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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1963)
KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON, SINDAY. APRIL SI. 1963 r 1?! THE MATERIAL AND THE PRODUCTS Some of the many streamers, bucktails and nymphs that are proven fish catchers are displayed on the left. Polly likes to tie his flies with plenty of legs to simulate the swimming motion of nymphs. He doesn't like the hard nymphs tied by many professionals because he claims they have no action in the water. He can tie about a dozen of ths larger flies in an hour. Quite a feat, know ing the perfection he demands of himself. Displayed, on the right, are some of the in- I is the green dye he uses on nylon thread or wrappinq the bodies of grasshopper imi. gradients. Polly gets the neck hackle from fighting cocks, mostly from Hawaii. The tations. Another uncanny concoction is the dark purple dye that fits the black drake material is used tor dry tlies ana streamer wings, no gets most ot nis tur ana tan Doay to a I. material from a California firm and when hs isn t quite satisfied with the color, he dyes the material to fit his own exacting needs. One of the colors he takes special pride in KILLER PATTERNS Polly Rosborough compiled this list of "killer patterns" that he tied for local rivers and lakes and are available in the local sporting goods stores men tioned in this story. WET FLY PATTERNS: "Copper Colonel," "Dark and Light Salmon," "Dark and Light Caddis," "Royal Coachman Bucktail," "Wet Grasshopper," and "Van Luven" red or fluorescent. STREAMERS: "Polar Chub," and "Silver Garland Marabou." DRY FLIES: "Caddis" light and dark, "Salmon" light and dark, "Wulff" entire color series, "Black Drake," "Yellow Drake," "Light Cahill," "Adams," "Mosquito," and "Quill Gordon." NYMPHS: "Spring Creek Nymph," "Hare's Ear," "Fledermous," "Muskrat," "Non-Descript," "Burlap," "Casual Dress," and "Green Damsel." Piscatorial Appetites Tickled By Polly Rosborough Flies As Oregon Anglers Head For Favored Streams This Weekend By GEORGE ALOTRICO "Make no mistake, there may be better Western (lies than those turned out by Rosborough, but we sincerely doubt it." This is the way the famous late outdoor writer Robert Page Lincoln in his book "Guide to Best Fishing," describes Chilo quin fly tying celebrity t. it. Polly" Rosborough. Lincoln was not the only "pro fessional" fisherman who acknowl edged the superior quality of the flies lied bv professional Ros borough. Well known outdoor writers like Al McClaine. Joe Brooks, Joe Bates and many, many others requently refer to Polly and his flies in their writings. There are, for instance, almost 20 references to Polly's creations Streamer Fly Fishing." by Joe Bates, and his flics often ap pear in McClaine's fly of the month column in the outdoor mag azine Field and Stream. Rosborough's fame on the west coast helps world famous sportm; goods store Abercrombie and Fitch sell over 500 dozen of hi: renowned steelhead flies each year. Despite the great demand put on him by discerning fly casters Polly finds time for several other equally demanding pursuits, and when he isn't wrapping a "Copper Colonel" or "Silver Garland Marabou," vou might find him deeply engrossed in "A History of Western Philosophy," by Ber trand Russell, or perusing samples ot jade, or serpentine marble collected on one of his rock 'hounding" jaunts. Polly, who has been a resi dent of Chiloquin for over 20 years, never is bored. At the ripe age of "sixtyish. he still casts the streams into a froth (his home is right on the banks of the Williamson), traps marten on Diamond Lake Pass, hunts for precious gems on the coast and listens to Chopin and Beethoven, as a dramatic change from life in the wilds. go IJFTirill ftlH FYACTING HANDS The nrecise hands of Pollv Rosborough through the steps of tying this shaggy nymph with the meticulous perfection demanded ennert fishermen. Thousands of hooks in plastic vials on the desk are ordered from England. The hooks are the best quality available since Polly doesn't want any custom ers complaining that their hook broke in the jaws of a 10-pound brown. ' ps" ! I 5? OMP OF THE FIND Po v shows some of the lade and isdite he found recently on no nf Kit rock houndlna trios. Some of ths chunks contain iade of a fairly good quali ty, but finding the source of the pieces or getting equipment into the hard to reach areas is a problem that keeps many a rock nounder trom a lifetime ot ricnei. rony proo ably enjoys the means as well as the ends in his search for a lost lode. . 1 A native of Arkansas, Polly an asthmatic condition drove retired" to the river banks after him from other occupational pur suits. He started tying flies way back in 1928. It wasn't until 1944, however, and after a tour in the service, that he relurned to Chilo quin and started building up his business. His first professional contract was with the Meier - Frank Com pany in Portland and at the end of his (our-vear stint with this company he began tying for lo cal stores. At about this lime he started with the Winston Custom Built Rod Company, San Fran Cisco, as a local distributor. As Polly's Hies became famous on the coast a representative of Abercrombie contacted h i m through the Winston Company The Abercrombie reprcsenta live spotted one of the lies in a: San Francisco store and immed iately wanted to know who lied it. He contacted a friend who was with Winston and at lust, as Pollv tells it. the Winston man refused to divulge his name, The man from Abercrombie said the flies were bv far the best; he'd ever seen and he'd learn who tied them "come - - - - or high water," with help or not. Such persistence apparently wilted his friend and the name Rosborough" passed between them. Polly has been tying flics for Abercrombie ever since. Of the 1.500 dozen he turns out annually between 350 to 500 dozen go to the Coast to Coast Hard w are Store in Chiloquin. Store own- en Glen Kircher says he'll some times have a sellout on a cer tain pattern two or three times in a season. "When a big salmon fly hatch is on 1 have to De caretui to have plenty of wet and dry salm- flies in stock Hist to make sure I doh't get caught short when Folly is out of town, Kirchci said. . Often during the season one of the local sporting goods stores will run out of a pupular pattern and Polly has to tic up an order under deadline conditions for the weekend fishermen. Some of the local shops that slock Rosborough's flies are Joe's Sporting Goods and The Gun Stoie Klamath Falls; Melita's Restau rant and Coast to Coast, Chilo quin. and stores in Crescent and Lngene. "' One of Ihe most interesting as peels of his business is his re tail sales by mail lo all corners of the globe. Polly frequently gets letters from people all over the world who read references to his flics or. the pages of outdoor maga zines and books. He has Sent special orders to Scandinavia, Europe, Africa and New Zealand among other areas Polly enjoys this type of world travel, but quips, "Sometimes: it's hard to get paid in American dollars." Through his fame of lying flics and distributor of the Winston bamboo rods, , Polly gets many (CorUnued on Page 2 K V-- CHRISTMAS TINSEL KILLER This large fly would probably send a lot of sophis ticated eatern trout scurrying for a hideout, but to the big rainbows in the West it has Christmas season appeal. Polly got the idea for this fly when h wondered what it would be like to tie the body of a big marabou streamer usinq Christmas tinsel. Back in 1936 when he first originated the fly he gave one to a friend who said, "what the - am I going to do with this monstrosity?" Polly, slightly miffed by his friend's lack of confidence, took fly and friend to a favorite pool on the William son and caught a seven-pound rainbow on the first cast. Some christening! y, u. - j , r 'I - . ' ' ' Cm I . r i - j y i . '" ' ' tf 4 y riMM wu: 4 i -ASyy A'K' ryry i AX ' Av v -y-,y I 1 yjy.ytiyy . 1 ! v - '$Z!tyy ziCZzyyy SCRUTINIZING HIS WORK Polly takes a good look at a partial order of "Silver Shrimp" before he paints white eyes on the heads, the finishing touch to expertly tied flies. One trick that the old pro uses in tying all his flies is to simulate an insect, not imitate it. It would be virtually impossible to match an insect perfectly so Polly tries, instead, to simulate the action of the insect as it swims through the water. tl $y?v Ka ,yyi( i v-i -iyyy&' ? i ': "ivr j ,. ., .... fcWa-afJkw Hi i ii in mm iniiiuniiiMiiMiiiiiiiTiiiriMiurn itnilTTi 1 RESEARCHING A NEW FLY When Polly hears about a new fly he feels will be suc cessful!, he flips through pagos of a voluminous amount of reference material ha hat collected over the years looking for a description of the fly and the insect it repre sents. In this way Polly can improve on the original fly adding creative touches he foels will duplicate the insect and its action. Through the reference work, Polly alto finds the life cycles of various insects and can tie a fly to simulate the various stages. , r V r . Ill
