Wisconsin Has Contributed To Fly Fishing History
It usually doesn't take long for a beginner to discover that fly fishing has a long and interesting history. Few realize however, that Wisconsin has contributed much to the saga.
Having grown up in a community that was home to such widely known fly rodders as Lew Morrison, 0. W. Smith, Cal Cain, Dr. Ames and others, I am perhaps more conscious of this than most.
Several fly patterns originated in the state as well as some outstanding angling literature. Lew Morrison, who called the Brooklyn-Evansville area in Southern Wisconsin his home, was active in fly and tackle making, and in 1929 was national fly casting champion. He later became outdoor editor for the Milwaukee Sentinel, a position he held for many years, authored a book on fly casting, and is credited with being "father of the Sentinel Sport Show" in Milwaukee.
0. W. (Outdoor) Smith, who came from Washburn to serve Evansville as its Congregational minister through the 20's and early 30's, was also nationally known in fly fishing circles. He authored several fishing books and was angling editor for both Outdoor Life and Outdoors magazines.
Dr. James Henshall, one of the earliest recognized and most widely quoted authorities on the black bass and bass fishing, lived in and was mayor of Oconomowoc before moving to Bozeman, Montana in 1896.
His "Book of the Black Bass" is outstanding. A familiar quote that describes black bass as "pound for pound and inch for inch the gamest fish that swims", is from this book.
Although the "pound for pound" description is usually quoted in reference to smalI-mouth, Dr. HenshalI stated that, "When subject to the same conditions, both black basses are equal in game qualities". "Fly Fishing is the poetry of angling," and "The upper Mississippi River is unsurpassed for scenic beauty and black bass fly fishing", are two other quotations from his work quite often seen, especially in older books.
Besides his writings, he is remembered for designing fishing tackle, several trout and bass flies and a deer-hair bass-bug. One of the flies was named the "Oconomowoc".
Dr. Henshall's bass-bug was a proto-type for those used today. It had a clipped deer-hair body, bucktail wings tied spent and a hackle feather tail. Weber's in Stevens Point tied and sold HenshalI bass-bugs for years.
Two other Wisconsin originals popularized by the same company were the "Erskine", and "Hornberg" streamers.
The Erskine, invented by a Wisconsin resident of that name, was one of the first to incorporate glass eyes, such as taxidermists use, in its construction. They not only added fish appeal but gave weight to help sink the lure. Positioned well forward, they cause the fly to dip with each pause in the retrieve similar to the action of the light weight jigs popular today.
The body was white floss and the head was of white tying thread. The two badger hackle feathers used as wings were positioned to extend above the fly at about a 45 degree angle. It had a white beard hackle.
After the wing feathers were tied on, they were stroked between the back edge of a scissors and the tier's thumb to make them curve back down towards the hook. This was done the same way ribbons are curled on a Christmas package. Shaping the wings like this gives them more action in the water and helps prevent their catching in the hook bend when cast, a common complaint with hackle wing streamers.
As far as I know, the Erskine is no longer marketed. However, it was a tremendously effective fly. I remember catching a lot of crappies with it years ago. (We called them "calico bass" then.) If you are a fly tier, I would recommend making a few to try. Glass eyes should be available from a taxidermist or hobby shop.
The Hornberg, also a Wisconsinite, is still tied and marketed by several fly shops.
Designed as a streamer, it caught on in the East where it presently is fished dry as well as wet. Most Western catalogs list it among their streamers.
The original dressing is as follows. Head: black, Body: Flat silver tinsel, Wing: Two barred gray mallard breast feathers, between which are two yellow hackle tips as long as the mallard and nearly concealed by it. The wing covers the hook shank and is stroked to a point by applying a small amount of lacquer and rubbing between thumb and finger. The mallard is prepared by stripping and discarding the lower sides of the feathers from the stems before tying on. Cheeks: Jungle cock, Hackle: Four or five turns of grizzly wound as a collar ahead of the wing. The hackle should be wide and full.
Mr. Hornberg developed this fly while working as a conservation Warden in Portage County. Probably his idea was to suggest a small minnow. The faintly barred sides with the yellow showing through when wet, does simulate the perch-like darters found in many northern and central Wisconsin trout streams.
Besides being a good trout fly, it works very well for crappies. Many anglers fish it dry till it sinks, then work it like a streamer.
Although not significant historically, there are a couple of other native Wisconsin patterns that I use a lot. They are the "Dean Hanson" dry fly and one that is just usually called the "Crappie Streamer". They were first tied more than 25 years ago and, as far as I know, are original.
The Dean Hanson is a palmer pattern with no body except a hook shank crowded full of Adams (mixed grizzly and brown) hackle. The tail is usually two small brown hackle tips, although stiff hackle fibers can be used.
It first saw the light of day during a tying session one winter while I was trying to come up with something that would suggest our gray-brown caddis that skitters across riffles with wings moving so fast they blur. The new flies were tucked away to be tried in the spring and promptly forgotten.
Some time later, Dean Hanson, I and our wives were spending a couple of days at a river side cabin in Price County. Dean (who was a bait fisherman) mentioned that he would like to go into town and get some minnows to fish with in the river. I suggested taking some flies to a nearby creek and catching the few we might need for bait. Dean agreed and, after telling our wives we wouldn't be long, we started out.
Our way took us by the Patterson Lake access road, so I pulled in for a quick look. After Dean mentioned he saw a fish jump, I said "This is a trout lake, do you care if I cast a few times"?
Without waiting for a reply, I took a fly rod out of the trunk and started for the lake. Dean said "Why can't I try it too"? I said "You sure can", and returned to the car. Rummaging through the trunk I ran across the so far unnamed flies and, since Dean had never used a fly rod before and these looked bushy enough to float well even for a beginner, I tied one on the rod that was already strung up.
Dipping the fly in dry fly oil and throwing it back and forth a couple of times to shake off the excess and give Dean an idea how to cast one, I pushed the outfit into his hands and pointed him towards the lake.
I was proceeding to string up another rod when I heard Dean shouting, "I got one!" He burst from the woods carrying a beautiful foot long brook trout and grinning from ear to ear,
I took his fish, dressed it, and laid it on some grass in the creel. Dean, of course, had gone back to the lake. He returned with another trout just as I finished taking care of the first one.
He did this three more times. I finally said, "Look, Dean, you watch how I do this so you can take care of your own fish. I would like to try it myself". Dean caught three more nice brook trout (and dressed them himself and I caught a couple before it was time to rejoin our wives at the cabin.
Dean said "That's some fly. What do you call it?" "I guess it doesn't have a name " I replied, "I think we had better call it the Dean Hanson". That evening Dean told me that was the most fun he ever had fishing. He became an enthusiastic fly fisher and remained one the rest of his life. He was really quite proud of the fly named after him, learned to tie it, and used it almost exclusively whenever he fished dry.
The crappie fly was tied in an effort to imitate the little minnows that are so widely used as crappie bait. It does this quite successfully.
It has a silver body ribbed with oval tinsel, a sparse white hairwing flanked with two badger hackles (one on each side) and a topping of six or seven strands of peacock herl. Originally it was tied with polar bear hair, but any shiny white hair is okay.
I have been told it should be called Brook Trout fly because it works so well for spring hole brookies. It also catches river bass besides being an excellent crappie fly.
