Who are the 50 most influential fly fishers?

[Swattie87]

I liked seeing Flip Pallot on there. Jose Wejebe would have been another potential salt guy to mention. Watched both of their shows Saturday mornings as a kid.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Good point Dave S.
Who are the most influential fly fishermen on Paflyfish?
Ponder this! GG

 

[sjangler]

I wrote ‘em about overlooking Gierach.

 

[PennKev]

Meh. I didn't realize they were going back 50 years cause I sure as heck wasn't going to buy a mag to find out just to read a list of household names of ffing. And frankly, it wasn't intriguing enough to sift through their web site to find the list either.

At any rate, that list is pretty much a who's who of ffing personalities. While there are certainly some debatable additions they mostly got it right

Still, I stick to my original assertion. Many of those names are from a past era. One that was ending at least 15-20 years ago.

 

[DriftingDunn]

I never even heard of 34 people on the list, so I guess they didn't influence me.

How about adding Walt Young, award winning fly tier, outdoor writer, photographer, and creator of Walt's Worm, to the Pennsylvania list?

And let's not forget Richard Tate (aka "rrt" on PAFlyFish), author of "The Trout at the Walnut Tree" and frequent contributor to Pennsylvania Outdoor News and Pennsylvania Angler & Boater.

 

[krayfish2]

DaveS, I can not be held responsible for any poor decisions you might make. LoL

Really surprised that Clouser didn't make this list. There are 3-5 guys that I can't believe made this list. Again, all subjective

 

[poopdeck]

RLeep2 wrote:
Seems silly to me; like something you'd see in People or Rolling Stone.

Oh well, carry on....

The silly list threads aren't suppose to start until after the first official day of winter. My father influenced me and got me interested in the outdoors. I'm sure a lot of the names mentioned are great people but Ive never given the few I've heard of so much as a passing thought.

 

[Tiogadog]

sjangler wrote:
I wrote ‘em about overlooking Gierach.

This seems like quite an oversight. I guess since he did not write for their publication.

Overall, I like that publication but I am also surprised they didn't manage to just stick a guy named Yet I. Cooler at number 25.

T

 

[Jaybird]

I think this list in a sense is kinda dopey as we all know it has it's flaws , but in another sense very important because if we don't talk about these people , they will be forgotten by a younger generation of fly-fishers who will never realize the contributions some people have made .
As a kid I worked for 2 older New York guys who would talk baseball with me , now I never saw these guys play , but to this day I know Carl Erskin had I rifle arm in the outfield , and nobody threw harder than Bob Feller .

 

[moon1284]

Curt Gowdy, Ted Williams, Bud Leavitt, Leon Chandler

 

[rrt]

I appreciate DD's comment, but I doubt that I am very influential, though I dearly like to fly-fish for trout. I think RLeep2, Old Lefty, and Troutbert are much more influential -- and no doubt better fly-fishermen -- than I. I think Dave Weaver's art, at least the pieces I have seen, are wonderful influences about the beauty of trout and fly-fishing.

I believe Marinaro was an inspiration for me as a student of fly-fishing. I think Charlie Fox's attitude about fly-fishing was wonderful.

I particularly admire Robert Traver's stories and hope that my attitude toward fly-fishing mirrors his. I think his stories "The Intruder," "Big Secret Trout," and "Danny and the Boys" are timeless.

 

[troutbert]

Whoever developed graphite rods was extremely influential, probably more so than most of the names mentioned.

But I don't know who that was.

 

[FarmerDave]

troutbert wrote:
Whoever developed graphite rods was extremely influential, probably more so than most of the names mentioned.

But I don't know who that was.

I'd take that one (or three) step further backwards to the inventor of the fiberglass fishing rod.

Officially that would Dr. Arthur M. Howald and Shakespeare was first company to sell one (I think). All other composite rods (including fly) are descendants of that. Or am I the only one who first tried fly fishing with a fiberglass spinning rod?

In fact, the guy who invented the graphite rod probably did it out of necessity. Guy breaks fiberglass rod... Then he spots the CB antenna on his car and a lightbulb appeared above his head. ;-)