The name of this fly comes from the Mohican name for the
Battenkill River, Vermont's legendary trout stream. If
you buy Orvis equipment, you might have at some point
bought one of their "Battenkill" reels. I know I've got
two of them. The river has considerable significance to
the Orvis company today, and the company is waging a
campaign to save this troubled water. The river also
meant a great deal to Mary Orvis Marbury in the late
1800s, as the fledgling company was getting its start.
Here's what she has to say in Favorite Flies and
their Histories:
"The Ondawa is a bass fly, to which has been given an
old Indian name belonging to a little river in a valley
of the Green Mountains. It is an ideal trout stream
which can be waded or fished from a boat. It winds and
doubles upon itself in never-ending curves. Numberless
mountain streams swell its waters, and contribute the
fingerlings to grow to vigorous trout in cool, fern-shaded
pools. The river gradually widens and deepens until it
joins the Hudson near Schuylersville, so famous in
Revolutionary times.
Many anglers who read these lines will remember restful,
dreamlike hours spent drifting down the Ondawa. "Hard's
ripples," "the pent bridge," and other pools dear to
memory, will once more glimmer and beckon. They will
remember, too, the quiet smoke after luncheon, while
resting under the shade of the meadow elms, where eyes
could wander from mountain to mountain that circle and
guard the quiet valley. Later came the ride home, the
cool night air fanning our faces, and bringing to us
the odor of the willows, balm-o'-Gilead, and roadside
mint; then the welcoming lights, greetings, supper, and
a rehearsal of the day's doings.
A little girl of thirteen, who was permitted to go on
one of these fishing-trips, in her delight wrote the
following verses to:
The Lovely Ondawa
Down on the river,
The sunshiny river,
Down midst the eddies
And deep limpid pools,
There's where my heart lies,
There's where the trout rise:
I think that's the place
To go fishing, don't you?
As we float down the river,
The sunshiny river,
By willows and alders
That droop as we pass,
The fish are a-flashing,
The streamlet is dashing;
I think that's the place
To go fishing, don't you?
We reach the red bridge,
Find the horses in waiting;
We all hurry in,
And are off with a rush
Up the long road,
With the fireflies flashing:
I think that's the place
To go fishing, don't you?"
Beautiful passages from Mary Orvis Marbury such
as the previous one adorn "Favorite Flies" throughout,
making it one of the great and timeless books in our
fly fishing literature. Here's the recipe for the Ondawa:
The Onadawa:
Wing: Ruddy pheasant-cock body feather.
Hackle: Brown.
Body: Orange chenille 1/2 fore, green 1/2 aft, gold rid aft, gold tip.
Tail: Black fibers.
Credits: Favorite Flies and
their Histories by Mary Orvis Marbury; Flies
by J. Edson Leonard; Vermont Soils with Names of
American Indian Origin by USDA's Natural
Resources Conservation Service of Colchester, Vermont.
About Eric:
I started fly fishing as a teen in and around my hometown
of Plattsburgh, New York, primarily on the Saranac River.
I started tying flies almost immediately and spent hours
with library books written by Ray Bergman, Art Lee, and
A. J. McClane. Almost from the beginning I liked tying
just as much as I liked fishing and spent considerable
time at the vise creating hideous monstrosities that
somehow caught fish anyway. Then one day I came upon a
group of flies that had been put out at a local drug store
that had been tied by Francis Betters of Wilmington, N.Y.
My life changed that day and so did my flies, dramatically.
Even though I never met Fran back then, I've always
considered him to be one of my biggest influences.
I had a career in music for twenty years or so and didn't
fish much, though I did fish at times. The band I was with
had its fifteen seconds of fame when we were asked to be in
John Mellencamp's movie "Falling From Grace." I am the
keyboard player on the right in the country club scene in
the middle of the movie. Don't blink. It's on HBO all the
time. We got to meet big Hollywood stars and record in John's
studio. It was a blast.
So how did I wind up contributing to the Just Old Flies
column on FAOL? I'm not sure, it was something that I simply
wanted very badly to do, and they let me. Many of the old flies
take me back to the Adirondacs and my youth, and I guess I get
to relive some of it through the column. I've spent many happy
hours fishing and tying over the years, and tying these flies
brings back memories of great days on the water, and intense
hours spent looking at the flies in the fly plates in the old
books and trying to get my flies to look like them. And now,
here I am, still doing that to this day. ~ EA
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