B
Friday, December 20, 2019
The Observer & Baker City Herald
S. John Collins / Baker City
Herald
Henry Spivey, 86,
has been tying
fl ies since he was
12 years old. He
spends his cold
winter months
at his fl y-tying
bench and good
weather fi shing.
The assortment
behind Spivey is
a small sample of
his inventory and
skill.
S. John Collins / Baker City
Herald
Bold and color-
ful spey fl ies are
used for big wa-
ter and big fi sh
like steelhead.
Not tired of tying
■ Henry Spivey has been tying fishing flies for 74 years
By Lisa Britton
For the EO Media
Group
Henry Spivey
clamps a bare fi sh
hook in a tiny vise
and starts wrap-
ping bright orange
thread around the
metal.
Then comes a
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
lime green feather,
The golden pheasant plume is used sparingly and for some of
and a fi nishing
Spivey's special ties.
wrap of red che-
nille yarn.
He unclamps the creation “Pretty fl ies catch people. Ugly fl ies catch fi sh.”
and holds up the newest lure
— Henry Spivey
in his collection.
“And that crappie jig is
he gets.
made,” he said.
Meadowbrook Place.
“Sometimes seven days a
Spivey, 86, chuckles when
There are speckled feath-
week,” he said.
asked how long he’s been
ers from chickens, blue
On a recent weekend he
fi shing.
features from peacocks, and
“Since I was 2,” he said.
a golden pheasant plume in fi shed at Malheur Reservoir
south of Bridgeport, his fa-
“The church took us to Snake sunshine yellow.
“One chicken is worth 250 vorite place to toss a line.
River.”
“That lake is fi ve miles
dollars,” he said of the feath-
He pauses, then:
long,” he said. “It was starting
ers.
“I was tickled to death to
to freeze over, but we found
Another drawer is full of
get out of church.”
some open water.”
animal hair — deer, coyote,
That excursion sparked
He’s catching fi sh more
moose.
a life-long love of fi shing.
“A lot of fl ies call for moose than eating them, so he often
Spivey tied his fi rst fl y at age
releases his catch (unless it’s
hair,” he said. “They fl oat
12.
halibut). Mostly, it seems,
On his wall are two frames pretty good.”
Spivey relishes the task of
Although Spivey has al-
fi lled with fl ies of all sizes
ways fi shed, he didn’t get into tying fl ies.
and hues — tiny ones that
“For the pleasure — it’s
mimic mosquitoes and sturdy tying fl ies until he retired.
He grew up in Baker City, a bonus if I catch a fi sh,” he
hooks designed to lure, and
and worked for the highway said.
hold, steelhead.
He takes 150 fl ies when he
department in far-fl ung areas
His fl ies are for sale at
York’s in Baker City and the of Oregon — near McDermitt goes fi shing.
Hitchin’ Post in Richland.
“I change fl ies pretty
at the Nevada border and
Spivey has books about fl y later in Kinzua in Central
often,” he said with a smile.
tying but he doesn’t always
“I do a lot of experimenting.
Oregon. He retired in Pend-
follow the patterns.
I know what they bite — I
leton.
“When I start one fl y it
want to know what they
always turns into something Always ready to go
won’t bite.”
fi shing
else,” he said.
Spivey can tie up to 25
Tying fl ies fi lls Spivey’s
He has a treasure trove of
fl ies in an hour.
supplies organized in plastic time when he isn’t fi shing —
But some are more compli-
which he does every chance
bins at his apartment at
cated with layers of thread
and feathers and fl uff.
“Some take fi ve days to
make one fl y,” he said.
His favorite is the Royal
Coachman.
“It’s the number one fl y for
me,” he said.
He also has a wide variety
of spey fl ies.
He points to his boards of
fl ies where hot pink lures
hang next to jigs in various
shades of brown.
“Pretty fl ies catch people.
Ugly fl ies catch fi sh,” he said.
He’s cast a line for all
types of fi sh, but he’s not too
keen on trout. That aversion
goes back to his youth, when
he and his dad were fi shing
near Izee, in Grant County.
Spivey caught a 24-inch
trout — but then an 18-inch
rattlesnake slithered out of
the fi sh’s mouth.
“He’d just swallowed that
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
Pheasant wings offer various colors and design possi-
bilities.
snake,” Spivey said, still
cringing a bit at the memory.
But snakes won’t keep him
away from his favorite fi sh-
ing holes.
“I love to be outside,” he
said. “I’d live there if I could
— huckleberrying, mush-
rooming, fi shing.”
He doesn’t ice fi sh. So this
winter he will continue tying
fl ies to try out next spring.
“As soon as the ice melts,”
he said. “You want to be at
the reservoir as soon as the
ice melts.”
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
S. John Collins / Baker City Herald
The Royal Coachman is Spivey's favorite fl y.
Spivey demonstrates his technique and speed at tying one of a wide variety of crap-
pie jigs.