BIO-
Henry joined the TCO staff in 2007 after
spending the previous few years teaching
our fly tying classes. Henry mixes his time
helping clients at the Reading store, teaching
our fly tying classes and working as a streamside
instructor and guide.
For some people fly tying and fly fishing
serve as a hobby or a diversion, for Henry
it is a way of life and he ties flies nearly
every day. He has been a fly tyer and fisherman
for over thirty five years. Over the years
Henry has had the opportunity to meet, and
learn from many notable fly tyers from Ernest
Scweibert to Paul Schmookler and many others
who have influenced his own work at the
vise. Henry has also been a custom fly tyer
for over twenty five years; supplying trout
and Atlantic salmon flies for destination
anglers traveling from Alaska, across the
U.S. and Canada and to the rivers of Russia’s
Kola Peninsula.
For Henry, the art of fly tying is about
developing new ways to imitate nature with
the flies he creates as well as expressing
his own creativity. He ties nearly any type
of fly from very old traditional flies using
natural materials to modern flies using
synthetics, to classic and artistic full
dress Atlantic Salmon flies.
Henry’s work has appeared in a number
of outdoor publications including: “The
Art of Angling Journal”, “The
Mid-Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide”, “The
Atlantic Salmon Journal”, and the
“Game Journal”. We are proud
to have Henry as part of our education and
retail team in Reading. Through out the
year he will schedule a variety of fly tying
classes for different interests and skill
levels as well as teaching private lessons.
Henry has recently had a great new fly-tying
book published entitled Matching
Major Eastern Hatches |
QUESTIONS
WITH HENRY
When and why did you start fly
fishing?
I started fly fishing more than 35 years
ago when I first saw someone on the stream
fishing with a fly rod and flies they tied
themselves. It was magic and looked like
the perfect connection between fish, fisherman
and nature and after all these years I still
believe it to be very true. It’s been
a life well wasted! What
is your favorite type of fly fishing?
(ie fresh, salt, nymph, dry etc…)
Fly Fishing in the salt scares the hell
out of me because I’m not at the
top of the food chain anymore, so I limit
myself primarily to trout and smallmouth
bass, and occasionally steelhead and other
freshwater species. If I can find a rising
fish I will knot on a dry fly in a heartbeat
because I really enjoy the chess match
played with a visibly feeding fish. Trying
to interpret what a trout is feeding on
and trying to match it with a good fly
and a good presentation is where I like
to be. Nymphing for me is like running
the vacuum cleaner at home – I do
it only if I have to.
What are your
favorite waters to fish?
The West Branch of the Delaware, the Little
Juniata, Big Fishing Creek, Penns Creek
and the Henry’s Fork are magical
places at the top of the list. In reality,
my favorite stream is the one I’m
standing in at the moment – there
are so many great places to fish!
When you’re
not fishing, what are you doing? Past
times, Hobbies etc…
Believe it or not, I tied flies for almost
two years before I started fishing them,
so it’s always been about tying.
I still tie nearly every day and it is
my favorite way to unwind and enjoy some
quiet time at the end of the day. I also
spend a lot of time shooting macro images
of stream insects when I’m not fishing
or tying . When I can find time I enjoy
rifle and shotgun shooting, upland bird
hunting and hiking.
What are your plans for the
future within TCO, what projects are you
working on and when can we expect to see
them come to fruition?
I plan to spend more time with fly tying
education at TCO, doing speaking engagements
and presentations and promoting my book
in the next year. I really enjoy teaching
and helping other people enjoy the sport
and will schedule a variety of classes
for different interests. In the back of
my mind another book is starting to take
shape and I’ll be spending some
time shooting images for that and pounding
out the text along the way when the inspiration
is right.
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