Fly-tying: lifelong passion translates into art

continued from page 1 also picked up the modern styles that incorporate artifcially manufactured materials. He’s always trying new things, while holding immense respect for the old.

He has the same sustained enthusiasm for the history of fy fshing and fy tying as he does for tying the fies and actually catching the fsh, it seems. He is most proud of his signed copy of a frst edition of Ray Bergman’s book “Trout.” The book was frst published in 1938 with nine color plates of fies painted by Dr. Edgar Burke. The book was popular right out of the gate and that frst edition was reprinted 13 times. Then in 1952 the book was reset and printed from new plates. This second edition not only contained additional color plates, it also contained new chapters on fshing for trout with spinners. This edition was reprinted for the ffth time in 1965.

Korcala said that after retiring and moving to Montana, he had more time on his hands and began collecting bugs and learning all he could about hatches and began tying new patterns. Then about four years ago he came across the late Don Bastian’s website and all the beautiful wet fies he had tied based on Bergman’s plates.

“Learning about the wet fies, their origins, names, and the stories behind each pattern, I was quickly inspired and started to tie a few patterns from his website,” said Korcala. He found further inspiration in the work of John McCoy, who also tied winged wet patterns, and studied his work thoroughly.

“Then last winter I decided to tie the entire Ray Bergman collection of nine plates and 440 wet fies included in his book,” said Korcala. He completed that endeavor last spring.

“These fies are complex and take a lot of skills to master,” said Korcala. “Good materials are critical. I searched many shops and reached out to friends to fnd the right materials, textures and colors. Materials have gotten more sophisticated over the years and Solarez

Bone Dry Black is one such example. It made all the diference in the fnal fnish of the heads on the fies. Quality of the feathers is also critical. My wife and I have experimented with diferent threads, hooks, and found a few of our favorites. Tying, then trying the fies in our home waters.”

Another hurdle in tying Bergman’s fy patterns is that some of the materials used are not available at all today. Some of the feathers used, for instance, were from birds that are now illegal to use or they are extinct, like the famous Red Ibis. Mallard feathers can be used as a replacement for some colors by being dyed. Only portions of the quill can be used, but four or fve pairs of wings can usually be made out of one quill. Thread is also important. You need all colors and all textures. Korcala’s hobby room has large desks with drawers full of spools of thread of many textures including silk, foss and even metal wire, and feathers, feathers and more feathers. Then there’s the animal fur and hair, including deer and moose, etc. He gets some of his hackles from Charlie Cohen in New York.

According to Korcala, a lot of people have tried to make all 440 fies in the Bergman plates, but many fail to fnish. He knows one fellow who took fve years to complete the project. He knows another who quit but came back 10 years later to fnish the job when he had more time to put into it.

To say that Les Korcala is an avid fy fsherman and fy tier is a gross understatement. The successful completion of his latest project, to tie the 440 fies pictured in Ray Bergman’s classic book “Trout” in under six months, is testimony to the real extremity of his passion for the art. He is pictured here holding a signed frst edition of the book, published in 1938. The fies are displayed in nine frames decorating the wall of his fy-tying workshop in Stevensville. Photo by Michael Howell.

“You have to be really determined to do this because you have to keep going,” said Korcala. So, he set a goal last winter to tie three to six fies a day, tying four or fve times a week with only one day of. It took him about six months.

He now has a few tips to share with anyone contemplating such an undertaking, like, if you want all the frames to match, for instance, you’d better buy them all at once. It takes nine frames to hold the Bergman selection. He also uses all the same size hooks, a #8. He uses specially selected paper for backing that looks like parchment and selected an elegant style font. Everything in the frame must be balanced and evenly spaced. He does this by eye without measuring.

When he’s not tying fies, or reading about fy fshing, he really is out fshing. His wife Cheryl, who also ties and has her own work desk in their hobby room, joins him on many fshing escapades. He and his wife fsh catch-and-release; “We put the fsh back,” he said.

Although they can fsh the Bitterroot River by walking out their back door, for most of the summer they fsh in the many streams that lace the watershed. Korcala said that he measures the temperature in the river regularly at varying depths and can confrm that the water is too warm during the deep summer with irrigation underway.

“We go and fsh the streams, until the water cools of in the fall,” he said.

Korcala’s passion for fshing and fy tying spills over into other aspects of his life where he turns the art of fy tying into fy-tying art. Literally. Sculpted trout swim across the lintel of their freplace. An artifcial fy the size of a golden eagle graces their living room wall. Sculpted trout also appear on the back of a bench designed with a compartment to hold fshing gear and provide a place to sit and put your waders on.

Les and Cheryl are very active in the community, donating time to watershed restoration projects and children’s fy tying classes as well as donating various art pieces, like the fy fshing bench, to the local Trout Unlimited auctions.