As the stagecoach bounced its way North, John squirmed in
his seat in an attempt to find a more conformable position. The
long trip north to the Eel River seemed to get harder for John with
each passing year. The train ride on the Northwest Pacific from
his home in San Francisco to Sherman was pleasant enough and
knowing a hot bath and comfortable bed was waiting at the end
of the day, even the 105-mile stagecoach ride from Sherman to
Dyerville was bearable. The second day of travel and last leg of
the journey was always the most difficult for John. Located on the
Eel River and its abundant steelhead runs, Dyerville was usually the
final stop for most anglers but after an overnight stay in Dyerville,
John would continue by stage to Pepperwood and then on to the
small town of Scotia, located on the lower Eel River in northern
California. It was here in Scotia that John Benn would retire and
spend his golden years, fishing and tying flies.
In the 1890's West coast fishing for steelhead was normally done
with long 10-foot rods and casting spoons but gradually John Benn
helped change the face of steelhead fishing. In addition to the
customary eastern trout flies used by most steelheaders, John
started to develop and provide new patterns designed for steelhead.
While Mr. Benn later went on to create original steelhead patterns
there was strong evidence of the influence that the eastern trout flies
had on his early flies used for steelhead. At first many of his patterns
were familiar trout patterns with only slight modifications. I found it
interesting that these early steelhead flies were tied on size ten and size
eight hooks, rather than the larger steelhead hooks we are familiar with
today.
It is generally accepted that a list of Mr. Benn's early innovations
would include: the Martha, a fly named after Benn's daughter: the
Soule, which is basically a Parmacheene Belle with an added jungle
cock: the Carson, which could be described as a Royal Coachmen
with a Parmacheene type red and white wing and remains very
popular today, and the Railbird, named for the railbird feathers
used for it's wing. Today the Railbird is tied in countless variations
with teal or gray squirrel most commonly used to replace the gray
and black barred feathers of the shy and seldom seen railbird.
Railbird
Tail: Red - wine - claret
Body: Wine or claret wool palmered with either wine or claret hackle
Hackle: Yellow
Wing: Teal, gray squirrel
Credits: Steelhead Fly Fishing and Flies by Trey Combs. ~ LB
About Larry:
My mother always said that I got my love of the outdoors from
my grandfather and it was this love of the outdoor life and to be
near the great hunting and fishing that led me to relocate to Lycoming
County of northern Pennsylvania. While I have been a fisherman
since I was six, I have only been fly fishing and tying for the past
15 years and consider myself at best only an average fly tier and
fisherman. I started teaching myself fly fishing and to tie flies by
reading books and talking to other fly fishermen and as I learned
about the nuts and bolts of fly fishing, such as casting, drag and
matching the hatch, I slowly developed an appreciation of the
history and great tradition of the sport. While learning about the
history and tying these old wet flies has given me hours of enjoyment,
my real enjoyment and memories comes from fishing with and sharing
with others information about these historic flies. ~ LB
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