by David Klausmeyer
Tom Herr’s Original Flies Set a New Standard for Perfection
Spend a moment enjoying the amazing fly on the cover of the Spring issue of Fly Tyer magazine. That pattern is called the Delta Color. Have you ever seen anything like it?
Over the past 50 years, I’ve examined thousands of flies, but few reached this level of perfection. It is in a class all its own. It sets a standard far and above what I will ever accomplish at the vise. The Delta Color displays unparalleled technical tying expertise, and only an artist can master such use of color.
The Delta Color is one of Tom Herr’s flies.
“You’ve heard of Jose Wejebe?” Tom said when describing how he creates his astonishingly beautiful flies. “He had that popular television show The Spanish Fly. My cousins lived on Summerland Key, in Florida, near Jose. Jose’s daughter was getting married, and my cousins knew the family. They asked if I would create a tie to commemorate her wedding. I agreed, and I was invited to the event, which was fabulous. It was the first time I’d ever been to the Keys, and I saw some absolutely amazing sunsets. When I got home, I looked at the photographs I took of those sunsets, and they became the inspiration for the Delta Color.”
Now I can see the inspiration in Tom’s fly: the red feathers in the center represent the setting sun, and the married sprigs of dyed turkey tail feathers look like shafts of light reaching toward the sky. The bottom of the fly is a mirror image of the top, just like a setting sun reflecting off calm water. But the Delta Color wasn’t Tom’s wedding gift.
“No, that’s not it. I gave them a different tie; I no longer have it. I did send you a photograph of a pattern called Jose’s Tie. I created that for a fundraiser for the Jose Wejebe Memorial Foundation, which is a great non-profit organization. I need some sort of inspiration to create one of these ties. Inspiration is the key.”
I thought this was going to be just another interview with another fly tyer: tell me about where you fish, how you learned to tie flies, and your patterns. Immediately, however, Tom talked about the role inspiration plays when designing a new fly, or, as he calls them, a “tie.”
No, Tom Herr is not just another fly tyer.
