New Jersey fly tier Chally Bates was just fourteen years old when he first tied his signature CB Stocker streamer pattern to use while fishing with his dad:
“My father was an avid trout angler, and he’d let me tag along when he and his buddies would go fishing,” said Bates, now in his mid 70s. “They were mostly bait fishermen, but they did, on occasion, use flies and lures. I wasn’t doing well. They all outfished me and I was getting a bit frustrated.”
Much to his mother’s chagrin, Bates snipped white hair from the family dog, Spitz, and whipped up a white streamer with a red throat. He quickly discovered that stocked trout were particularly fond of the bright fly, so he dubbed it the CB Stocker. Soon, he was out-fishing the older anglers, who asked him to tie up a few examples of the new pattern for them to use. In the more than half a century since then, the fly’s popularity has spread throughout the Northeast.
In this video, Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions walks you through each tying step, and as usual, he has a couple tricks you can use to make the process simpler. I like the way he twists and then un-twists the heavy white thread to build-up and then smooth-out the body. An wetting the marabou and hackle feathers before tying them in will allow you to better control the materials’ placement on the hook.
CB Stocker from Tightline Productions on Vimeo.
CB Stocker Streamer
Hook: 4X-long streamer hook (here a Dai-Riki #700), sizes 4-10.
Body Thread: White Ultra Thread, 210 denier.
Rib: Mylar tinsel, x-small (silver side out).
Thread #2: Black Ultra Thread, 70 denier.
Wing: White marabou blood feather.
Throat: Red saddle hackle fibers.
Head: Black thread.
Adhesive: Head cement (2 coats).
Thank you Phil for posting this article. My dad would have really appreciated it. He passed away on July 4th this past summer 2013. He has fished for just about anything, but trout fishing was his passion. My father is deeply missed. I hope one day to sit down and tie his fly.
Jeremy Bates
Thanks for posting this lovely article about my Dad-in-Law, Chally Bates (his son, Jeremy, is my husband). Chally was a fantastic fisherman, storyteller, and all around great guy. He never wasted a minute of his life, and was focused on what was truly important in his life – family and fly-fishing, as well as playing his guitar, which he was very talented at, and building anything he set his mind to. Since Chally has an unusual name, it’s easy to pronounce it differently than he did – he said “CHA-lly,” sounding like “holly.” And one little funny detail, the Spitz whose tail fur Chally cut a bit from was named “Tinky.” His family were always big dog enthusiasts as well as recreational fishermen and enthusiastic gardeners – a very English-American bunch.
I know Chally would have humbly thanked you for this article, and would be so proud to see how the CB Stocker has contributed to fly fishing in the northeast. We look forward to tying this fly with the equipment he left us, so thanks very much for your very detailed and understandable directions. Cheers!