Fly tying event at Ten Mile Creek Brewery benefits veterans

Doug Jeffries ties a Greg's Emerger at Ten Mile Creek Brewery on Saturday during the Helena chapter of the Trout Unlimited's Tie-A-Thon for Warriors & Quiet Waters.

A hook is set in the pincer jaws, tightened in with a half-screw, and a bead is set on the end. Threads wrap around and around and something that looks a bit like a fly begins to take shape. Some flash is added, along with a bit of copper wire, and a Greg’s Emerger shimmers under the lamplight.

The Helena chapter of Trout Unlimited’s Tie-A-Thon for Warriors & Quiet Waters had some 2,000 flies tied and donated on Saturday, with Doug Jeffries’ Emergers adding to the impressive total.

Jeffries has been tying flies for 15 years and Greg’s Emerger is one of his special variations. Though he is no longer in active service, Jeffries’ hat and shirt proudly proclaim his membership in the Marines.

Jeffries spent his afternoon Saturday in Ten Mile Creek Brewery plying his hobby for the Pat Barnes Chapter of Trout Unlimited as part of a fly tying competition and fundraiser for Warriors & Quiet Waters, a Bozeman-based nonprofit that aims to harness fly-fishing to help heal veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Will Trimbath of the Pat Barnes Chapter of Trout Unlimited said the fly tying was part of a statewide competition among the 13 chapters of Montana’s Trout Unlimited. For whatever chapter wins, they get a Winston fly rod to give away at their yearly fundraising banquet.

“One guy came in and dropped off 400 bugs,” Trimbath said. For the competition, Trout Unlimited was looking for Parachute Adams, Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, Purple Haze, black and rust ants, bead head pheasant tails and hare’s ears, girdle bugs, olive and black buggers, a bunch of scuds, ice cream cone flies, damsel nymphs and midges. Those were suggestions, but the range fit most of what the Montana fly fisherman would need throughout the state.

Jeffries came to tie flies because he supports groups that make it their job to get veterans out and doing things. He used to teach a fly tying class at the Cruse House for veterans, coming in every other week and just “doing something for vets.”

According to Jeffries, Greg’s Emerger is “a buggy looking flashback.” It’s a size 18 fly on a heavy scud hook and Jeffries doesn’t bother to use glasses at that size. In fact, he doesn’t bother to use glasses until he hits size 24 or 26, tiny flies that still make a killing on bigger fish in Montana rivers.

“It’s great to give back to others,” Jeffries said. “I believe in groups that bring vets out.”

Thomas Plan, Helena Independent Record