Most Influential PA Fly-fishers

[outsider]

melvinp, if you look at his full body of work in my post, it isn't just about tools. Among other things, he was the first to market blended dubbing. He still sells his blended dubbing wholesale and retail. A few months ago I found a blog from a person in Poland who swears by Jack's dubbing.

 

[Dave_W]

For influential PA FFers, I'd add Steve Sywensky to the list (and ditto for Jim Bashline).

 

[Fredrick]

For me the person that influenced me the most in Pa for fly fishing is Tweed aka Tom C aka Afishinado . He took this young intense aggressive very rough on the edges guy and showed me the ropes he gave me a great foundation to work with either it be for trout or showing me the way of the WW insurgents. So thanks for all that you do Tommy C

 

[afishinado]

Fredrick wrote:
For me the person that influenced me the most in Pa for fly fishing is Tweed aka Tom C aka Afishinado . He took this young intense aggressive very rough on the edges guy and showed me the ropes he gave me a great foundation to work with either it be for trout or showing me the way of the WW insurgents. So thanks for all that you do Tommy C

From a very rough age 20 something ex marine, to a great fly caster, the foremost snakehead master FFer, and now a TU Chapter President.

Nice!! Great job Fred.

The great thing about being a mentor is to at some point see someone you helped take some of the things they learned, add their own knowledge and experience to it, and pay it forward to help others.

And on and on......very good.

 

[baileyoconnell]

No one mentioned Joe Humphrey or Ed Jaworowski.

 

[lestrout]

Yo outsider - nice add of Jack Mickievicz. He was also one of the few that figured out how to dye a true black, without reddish or purplish undertones. If there is ever an Apocalypse, I need Jack in my tribe. He is uncommonly resourceful and able in many endeavors, more than just fly tying and fishing.

 

[Bruno]

tomgamber wrote:
JackM, albatross, ligonierandy, Bruno, Maurice, TonyC, David, Merle, G.G., J.Forey, Boyer...and some others from Paflyfish who welcomed me and shared their knowledge of central PA waters when I moved back here in the mid to late 1990's. I read articles by the big names and their knowledge is great but if you want to talk about real influences, it's the face to face real people who have influenced me most. Thanks!

Thanks Tom for that compliment. My vote is for Dave Kile and the Mods if not for their efforts here I would not have made some of the most important friendships of my adult life.

Cheers to you all.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Well stated Tom and Bruno. As Grandma would say"good eggs". GG

 

[outsider]

Les, you are right. He's into primitive rifle shoots, primitive art, etc. Seemingly anything he chooses to endeavor he becomes really good at. He taught me how to dye different materials and how to properly restore cork grips. Now I get compliments for my cork work.

 

[Bruno]

Maurice wrote:
I will go with my mentor Tony Morasco.
.

Tony Morasco taught me to cast and tie.

I once was getting frustrated about my casting and was bitching about my rod. He took my rod from me and started hauling. He shot the whole damn line out. I quit complaining and started learning. Great guy

 

[RivDiv521]

Art Flick would be one of my top picks.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

Not sure of the person's name that gave me my start. The story goes like this.
I bought a renegade flyrod from Walmart (of all places) and a few flies and went down to Nashaminy Creek. I understod the basics and that was about it. I had learned from watching several fly fisherman on several occasions even mocking their casts. I was laughing at how they would wave the rod three times before the line would even touch the water. I can do that with one cast with a spinning rod. So with a new rod in my hands and after several false attempts a true flyer approached me one day and gave me some pointers and a couple of bead head prince nymphs. And after a few casts, I managed to land my first trout some-wheres back in 2000. I never knew the person who spent about 15 minutes with me on that day - greatly appreciated - whoever you are.

 

[NewSal]

to me:

George Daniel
Joe Humphreys
Eric Stroup

 

[JohnPowers]

Flick, marinaro, cucci and nastasi and the guy who ran Eylers in the early ‘80’s.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

Don Douple- Saw some great videos of his at TU programs. very knowledgeable about many PA Streams.

Yaz Yamashita - Incredibly realistic flies some of which are in the American Museum of Fly Fishing.

Dwight Lands - My favorite guidebook

Joe Armstrong - profiled virtually every limestone influenced stream in PA with his book.

Ed Sutryn invented the McMurray Ant

Plus all the others mentioned above.

 

[Hook_Jaw]

George Daniel, Lance Wilt, Kelly Galloup.

 

[bambooroduser]

herb & cathy weigl, dusty weidner, bill & emilly zeiders

 

[mattofcarlisle]

Russ Mowery - he had Mowery's Flybox, a small fly shop in his basement - he introduced quite a few Western PA kids to flyfishing.
Russ's brother -in-law, Fred Bridge - a commercial tier, flyfisherman, and all around nice guy from York, PA.

 

[greenghost]

"Most influential" can mean a couple different things. Is it most influential to the greatest overall number of anglers? Or is it most influential to each individual who reads this? They aren't mutually exclusive either.

IMO the most influential in terms of the HIGHEST NUMBER of influences are: Joe Humphrey, Lefty Kreh, Charlie Meck, A.J. McClane and Al Troth. They were teachers and/or authors and had the publishing means to reach many anglers, not just around the country, but also the globe.

As far as on a PERSONAL LEVEL, it was A.J. McClane and Joe Humphrey. A.J. was editor of Field and Stream as well as a prolific book writer. He taught me the basics of fishing since nobody in my family ever fished. Later, I took Joe's class at PSU and he got me totally hooked on flyfishing. Pun intended.

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

Bill Hayes and Herb Van Dyke. The two of them were instrumental in the development of saltwater flyfishing for stripers and other inshore fish, and Bill was one of the great early pioneers of bluewater fish with a fly rod. Herb originally owned the Anglers Pro Shop in Souderton and later sold it to Bill, who ran it until his death about 4.5 years ago. The two were the first to run truckfulls of PA flyfishermen with 10-weights up to Martha's Vineyard and the Cape to experience the spring and fall runs (see Lou Tabory's book Inshore Fly Fishing). They brought hardcore saltwater fishing to PA, and now there must be 100s of guys who drive to the shore at night to try to hook up, and every spring and fall 100s more go to the Cape and Islands (I see the license plates and rod racks on the ferry). At one time, Bill was the owner of at least 8 current IGFA fly rod world records and I believe maybe 12 overall and was the first man to ever catch a swordfish on a fly (a tiny one) back in the late 80s or early 90s. Exotic fishing resorts and destinations used to fly Bill in for a week or two to help train their guides on bluewater fishing for marlin, sailfish, wahoo, and tuna. He was the world's largest distributor of Loomis rods, Abel reels, and Simms waders. He was captain of the Flyswatter and was there to help me find, catch, and land my 42lb. would-have-been-world-record (long story), sight-fished from the Flyswatter with a (not entirely) white deceiver.

Those of you who've been on this board for ages know that Bill was one of my very best friends and my saltwater mentor, and I just couldn't see how this discussion could be complete without some thought of what Bill and Herb added to the PA flyfishing experience. What he added to my enjoyment of flyfishing and life in general cannot possibly be overstated.