Last month, we launched our Spring Orvis Days Fly-Tying Contest, and the response was fantastic. Competition was fierce, and the three winners are great, fish-catching patterns. But there were three other patterns that didn’t make the final cut but which impressed our judges for their weirdness and ingenuity. We thought you’d enjoy seeing them.
Seth (a.k.a. feathers4fins) calls this fly “The Disgrace,” and it seems designed to inspire anger and disgust in traditionalists. A mashup of a Mop Fly, a Glo Bug, and a Squirmy Wormy, it also incorporates a dead and is tied on a jig hook. Can you just see an older gentleman in a tweed hat spluttering when he lays his eyes on that? Especially if it were in the mouth of a big trout!
Check out more of Seth’s work on Instagram.
Albert M. Harper (a.k.a. ofishaltackle) seems to have been in a Steampunk frame of mind when he came up with the Shrimpticon. I’m not sure whether it’s designed to catch fish or to go into battle, but it looks awesome.
Check out ofishaltackle on Instagram.
Have you seen the Ridley Scott movie Alien? Because this creepy thing seems straight out of that genre. Hamish Goodhelpsen (a.k.a. waterlustfishing) is Canadian–which disqualified him from the original contest–and he’s obviously got a dark sense of humor: “I may have gotten a little carried away playing with UV resin.”
Check out waterlustfishing on Instagram.
Although these patterns are weird and funny, a visit to these pages will reveal some excellent, fish-catching flies, as well. I’am always glad to see someone who doesn’t take everything so seriously, so congrats to these tiers for their oddball efforts.
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