While in Yellowstone, I always stop at three shops: Blue Ribbon Flies, Arricks, and Bob Jacklin’s (which used to be (many years ago) Pat Barnes’ shop.
Anyway, Bob Jacklin has never quite gotten the recognition I feel he deserves. He is a great fisherman, guide, shop owner and tier. He has at least one youtube of him tying flies.
Each year I purchase another of his shadow boxes. I think they are incredibly done. Not just the fly he ties, but the frame and decoration - done by a friend of his in Idaho.
I found this one to be particularly well done. The fly is his version of the March Brown - he is pretty well known for that pattern.
The attached photo is not great, but gives an idea of his work.
Bob is a top shelf guy, as well as my Sons and my casting mentor.
He has been giving free lessons every summer for many years.
I would bet he still dose,
Such a nice gentlemen to have a conversation with. His demeanor is one
that stays with you… I hear his voice in my head as I reflect herewith…
Humble thats the word that fits him to a tee.
Thanks for posting allowing me to give Bob the recognition he deserves…
Thanks PT. I’ve seen the video and saw the mounted trout in his shop. In the video, he was about as excited as I get when I catch a big fish. I really like that about him. He is really down-to-earth! I really like his shadow boxes. Whoever he has making the shadow boxes is a real artists and, of course, Bob is a great tier.
That heat coming from a bunch of people who have no clue as to how much Mr. Jacklin has committed to maintaining and improving the fisheries in/around Yellowstone. Guy catches the fish of a lifetime, realizes it’s probably fought a bit too long and too hard to survive (I’d guess he’s caught enough fish over the years to know), and decides to put it on the wall (he did the mount himself); good for him.
I have no problem with him keeping the fish. When faced with a 30" plus fish, would I? Hell yeah.
But keeping fish, any fish, for whatever reason, is highly controversial today. I don’t think it fair to say that anybody who criticized the decision didn’t have a clue about Bob Jacklin or his history.
I brought this up because that decision may be the reason (again, wrongly in my opinion) that Jacklin may not have gotten appropriate recognition.
Keeping fish, where legal, shouldn’t be the problem it has become. That being said, I don’t let it be a problem. I have always said that if I catch a fish, it’s legal for the water, AND I am hungry for trout, I will keep it. No more than my family will eat (or that I would now smoke), regardless of whether another fisherman gets his panties in a twist.
Regarding Bob’s “Big Fish”: I am not a fisheries biologist (and, therefore, may be wrong about this), but my belief is that a fish that large (and correspondingly old) may well no longer be of reproductive value to the fishery…
I caught one nearly that size in Patagonia 3 years ago and did not keep it, but I certainly don’t even think twice about Bob’s decision.
I think the real reason Bob hasn’t gotten the recognition is that I don’t think he wrote a book during the golden age of fly fishing book publications (1990 to present day). He does have a few DVD’s on tying which I very much enjoy. But, not a big selling book to get his name out there. Also, I don’t think he “went on the road” across the country to state fly fishing shows to get his name out there.
He has received many awards from the more knowing fly fishing parent organizations.
In the summer, he gives free casting lessons in the Park in downtown West Yellowstone. Has been doing so for years.
I for one applaud him for keeping the fish. He caught the fish of a lifetime…it was legal to keep…and not a thing danged thing wrong ethically in doing so. I hope it hangs on his wall and brings him a smile every time he looks at it.
And those who criticize him for doing so can go home and light another incense over their personal trout alter…since that opinion is theirs and theirs alone, and of no consequense for anybody with half a brain. They’ve taken a single useful management “tool”, and turned it into an ethical statement. I for one do not concur. There is zero ethical issue in the killing of a fish, on water where the ecosystem can support it.
Bob is a class act and a good friend. When I lived in West Yellowstone a lot of years ago I was Bob’s banker and he still calls me “The Banker”. my first outing with Bob was over twenty years ago and I witnessed first hand the finest fly caster ever - before or since. A little over a week ago, at the Henry’s Fork Day celebration at Last Chance, Bob showed up to give a casting demo. While there he entered the casting competition and uncorked a 115-footer to win the day, all while the wind was blowing gale-force. I’ve seen that big old brown trout on Bob’s wall and it is a beauty, what an accomplishment. Bob will continue to make his mark on the fly fishing world and those who pay attention to such things will continue to learn from this master.
What maodiver said! There’s always somebody around to envy and try to degrade someone else’s good fortune. If the naysayers were in his position, I’m sure the tune would be different. Bob deserves that fish.
There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government’s National Weather Service defines a gale as 34?47 knots (63?87 km/h, 17.5?24.2 m/s or 39?54 miles/hour) of sustained surface winds.
Would have been neat to see that cast. Just out of curiosity - was it upwind into a 39 mph plus wind, downwind, or crosswind ??
John,
I was fishing in Last Chance during the HFF celebration near the parking lot at the Log Jam on the Henry’s Fork that day. It was windy, but not gale force winds. However, several days later, it did get up to 40+ winds while we were “trying” to float the Fork near St. Anthony - very miserable fishing.
I would say that the wind on June 16th in Last Chance, where the HFF celebration was going on, was about 15 with gusts perhaps to 20 at the most. We could check though…
The comment in your original post that “Bob Jacklin has never quite gotten the recognition I feel he deserves”, struck me as odd, but as I thought about it, that was probably because he gets a lot of recognition down in SE Idaho.
When I think about highly regarded fly anglers / fly tiers in SE Idaho and SW Montana, highly regarded by the folks who live in that area, the names Lawson, Harrop, Jacklin, Staples, Sanchez and Galloup typically come to mind. There are a few others, but the point is that Jacklin is always included in the list.
On a broader basis, I suspect that your statement rings true because he has never really promoted himself the way some of the others have. I don’t know him, but the few times I have met and talked to him, he just didn’t strike me as someone who would turn out a “coffee table” class publication about what he is about.
Serious, John. You’re having a problem with my making a point about Bob making a fantastic cast in very strong “crosswinds” because I used the term “gale-forced”? Geez…
Speaking of tearing others down to make a point, sorry I bothered. Probably why I don’t visit here very often anymore.
Anyway, Bob made a tremendous cast in a heavy crosswind that I did not have gauges to measure, and schooled the rest of us. Cranked it out like it was everyday, which, for him, I imagine it is.
I will think twice, perhaps more, in the future when trying to participate in this public, yet seemingly opinionated forum. I’m sure many will say that they didn’t see what John did wrong, history shows otherwise…
I’ll now bow out for good.
Bye. Thanks to all I have met and cherish. I have better things to do and I will focus on them. Sometimes it takes that last straw to break the camel’s back - seems like this one was it. Same reason I have avoided the forum for the last while is the very reason I now leave.
Well, the wind may blow but this sucks. Kelly, sorry to hear you’re leaving the board; I’ve always appreciated your input and your absence will most certainly be our loss. Take care; hope the fish are always looking up for you.
