The Lucknow Sentinel, 1993-03-31, Page 7Who is this fly tie guy?
by Mark Cripps
To sonic, he's known as the, 'Fly
King of Ontario;' Others may know
him from the motto that adorns his
jacket and other apparel relating to
his trade namely 'Jay's Flies
Catch Fish.'
Who is this guy?
Ashfield Township's Jay
Passmore is a man who has
dedicated his life to an art that he
calls a hobby. His fishing flies are
offered at over 20 stores across
Ontario, from as far north as Sault
Ste. Marie, to the east in Ottawa,
and to the south in Sarnia.
As well, some of Passmore's 375
different fly patterns for steelhead,
salmon, bass, pike and muskey
appear in such books as „Flies for
Steelhead, written by American
writers Dick Stewart and Farrow
Allen.
Other literary accrcditations in.
Passmore's portfolio include a small
biography and 12 published patterns
in the' book Great Lakes Steelhead
Guide, written by . Mike
Modrzynski. He also appears in
Tight Lines, a publication owned by
Canada's • 'Fly Fishing Ambas-
sador', Bud ,Hoffman, and has
written articles for Gone Fishing.
Magazine, Winter Steelhead by the
Fly;'and Steelhead Annual.
A 12 -year career as a fly tier '
began for Passmore at a very early
age. He explained, that he was''
inspired by his late uncle, and
fuelled by his love for the art' of fly
tying. •
"I was inspired by my uncle when
I was a kid," said Passmore, who "
was born and raised in Lucknow.
"He tied flies, not commercially,
,and I always liked.them. He would
give them to me and I• would. keep
them.
"Then, when I was about 10 years
old, 1 knew: that this ', is ' what ; I
Wanted to do. Then when I started
to catch fish with my own flies, I
knew that this was what I was
going to do.
"I'm probably the best in Ong
tario," says Passmore with:a certain
confidence. "But then again, I'm
really the only guy who does this
calibre of workmanship on a com-
mercial basis."
Passmore, who works full-time at
his art,• said his business is doing
very' well right now. So well, he
has little time to enjoy the sport
that inspired him to his work...
.1n fact, things got to be so busy
for Passmore that he recently
solicited the services of a
distributing company out of Guelph..
"Things started to get very busy,
' and last December this distributing
company approached me and so far
the product has being doing quite,
well," said Passmore.
But things weren't always coming
out roses for Passmore, and he said
that his 10 year professional career
of tying flies has had its ups and
downs.
"I was almost forced out of
business because my prices couldn't
compete with mass, produced stuff
coming from India," explained
Passmore, who lives in a farm
house with his wife and two young
sons. "I almost lost everything, so I
buckled down, worked my head off
and forced the Indian stuff out.
"I won that battle because I con-
vinced the . store owners and the
people who buy my flies that my,
stuff is better quality," said
Passmore. "I proved to people that
if they used my flies, they would
catch fish."
On an average day, Passmore said
that he ties anywhere from 125 to
200 flies to fill his orders. Each one
is done with a confident ability and
appreciation of detail.
In ' his portfolio, 'Passmore etas
created over 100 patterns that he
claims, catch fish.
"When I .develop patterns, it is
based on knowing what the fish, for
example steelhead, like," said
Passmore, who is also a member of
the Nine Mile Steelheaders. "You
have to know the colors they like
and you need to put the stuff on the
fly that you know will trigger a
response."
When marketing the patterns
Passmore has developed, he said
that they have all been tested by
either himself or his field -tester Jim
LeGrande, of Wingham.
Generally, the Scottish are con-
sidered to be the best fly -tiers in the
world, but Passmore said he exists
to dispel .that sentiment. .
"The general consensus says the
best tiers come from Scotland," said
Passmore. "I beg to differ. I have
had lots of people say that for the
price and quality, my stuff is better.
'turn to page 8
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, March 31, 1993 - Page 7
CAPE ARCHITECTURE
Fri. - Thur. Fri. & Sat. 7 & 9 pm
Apr. 2 - 8 Sun. - Thur. 8 pm
Jay Passmore, of Ashfield Township, who is also known as the
'Fly King of Ontario'; knew from the time he was 10 -years -old
what direction his career would eventually take. (Mark Cripps
photo)
LUCKNOW &
t
DISTRICT
LIONS CLUB
Dabber
Bingo
Lucknow
Community Centre
Sunday, Apr. 4/93.
51000 Winner
Sheila Petteplace-Kincardine
Wayne Fry -Walkerton
Community Centre
opens
at 6:30 p.m.
Bingo starts at
7:15 p.m.
Happy Birthday
Chris MacDonald
April 3
H ppy
3rd Birthday
Brittany McGlynn
March 31st
LONG DISTANCE? CALL 1-900-285-3438 FOR TOLL FREE MOVIE INFO
Baseball
and
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Registration
Registration for both travelling and recreational"
teams (all age groups) „in both softball and hardball
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Teams (all age groups) will take place. Monday, April
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Anyone wishing to help coach or manage, either
baseball or soccer teams is 'asked to
please .sign up on these nights as well.
i
Also anyone wishing to help With the
registering of the children on either
Monday or Tuesday, please contact
Greg Nicholson at the Arena at _
528-3002
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