Where History Meets Innovation
Senyo injects his modern materials into old world designs, resulting in flies with all of today’s advantages yet still operating on traditional principles. Although steelhead anglers around the world use his flies, Senyo’s patterns have specifically helped popularize swinging flies in the Great Lakes region. A quick look at some of the patterns provides examples of his innovative ideas.
Lightweight and easy to cast, the A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) is an Intruder-style pattern adaptable to a variety of water conditions. Its set of four bead-chain eyes allows anglers to make streamside adjustments, tweaking weight and action to meet their needs. For example, clipping an eye on one side gives the fly an erratic swimming action similar to a wounded baitfish. These micro adjustments demonstrate Senyo’s attention to detail and functionality, characteristics that carry into the A.I.’s construction. The fly consists of mostly synthetics because Senyo needed materials that were durable and readily available. And being synthetic, the A.I. allows tiers to experiment with endless color combinations.
“I’m always looking for something different. The fishing pressure here is intense. We have a lot of steelhead, and that brings a lot of anglers, but most people fish the same stuff, so I needed something unique. Synthetic materials allow your flies to stand out from the crowd and you can home in on what fish want that day.”
Another example of what sets Senyo apart is the way he creates the profile on his Tropic Thunder. The undulating movement of materials like ostrich herl, combined with its round, tapered profile, makes it productive when nothing else is working. Traditional materials such as ostrich herl and marabou collapse in the water and must be propped up with a stiffer material like bucktail. Senyo creates this support by forming an internal cone-shaped shell in the core of the pattern using light-activated resin. After tying the fly, Senyo pulls back the materials and applies a resin (such as Loon Outdoors Flow Fly Finish). He allows the resin to penetrate the material, and under a UV light, the resin immediately hardens and maintains the fly’s profile under any conditions.
Senyo not only fuses natural materials with synthetics, but he borrows tricks from conventional-tackle anglers, too, albeit in his own style. His Gangster Intruder addresses the challenge of high, stained water by including a small Indiana spinner blade at the rear of the fly. Much like a conventional spinnerbait, the Gangster Intruder benefits from the added flash, but more important, the blade is tied so it doesn’t spin but bumps off the metal shank, creating noise and vibrations that get noticed in dirty water.
Tiers often make tweaks to existing patterns by adding excess features. Senyo does just the opposite, seeing what he can strip away to simplify patterns. Take for example his Stray Dog. It’s a simple variation of a classic Scandinavian-style fly called the Temple Dog, but Senyo substitutes synthetic materials that do double duty. Why use two materials when one can take the place of both? The Stray Dog has the same action and profile of the original pattern but uses Aqua Veil as both the body and underwing, and Fusion Dubbing replaces the need for extra hackling in the collar. The Stray Dog consists of six materials and can be tied in six steps, vastly simplifying the original pattern.
Looking Forward
Beyond the world of fly tying, Senyo owns Steelhead Alley Outfitters, a fly fishing guide service operating on numerous Lake Erie tributaries. Throughout his career, he has managed to balance a workload that would deter most people; beyond his tying, he also worked as a police officer for 22 years.
“Early on I was working at the police department at night, getting a couple hours of sleep, driving and guiding all day, getting a couple more hours of sleep and then starting over again. I did that for five or six years straight. I didn’t have kids at that time and my wife was very accommodating. If you want to be successful, you can’t shut off the effort at eight o’clock. You’ve got to prep your equipment, tie flies, and make sure the communication is in place with your clients for the next day.”
This hard work paid off, and in 2008 Senyo earned the prestigious Fly Tier of the Year Award from the Orvis Company. In 2016, his book, Fusion Fly Tying, received the best new book award at ICAST, the world’s largest sport fishing trade show. Even after receiving these accolades, he is quick to downplay his achievements.
“I’ve been keeping quiet and concentrating on what’s important the last several years. I spend more time with my family and rediscovered things I’ve loved but haven’t always had time to do, like deer hunting. I don’t do many interviews anymore, and I have such great guides working for me that I can focus on running my business and tying. I’m finally at a place where I can manage things a bit easier. Now when I go fishing it’s about enjoying myself.”
Senyo cares about fly tying—especially its history—and is candid in his assessment of its current direction.
“One of the biggest issues I see is people tying for recognition and not for fish. There are a lot of people who tie gorgeous flies that just aren’t functional. I tie to improve my fishing and to solve problems on my waters, but some people try to come up with stuff to get their names known. My favorite thing about fly tying is building things with a purpose, not just for the sake of newness. That’s lost on a lot of today’s tiers.”
Senyo is still hopeful for the future, noting that tiers have better tools and materials than ever before, and they can easily exchange ideas and information. While he doesn’t mention it, there is no doubt tiers are enjoying these benefits because of people like him. When I asked where he would like to see fly tying in the future, his response was immediate.
People just need to be themselves, and be honest. Validation doesn’t come through social media, it comes through years of hard work. That’s what has worked for me and the tiers who came before me. That’s not going to change. I just love fly tying. It doesn’t matter the time of the year; I can relax, take a breather, be creative, and tie a few flies. That’s what makes it a rewarding and worthwhile pursuit.”
Ryan Sparks is an expert angler and tier, and a hell of a fine sporting journalist. You’ll find his byline in a growing number of outdoor periodicals. Ryan lives in Minnesota