The Flies of John Wood

John Wood might be the newest contributor to Salmonfly.Net, but he has already surpassed many of his peers in numbers with his first set of contributions. I must say that he put me to work with his first set of Steelhead and Atlantic Salmon flies, but it has been no less enjoyable as it allowed me to spend some time viewing first hand how skillful he is as a tyer and developer of original patterns.  So with that said, I hope you enjoy reading what he has to say about himself below, and spending some time yourself looking at his fly pattern contributions to Salmonfly.Net.

Born in 1960, I grew up in rural North Texas where fly-fishing was about as common as a July snow in those days. My brothers and I learned about the great outdoors traipsing across the countryside with rod or gun in hand. Mentored by our dad and uncles we learned to fish for everything that swam in the rivers, lakes and ponds of North and East Texas. Over the years I came up with patterns specifically for sandbass (white bass to most), stripers and even tied flies for carp and catfish, something that was unheard of in the early 80’s, (at least in North Texas).

Getting married to a beautiful Colorado native in 1986 lead me to become interested in fly-fishing for trout. This opened up, as they say, a whole new can of worms. Sharon understood from almost the moment I met her that fishing was and is a big part of my life and she embraced it, as well as anyone who didn’t know exactly what that meant could have. Over the years Sharon has helped me along, kept me grounded, been my best friend and finally become my most adored fishing partner. In 2008 Sharon finally stepped into a float tube and has since taken to it like a duck to water, literally.

In 2006 Sharon and I relocated to Cody, Wyoming where we now live. Having fished in 16 states from Florida to Washington I can honestly say we enjoy some of the best fishing in the lower 48. Just fifty miles west of Yellowstone National Park we also enjoy some of the most affecting natural scenery to be found anywhere.

In 2007 I came across a photo of an exquisite copy of a full dress Green Highlander. The beauty and form of that single fly changed my outlook on fly tying forever. Since that time I have been increasingly intrigued, absorbed, excited and frustrated by classic full dress Atlantic salmon flies. Having previously tied some of the hairwing versions for trout it wasn’t much of a leap to start collecting materials and tying a few copies of full dress flies on my own. Not only do I enjoy the true classics, I also enjoy the creativity of “winding things on a hook” to see what comes out of it.

Though the challenge and beauty of steelhead and salmon flies intrigue me the most I still devote a significant amount of time to tying flies for the local trout. I am currently designing a series of stillwater trout flies that use marabou barbs for the abdomen and thorax. Somewhere along the line I began building and restoring fly and spin rods. In order to accommodate all three I keep two vises and desks, along with a rod building station crowded with multiple projects going all the time. Check out dragonflyangler.com to see and read more.

John E  Wood

The Flies

Steelhead/Trout

	Border Collie	Winter's Hope	Golden Girl	Hairwing Blue Doctor
	Orange Egg Puff	Red Egg Puff	Pink Egg Puff	Hairwing Evergreen
	Full Breakfast	Purple Stoner	Sunburst	Pacific Sunset
		Lady Prawn

Classic Atlantic Salmon

	Green Highlander	Parson	Rosy Dawn	Thunder & Lightning
	Silver Doctor	Christmas	Durham Ranger	Invicta, Full Dressed
		Jock Scott