Tying One On Jeff Sheldon Shares His “Trout Candy” ILLUSTRATIONS BY DONNA STACKHOUSE
BY MIKE MCKENNA
Jeff Sheldon’s fishing buddies call him “Jefe.” The Spanish version of his name also translates as the “boss” or the “big man.” After examining some of Jeff ’s hand-tied flies, you can see why his buddies chose the nickname, especially since he’s always giving them some of his “trout candy.” Jeff ’s unique flies flat-out work on the high-mountain lakes and streams he loves to fish, so his friends are always happy to cast them. “I’d like to think I’m the man,” Jeff joked from his home in McCall, “but I’m really just a flatlander gone good.”
Beetle
Jeff was born in Kansas and discovered his passion for angling while casting for bass and sunfish in the Sunflower State when he was a kid. In 1977, he moved to southern Idaho and really got into fly fishing. Jeff moved to McCall in 1982 where he met his wife, Toni, and he’s been chasing trout all over Idaho’s high country ever since. “My secret passion is hiking and fly fishing in the high-mountain lakes,” says Jeff, who retired in 2010 after a career teaching elementary and middle school. Jeff also likes to mountain bike and often works that into his fishing adventures.
“I get to fish more than I have a right to,” Jeff comments, adding, “My wife is very forgiving.” All this fishing not only means that Jeff goes through a lot of flies, it also means that he spends lots of time studying what trout like to eat, from the big terrestrials to the small aquatic insects. So “Jefe” took to tying his own flies many moons ago and has now pretty much perfected a half-dozen flies. We asked “Jefe” to share some of his favorite “trout candy,” as he calls the flies. His six-pack of flies for high-mountain fisheries includes: Beetle, Caddis, Damselfly, Griffith’s Gnat, Mayfly, and Red Ant.
Caddis www.idahomemagazine.com
25
