Angling with the WWII Fishing Survival Kit Fly – image credit Envato.
The WWII Fishing Survival Kit Fly
By Skip Clement
Angie Roth, my angling partner for the last five years, is a Savage Flies follower. Savage Flies is a Matt O’Neal invention and an excellent tying site, especially if you are interested in the origin or history of the flies he ties and profiles.
Angie called last week with a must-have request for a fly that turned out to be better than advertised – it catches trouts – at least here in North Georgia. Its name is unknown, but Matt found it in a WWII-era Fishing Survival Kit, so we’re calling it a WWII Fishing Survival Kit Fly.
O’Neal opts for an alternative material, and that does nothing but make the fly less challenging to materialize. The tying is easy, and the opportunities for wildly varied sizes, game fish, and ‘colors’ makes it a worthwhile tie beyond its allure to local trouts.
I tied up a dozen for Angie and five for myself. The latter in saltwater sizes as tube flies [jury still out reds and snook]. I tied Angie’s in sizes #10 to #14 – staying within the guidelines of the tie by O’Neal, but two tied as #12 tubes. Angie said they both got eaten upon delivery.
