63Bloomberg Pursuits August 12, 2019
TIME There are more
simple flies, Hoffman
allows. Because of all
the material, this one
can take up to two hours
to tie. He can finish flies
that require only three
pieces of material in
about five minutes.COST With Hoffman’s background
in breeding, it’s no shock that he uses
premium products. “There’s $5 worth of
material in there!” he says with a laugh.
“People aren’t going fishing with a fly
that expensive.” (Normal flies retail for
about $2.) Instead, he’ll arrange it with
others in a fly plate and donate them
for fundraising auctions at Fly Fishers
International events. A plate of six has
gone for as much as $800.THE CATCH The pattern was
originally intended for salmon
and steelhead, which begin in
fresh water but swim out to salt
water, then return to spawn at
25 to 30 pounds. But they’re
not really feeding at that point.
“Most flies try to imitate what a
fish would eat,” Hoffman says,
“but migratory fish don’t do
that.” Instead, they’re attracted
to bright colors—hence this
pattern’s success.THE BIG FINISHThe most
common mistake tyers make,
Hoffman says, is with the final knot
at the head of the fly. “It can be a
bulky mess because you haven’t
left enough space to finish,” he
says. He compares it to learning
how to tie a Windsor knot: “I always
found when I was doing a new
pattern that the third, fourth, and
fifth flies always looked better than
the first one or two.”▲
SteelheadSalmon
▼Daiichi No. 2051 size
3/0 Salmon fly hooks
can cost $1 apieceTwo feathers from the
neck of a golden pheasant
are paired with a single
flank feather of a barred
wood duckGreen bucktail
is topped with
gray squirrel
hair, also dyed
orangeBlack ostrich
feathers cover up
the thread wraps
where the pieces
of the fly
get attachedYellow floss ribbed
with silver tinsel is
fronted by green
chickabou feathers