Best at his home vise. Photo courtesy Umpqua
Last week, we posted about the passing of legendary fly tier and author Archie “A.K.” Best, who died at the age of 92. Yesterday, the New York Times posted a lengthy obituary by Jeré Longman that gets to the heart of what made Best so popular:
His great skill was creating flies of a size and color that appeared natural, rather than store-bought, using the knowledge that no adult aquatic insects have fuzzy bodies; that flies should appear shiny and waxy, not translucent; that hair from a white-tailed deer could be used if elk hair was not available.
“You don’t need a fly so big you’re going to scare the hell out of a fish,” he said in a 2015 interview for the Montana State University Angling Oral History Project. In the same interview, he said, “If it’s the right color and floats, it’ll catch fish.”
A Times obituary is an honor that not many fly fishers are afforded, and it’s a fitting tribute to Best’s long, accomplished career in this sport we love.
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