly rods at a time when “normal” was long, heavy, and very tiring. Wulff educated Americans about fly fishing for Atlantic salmon, “the king of fish and the fish of kings”. The Canadian government hired Wulff in the 1950s to explore Labrador’s wilderness and report on its potential for fishing and tourism. Wulff discharged his duties with great thoroughness, piloting a float plane throughout Labrador while wearing waders and having a fully-rigged fly rod stashed behind the pilot’s seat. When Wulff realized that development of the wilderness would likely hurt salmon populations, he helped found the Atlantic Salmon Federation to fight for their conservation. Lee Wulff urged anglers everywhere to practice catch-and-release, because in his words, “A game fish is too valuable to be caught only once“.
Lee Wulff had a passion for personal challenge, a penchant for big fish, and a flair for showmanship. He was famous for landing oversized fish on undersized tackle. He caught a 10 lb. Atlantic salmon on a #28 hook, a 15 lb. Atlantic using only a reel (no rod), and a 148 lb. marlin with a 5 oz. rod, 12 lb. tippet, and fly reel having no drag. He held numerous world records for fly rod, including a 597 lb. bluefin tuna.
Lee Wulff was lean, strong, and athletic – a man who did not ease gently into retirement. He caught a 960 pound tuna at age 77. He fought unassisted and eventually landed a fiercely combative sailfish at age 86, after a 3 hour 10 minute ordeal in a scorching, mid-day, equatorial sun. It was the first sailfish known to have been hooked on a dry fly, one he concocted the night before just to see if it could be done. Only two months after that sailfish, Lee Wulff died tragically while piloting his bush plane in upstate New York.
Lee Wulff is probably best known for his Wulff dry flies. The Gray Wulff, tied to imitate gray drakes of New York’s Ausable River, was first of the series. It is a uniquely American pattern, designed by Wulff for our turbulent rivers. The austere Catskill dry flies available to Wulff at the time wouldn’t float in rough water. He searched for a material strong enough to float big dries and durable enough to take many fish, eventually choosing bucktail as the main ingredient. The Gray Wulff became the prototype of a new class of dry fly – heavily hackled and floated by tails, wings, and sometimes bodies of hollow animal hair.
Lee Wulff tied all his flies – from #4/0 streamers to #28 midges – using only his fingers. No vise, no bobbin, just a hook held firmly in his fingertips and a spool of thread in his palm. He tied the first Gray Wulff in 1929, initially naming it the Ausable Gray. But Dan Bailey, Wulff’s fishing buddy at the time, insisted that it be called the Gray Wulff. Wulff and Bailey then developed ten related patterns, including Gray, Grizzly, Blonde, White, and Royal Wulffs. All are classic attractors and proven fish catchers. If you’ve not teased a trout into an explosive rise with a Gray or Royal Wulff, it’s high time you introduced yourself to Lee Wulff’s legacy.
Copyright 2019, Rusty Dunn
Gray Wulff
The Gray Wulff was originally designed to imitate gray drakes, but it is a versatile attractor dry suitable for “fishing the water” during non-hatch periods.
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