HOW THE STRIPED BASS SAVED SALTWATER FLY FISHING

Bonefish and tarpon of the Florida Keys were more glamorous, but the striped bass brought saltwater fly fishing within reach of America’s Average Joe.

Saltwater fly fishing got a big boost after World War II when tales of Florida Keys bonefish and tarpon catches by pioneers of the sport like Jimmy Albright, Stu Apte, Joe Brooks, J. Lee Cuddy, Bill Curtis, George Hommell, and Ted Williams captured a lot of attention in sports magazines. Sure, the silver king and silver ghost had the glamour that editors loved. At the same time, however, saltwater fly fishing was stuck in a rut because access to these sensational gamefish was limited to Florida locals or well-heeled sportsmen with big bucks and the time to get there. If you didn’t live near Miami, these great gamefish were pretty much out of reach.

It was the striped bass, the prince of tides, that brought salty fly fishing within casting range of the Average Joe. In 1950, Miami had just 860,000 residents; the Baltimore-to-Boston corridor had over eight million! There were a lot more guys ready to throw flies at stripers than at bonefish and tarpon.

Seventy years ago travel was primitive compared with the speedy air travel and severallane interstate highways we enjoy today. Getting your butt to the Florida Keys was a multiday travel event by plane or train, and driving on single-lane US highways could take days depending on your point of origin. As the 1950s slid off the calendar, saltwater fly fishing received another much-needed boost when the 1960s ushered in an epic striped bass population boom in

Early fly clubs devoted to saltwater fly fishing attracted a wide membership that was eager to develop new tackle, fly patterns and new techniques to help newcomers become successful. A trademark of the early clubs was the gatherings that emphasized fishing as much as learning casting skills. The foundation of sharing information continues to this day.

the Chesapeake, Barnegat, and Narragansett Bays. This striped bass explosion supercharged the rapid expansion of saltwater fly fishing.

By 1963 Harold Gibbs, Al Brewster, J. Edson Leonard, Howard Laws, Herb Chase, and a cadre of others were making the transition from fishing freshwater brooks and streams to catching striped bass along Rhode Island’s coastal waters. They teamed up to form what is arguably the first strictly saltwater fly fishing club, calling themselves the Rhody Fly Rodders. Gibbs began his own salty fly experiences on Rhode Island’s Barrington River in the mid 1930s and developed the Gibbs Striper Fly, one of the earliest patterns specifically tied for striped bass. He also helped Orvis create one of the first bamboo rods specifically designed for striped bass and saltwater fly fishing. Meanwhile, in the suburbs of New York City, another group was making the same choice, trading their Catskill trout stream 5-weights for 9-weights that could do battle with striped bass. The striped bass fishing was exceptionally good in the fertile waters of Long Island Sound and the South Shore, and good fishing spots were just a short drive from the many communities surrounding the Big Apple. The striped bass fishing encouraged Neil Druger to enroll Lou Rossi, Dom DeSalvo, Erwin Zobel, and Hammond Fox to create the Salty Flyrodders of New York. The club quickly expanded as these founders were soon followed by fly fishing notables like Don Avondolio, Ken Bay, Joe Falke, and others.

In Cape May, another group began meeting informally to enjoy New Jersey’s salt marshes, bays, and thoroughfares—and excellent fly fishing for striped bass. Lou Rodia, George Cornish, and Dick Wood were among these South Jersey pioneers. Significantly, Wood’s ad agency was instrumental in designing the Fenwick advertising campaign that made the iconic company synonymous with saltwater fly fishing. This group in turn began swapping ideas and fly designs with fellow fly anglers from the Seaside Heights area, fishing the flats of Barnegat Bay.

Up until the end of the 1960s there were relatively few fly patterns designed specifically for tarpon and bonefish; by contrast, dozens of patterns were already in common use for striped bass. Ken Bay’s Salt Water Flies, published in 1972, illustrates the comparison well: Bay lists 38 patterns tied for striped bass, just six for bonefish and tarpon, and another six for other species like sea trout and bonito. The Tom Loving Bass Fly had been in use since the 1920s. Lefty Kreh’s Deceiver, just starting its career as a catch-anything fly, was originally conceived

in the 1950s to hoodwink Chesapeake Bay striped bass. Other patterns of that period like Al Brewster’s Rhody Three-Wing, Bub Church’s Sand Eel, Cap Colvin’s KaBoomBoom popper, George Cornish’s Orange Blossom Marabou, Harold Law’s NoName, J. Edson Leonard’s GalliNipper, Hal Lyman’s Terror, Fred Schrier’s Mai Tai, and Mark Sosin’s Blockbuster were all created to catch striped bass.

In the early 1960s Barnegat Bay seemed to explode with stripers. As the bay’s waters warmed from March through May, thousands upon thousands of 16- to 20inch juvenile bass provided an amazing opportunity for saltwater fly fishing. The late Pete McLain, former Deputy Director of New Jersey’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, credited Howie Hollenback, a former Florida Keys guide who travelled north in 1958 to work as a Toms River dock master, with showing local fishermen how to fly cast and how to catch fish on the broad expanses of Barnegat Bay’s grass flats.

According to McLain, Elwood “Cap” Colvin, owner of Colvin’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park near the entrance to Island Beach State Park, caught his first fly rod striped bass in the spring of 1960—and by 1962 the striped bass explosion was at its peak. The big bay was bursting with 3- to 9-pound fish, and Colvin, McLain, and other local fly anglers like Fred Schrier, Ed Morrison, and Mark Sosin joined in on the fun. Eventually about 20 or so fly-rodders were meeting informally at Colvin’s tackle shop for coffee and to swap ideas about tackle, rigging, knots, techniques, and how to develop their casting skills.

Turns out that these informal gabfests were essential to the early development of saltwater fly fishing: By 1965, under the guidance of Fred Schrier, the informal gatherings officially became incorporated as the Salt Water Fly Rodders of America. Appropriately, Cap Colvin was elected as the first president.

From the beginning, sharing information, developing casting skills, and swapping fly fishing techniques was the cornerstone of the fledgling organization. In the spring of 1965 the SWFROA (pronounced Swafra by members) held its first annual Get Together and attracted many enthusiastic local fly anglers as well as notable fly fishermen like Al Brewster and Harold Gibbs of the Rhody Flyrodders.

The 2nd and 3rd annual Get Togethers were held at Nansen’s Restaurant in Toms River at the foot of the Mathis Bridge Causeway that spans Barnegat Bay and leads anglers into Seaside Park and Island Beach State Park. The 1967 Get Together featured educational panels with celebrities like Stu Apte, Hal Lyman, Harold Gibbs, Joe Bates, Charles Waterman, Lee Wulff, Gene Anderegg, ladies’ casting champion Kay Brodney, A.J. McClane, Leon Chandler of Cortland Lines, Dick Wolf of the Garcia Tackle Company, and Mark Sosin as moderator. About 200 fly anglers worked over the waters of Barnegat Bay.

By the mid ‘60s the bass population in Barnegat Bay began to dramatically decline, and the Get Togethers shifted to the Chesapeake Bay. In 1968 the Wye Institute, an elite boys’ camp near St. Michaels, Maryland, played host; the 1969 event took place at Tilghman Island. I was a young guy recently employed by the Garcia Fishing Tackle Company

and lucky enough to attend both Chesapeake Bay events. Meeting and learning from the saltwater fly-rodding pioneers of the day and catching striped bass and sea trout in new waters were extraordinary experiences that have influenced my fly fishing to this day.

Other SWFROA events took place in Key West and Nags Head. Local chapters also held their own events—like the Rhody Flyrodders in Newport, where I met and fished with a unique band of fly anglers including Al Brewster, Ron Montecalvo, and Armand Courchaine, who became a lifelong friend. Standing on the big boulders in the Newport surf was exhilarating, as was the chance to learn some fly tying and saltwater fly fishing techniques from the best fly anglers ever to walk the planet. The Salty Flyrodders of New York held events at Shelter Island and the east end of Long Island, where notables like Lou Tabory and Lee and Joan Wulff attended.

For saltwater fly anglers this was a time of boundless enthusiasm, and many were eager to join the new group—not just for striped bass fishing but for all species of salty gamefish. Anglers formed chapters of the national organization: The first chapter was based, of course, in Seaside Park, where the SWFROA was first started; the second chapter was based in Avalon, New Jersey, under the guidance of noted fly tier and pioneer fly angler George Cornish. After visiting the first Get Together in 1965, Harold Gibbs and Al Brewster returned home to Rhode Island and spoke so highly of their experiences that the Rhody Flyrodders became affiliated as the third chapter.

Groups of fly-rodders from Philadelphia, Norfolk, Plainfield, Plum Island, and Southern California formed chapters, and so did Aussie pioneer Maxwell Garth. Individual fly anglers could also join as Associate Members, which qualified them for all benefits, an invitation to the annual Get Togethers, guest attendance at chapter meetings, and a subscription to the organization’s magazine The Double Haul, which was the first-ever saltwater fly fishing magazine.

The very first issue of The Double Haul appeared in the spring of 1967, with Lou Rodia at the helm as managing editor, Fred Schrier as advertising director, and Dick Wood as art director. Advertisers included Fenwick, featuring the innovative Feralite all-glass ferrule; Cortland Line Company; Scientific Anglers; South Bend/Gladding fly rods and reels; Garcia fly rods and lines; George Cornish flies (Driftwood Marina); Shakespeare rods and fly reels; Fin-Nor fly reels; Orvis, advertising a Powerflex rod at $32.50; Pflueger Supreme fly reels; Rainbow Bend Resort in the Florida Keys; Bill Gallasch Flies; Gra-Lite waders; Berkley Fishing Tackle, with their Parametric action rods; and the innovative Keel Flies. Above: Joan and Lee Wulff were among the well-known celebrities that helped the early days of saltwater fly fishing and attended several annual Get Togethers. Here Joan is helping a fly caster develop his skills by practicing with the Fly-O that she and Lee developed.

Top Left: Popular fly patterns of the early days for striped bass fly fishing included (L-R) the Tom Loving Bass Fly from the 1920s, and newer patterns created in the 1950s and 1960s like the Brooks Blonde, Lefty’s Deceiver (this one circa 1961), Al Brewster’s Rhody ThreeWing, George Cornish’s Orange Blossom Marabou, Fred Schrier’s Mai Tai, Mark Sosin’s Block Buster, and “Cap” Colvin’s KaBoomBoom popper.

Members of Salt Water Fly Rodders of America Chapter 1 often gathered to fish Barnegat Bay and included up-and-coming outdoor journalist Mark Sosin (back row, third from left), Fred Schrier (back row, fourth from right) and the group’s first president, “Cap” Colvin (Center).

By the mid-1970s the Northeast striped bass population began a severe nosedive that continued through the 1980s. Fortunately, southern fly fishing entered a boom period: Travel became easier, and the region saw more guides, better tackle, more shops and marinas, and the debut of boats designed for flats fishing. The Keys, the Carolinas, and both Florida coasts were flourishing. Redfish, snook, weakfish, and false albacore began to fill in the gap left by the dwindling striped bass stocks, but for SWFROA it simply wasn’t enough to keep the fire going. By 1977 the group had disbanded after a wonderful, exciting run of 12 years.

Three of the original chapters still survive. The Rhody Fly Rodders celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2013. Club member Peter Nilsen wrote Rhody Fly Rodders: Fifty Years, Fifty Members, Fifty Flies to commemorate the event. (Contact Nilsen at 75 Massasoit Ave., Barrington, RI 02806 for a copy of this great little book.) The Salty Flyrodders of New York also persevered and grew, celebrating their 50th Conclave gathering in 2017. And a new saltwater fly fishing club emerged from the cinders of the original first chapter of SWFROA: A group that had gathered for about five years at Bob Popovics’ house for informal fly tying and casting sessions eventually spawned the Atlantic Saltwater Flyrodders in 1992.

Over the past 70 years, through rough waters and smooth, saltwater fly fishing has continued to evolve. Bonefish and tarpon still make fly-rodders very happy, but the list of exciting gamefish now includes redfish, snook, bluefish, little tunny, cobia, crevalle jacks, weakfish, sea trout, and dozens of others, including offshore big-game sailfish, marlin, and tuna. Yes, saltwater fly fishing has had a wonderful journey, and its future looks bright—but to fully appreciate the development of the sport, we must not overlook the influence of the striped bass.

Pete Barrett has been fly fishing in salt water since the 1960s. He was a charter boat skipper for 30 years, and he was on The Fisherman magazine’s editorial staff from 1973 until his retirement. Pete has published over 1100 magazine articles and is the author of five popular books on angling. Pete is a Florida representative for the International Game Fish Association, and he’s currently an active member of the Atlantic Salt Water Flyrodders and the West Palm Beach Fishing Club. Pete lives in Jupiter, Florida.