North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine October 2016 | Page 11

and the front consisting of small silhouette
of hackle and guinea all constructed on a
tube. All wrong, right?

but I could no longer do so. In the fading
light on my first cast with the backwards fly,
I was crushed by a 7-pound native hen.

Wrong, the fly crushes.

Standing there, mouth agape at what just
happened, I became a believer in OMR’s
Dancing lady.

The first day on the river for the Dancing
Lady was a cold December day in the
sagebrush canyon of my favorite steelhead
river. While I stuck with my normal offerings,
OMR deployed his new secret weapon into
the water.

“In the fading light of my first
cast with the backwards fly, I was
crushed by a 7 pound native hen.”

First run, OMR hooks two and lands one
hatchery buck. I touch nothing.

It’s been a couple of years since this
happened and the fly continues to produce,
on both the summer runs and the fly shy
winter cousins up and down the pacific
coast.
It will probably never be a production fly. It
will continue to draw scorn of anglers who
see it for the first time. It’s built all wrong
and backwards…..
Who cares, it catches fish.

Second run, I draw the honor of leading us
down, OMR picks my pocket twice.
Two more runs, he hooks two more and I
continue my anti-hot streak. I’ve changed
flies about 20 times; he continues to stick
with the same Dancing Lady.
In the last run of the day, my father hooks
and lands another fish.
I lost it. How could it keep happening? Six
fish to hand for OMR, nary a tip, tap or bump
for me. Swear word, swear word and swear
word!
All day long, he had asked me if I wanted one
of his new flies. Time after time, I declined,

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