Chappy
03-28-2008, 12:50 PM
Hello, I decided to start a new thread but this is a continuation to the thread "What did you tie this year".
When I started fly fishing in 1977, one of my mentors was Walter Schmutlach, who lived in New Durham. When I started fly fishing, it was after my father gave me a fly rod, but he was and still is a worm fisherman. Walter was complete in his fishing skills; he would troll out of Alton Bay using dodgers and flies, he would bass fish, and trout fish, and he tied flies as well. Oh and I used to fish in his bob house in Alton Bay for smelt - I can remember the cold but satifying sardine sandwiches - bless his soul.
We would go to Pittsburg and he would fly fish and I would try to do the same. He would use a fly called simply - "The Goldfish" which I then called Walter's Goldfish. It was a smaller version of the streamers he would use for trolling in Winnipesaukee. And by god, he would catch more fish than anyone combined - worms included. This fly was very simple - gold tinsel and orange hackles. He would also have red ones. Looking back, I would not say Walter was the most skilled fly tyer but he was a skilled carpenter and I am sure he could have been but his tying skills satisfied and complemented his fishing skills.
Walter did pass away after his wife Meriam died in the early 80's (I believe). These handful of times that I spent with Walter were very meaningful in my life. And as such growing up in Lakeport, I would fish the Winnipesaukee River (Lakeport Dam) watershed frequently. I would tie the goldfish and although I struggled with strung hackle, colors, and sizes, I would catch fish. I mean a lot of fish.
One time at the Lakeport Dam, I caught over 40 fish in 1 hour with sinking line including but not limited to salmon, brown trout, rainbow trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white perch, yellow perch and maybe a sunfish. All from 1 rock!!! Still ranks as one of the most amazing times on the water. It was the Goldfish. We would joke that now we know why using live goldfish was illegal.
I moved later in life to a modified heronfly with a black marabou tail as my goto fly - especially as I moved into the match the hatch phase of fly fishing. Using a versatile yet natural color of woodduck would it seem capture the interest of less aggressive fish - especially long after stocking trucks stopped running.
But recently with moving into big water fishing and trolling of the salmon and lake trout lakes, the goldfish has been ressurected, but the difference is that the color of orange, is very special. And there are a ton of smelt flies that are just the right shades of orange and a tonne other colors at that. I can see why now Walter would use a dodger while trolling - to get more action. Today, most of these flies are replaced by spoons with the same colors of his Goldfish, or streamers with more action such as marabou than static feather streamers.
In thinking about what made the Goldfish special was really the fact that it wasn't trolled (except held in the current) but the action that the fly rod and the strip of the fly line created. This was the key. Also, the dead drift of the streamer was very effective in getting the fish to follow and then on the swing - BANG. You can't do that with marabou - at least not effectively.
I have attempted to create a series of flies that Walter if he was around today would be tying. He believed in flies that were easy to tie, effective, and hardy. So with this, the Chinese Saddle necks available today (WS Hunters / Stone River) are just beautiful when compared to the old strung saddles we struggled with in the 80's. What's more is you can now make very small streamers and larger ones off of one neck. And where you pluck the feather from - left side or right side does matter. One of Walter's secret was the number of feathers used. Hint - it is different than Carrie Steven's configuration.
The body, I am using flat diamond braid due to a thin and hardy body that will last. I added a tail of crystal flash to help eliminate the fouling of a feather wing during casting, although proper length to hook proportion is really helpful in preventing fouling. The throat also of crystal flash instead of feather barbules because I already have my crystal hair on the table. Of course the tail and throat can be feather barbules and tinsel for the body.
This new series of flies you will see in this post and the next post are part of the new fly called Walter's Smelt.
We plan to teach this during our next fly tying classes (Concord on April 7th) and Laconia next winter. There are tricks to this to keep the wings flat, and setting wings can be frustrating to the beginner. But the results when fished are well worth its efforts.
Walter, thanks for the memories, your tricks and tips, and your willingness to "put up" with a little kid when you really didn't need to. Godspeed to you.
When I started fly fishing in 1977, one of my mentors was Walter Schmutlach, who lived in New Durham. When I started fly fishing, it was after my father gave me a fly rod, but he was and still is a worm fisherman. Walter was complete in his fishing skills; he would troll out of Alton Bay using dodgers and flies, he would bass fish, and trout fish, and he tied flies as well. Oh and I used to fish in his bob house in Alton Bay for smelt - I can remember the cold but satifying sardine sandwiches - bless his soul.
We would go to Pittsburg and he would fly fish and I would try to do the same. He would use a fly called simply - "The Goldfish" which I then called Walter's Goldfish. It was a smaller version of the streamers he would use for trolling in Winnipesaukee. And by god, he would catch more fish than anyone combined - worms included. This fly was very simple - gold tinsel and orange hackles. He would also have red ones. Looking back, I would not say Walter was the most skilled fly tyer but he was a skilled carpenter and I am sure he could have been but his tying skills satisfied and complemented his fishing skills.
Walter did pass away after his wife Meriam died in the early 80's (I believe). These handful of times that I spent with Walter were very meaningful in my life. And as such growing up in Lakeport, I would fish the Winnipesaukee River (Lakeport Dam) watershed frequently. I would tie the goldfish and although I struggled with strung hackle, colors, and sizes, I would catch fish. I mean a lot of fish.
One time at the Lakeport Dam, I caught over 40 fish in 1 hour with sinking line including but not limited to salmon, brown trout, rainbow trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white perch, yellow perch and maybe a sunfish. All from 1 rock!!! Still ranks as one of the most amazing times on the water. It was the Goldfish. We would joke that now we know why using live goldfish was illegal.
I moved later in life to a modified heronfly with a black marabou tail as my goto fly - especially as I moved into the match the hatch phase of fly fishing. Using a versatile yet natural color of woodduck would it seem capture the interest of less aggressive fish - especially long after stocking trucks stopped running.
But recently with moving into big water fishing and trolling of the salmon and lake trout lakes, the goldfish has been ressurected, but the difference is that the color of orange, is very special. And there are a ton of smelt flies that are just the right shades of orange and a tonne other colors at that. I can see why now Walter would use a dodger while trolling - to get more action. Today, most of these flies are replaced by spoons with the same colors of his Goldfish, or streamers with more action such as marabou than static feather streamers.
In thinking about what made the Goldfish special was really the fact that it wasn't trolled (except held in the current) but the action that the fly rod and the strip of the fly line created. This was the key. Also, the dead drift of the streamer was very effective in getting the fish to follow and then on the swing - BANG. You can't do that with marabou - at least not effectively.
I have attempted to create a series of flies that Walter if he was around today would be tying. He believed in flies that were easy to tie, effective, and hardy. So with this, the Chinese Saddle necks available today (WS Hunters / Stone River) are just beautiful when compared to the old strung saddles we struggled with in the 80's. What's more is you can now make very small streamers and larger ones off of one neck. And where you pluck the feather from - left side or right side does matter. One of Walter's secret was the number of feathers used. Hint - it is different than Carrie Steven's configuration.
The body, I am using flat diamond braid due to a thin and hardy body that will last. I added a tail of crystal flash to help eliminate the fouling of a feather wing during casting, although proper length to hook proportion is really helpful in preventing fouling. The throat also of crystal flash instead of feather barbules because I already have my crystal hair on the table. Of course the tail and throat can be feather barbules and tinsel for the body.
This new series of flies you will see in this post and the next post are part of the new fly called Walter's Smelt.
We plan to teach this during our next fly tying classes (Concord on April 7th) and Laconia next winter. There are tricks to this to keep the wings flat, and setting wings can be frustrating to the beginner. But the results when fished are well worth its efforts.
Walter, thanks for the memories, your tricks and tips, and your willingness to "put up" with a little kid when you really didn't need to. Godspeed to you.