The passing on of timeless traditions, like tying one’s own fly for the first time, adds a sense of accomplishment, especially when fish are landed using the fly in a fly-fishing tournament.
Using a fly she tied herself, Mimi Sams, daughter of LSON founder David Sams, recently caught two trout during the Port Bay Hunting and Fishing Club’s fly-fishing tournament near Rockport. Her dad also caught a trout using another fly tied by his daughter.
“It’s a rewarding experience to tie your own fly,” she said. “Just the experience of being down at the coast and tying them the night before, and then using them, is pretty cool.
“You put work into the bait and then the reward is the fish.”
Maybe she was just a natural, but according to Mimi, learning to tie a fly wasn’t too difficult.
“It was pretty easy because Alan (Skrobarcek, manager of the Port Bay Club) showed me step by step what to do,” she said. “You have to make sure the string is really tight so the stuff doesn’t fall off, but once you get that it’s pretty easy.”
Mimi said she doesn’t see herself tying a whole lot more in the future, but still enjoyed having her work pay off.
She landed two trout using a Clouser minnow fly and her father caught one trout using a gray Plumber’s Wife fly.
