It’s Wednesday morning, I’m already packed and ready to go, a kiss to the wife and I am off. I’m meeting my friend and fishing pal Junior Burke at the Bob Evans at Hwy 31 and I-465 for breakfast and we’re off to the Sowbug RoundUp. Of course we will stop off at Feathercraft in St. Louis since Jr. has never been; we want to pick up some DC dodger packs for Pike when we venture to the Menominee River.
I have tied at the Sowbug RoundUp on and off for several years, but had not been back in a couple of years. I am looking forward to going because some of my friends were going to be there. Kyle Hand whom I lost contact with and Fishy Fullum. I am also hoping to see Joe Mahler and Gene Love there. Jr. especially wanted to go to meet Fishy since he missed him at our last program for the Indianapolis Fly Casters.
As we get closer to Arkansas via Missouri we start noticing the rivers are high and chocolaty. We figured we wouldn't be going to do any fishing. Arkansas and the surrounding areas have had 10 inches of rain and it has blown out everything, Lucky for us we have brought our tying stuff.
Keep in mind that this is Jr.s first time at the Sowbug RoundUp. He has heard about it but has never attended. We initially had not planned to tie at all, but Fishy has encouraged me to come and he is sure there will be openings to tie. Trust me, it’s a blast tying next to these guys. I get more razzing than the Taliban.
The one sad note is that Joe and Gene couldn’t make it in due engine or mechanical problems with their flight and couldn’t get a flight in till Saturday the last day of the show; what’s the point! Bummer. I really wanted to see first hand how he improved on his original Straw Boss. Twas not to be.
Our first day started off great, when we entered the Fairgrounds I immediately approached the tiers registration desk and asked if we could take Joe and Gene’s place at the table, Fishy mentioned they were hoping to get more tiers. They set us up with a tiers packet, name tag, desk tag, and complimentary bag of goodies from Wapsi and we were off. We weren’t sure where to set up since there really were no seating assignments, so we went to the end of the venue, and low and behold we ended up tying next to everyone we knew practically. There we were tying next to Kyle Hand, Fishy Fullum, Stack Scoville, Junior Burke, Sam Neushwanger, Buck Hall and I. There were a couple of others but I hadn’t met them. We had a great time ragging each other, crowds laughing at us and so forth.
Jr. and I were quite surprised at the people taking interest in the flies we were tying since it was all warm water stuff. You’ll notice in the pictures we had plenty to show and at the same time plugging for WarmwaterChronicals.com. I don’t think I have ever seen Jr. having more fun and being so relaxed. We were well received and drew more attention than we expected.
We also met up with a sweet lady by the name of Kerri Russel of their CFR Chapter. Jr. explained to her who we were and our involvement with Barb Simpson and the CFR Chapter in Indy. We respectfully tied Jr.’s Frog and my Hellboy in none other than pink fashion to raffled off for their benefit. She was thrilled and happy to meet us.
Later after tying all day we all went out to eat with Tony Spezio (Busek award winner) and our whole gang that drove up there. Al Fish, Larry Fulkerson, Sam Neushwanger, Buck Hall and on and on. Later we went to Tony’s house for a visit where we met up with more friends; it’s like one big family. Later we decided to head out from driving, tired and to give Tony some reprieve since his health has not been the best, but he was looking well.
The next day were all tying in the same area again. Jr. was tying his famous frog pattern and a weed less type of Sculpin pattern, now we got the idea for some of these flies from our friend Derrick Filkins of FlyMasters of Indianapolis, the best equipped fly shop in the Midwest. Derek’s article will be coming out I think this summer in Fly Fishing in Saltwater magazine.
Some of the flies I was tying were inspired by him also. I had come up with a fly I called my Hells Wiggler and he was trying to incorporate that into the worm hook to make it weed less, needless to say I developed the Weedless Wiggle Frog. That and a fellow by the name of Marty Van Der Brand inspired my hells wiggler, and offshoot of his Wobble Fly.
Also the second day we tied Jr. was asked by
A Tight Loop magazine to make a video in their portable studio outside the venue. Pretty cool . He tied up his fly using Derrick’s design. Well he’s a celebrity now!! I’ll have to buy several bags of ice to get his head into the truck! Cudo’s Junior, well done.
I also took some time to check out other tiers tying warm water patterns that I found unique. Oh my! Two that stood out to me were Don Lawler from Shreveport, La. He tied a mouse pattern over a foam body and covered it with Mink hair using a dubbing loop, this thing looked real. I mean cut the hook off and set it on the kitchen table and watch the wife go hysterical.
Next I met another gentlemen by the name of Ray Emerson of Waco, Texas. He was tying an intriguing fiy weaving the body with Horse Mane, really cool and the head had dubbing and Deer hair, really neat fly, but what really got my attention were his Poppers, OMG they were absolutely a work of art. Yeah I know poppers are poppers, not these, the paint schemes alone were awesome. No Copic stuff like I do, these were all hand brushed and painted with different diameter dowel rods, all looking like natural frog skin or close to it . I love coming to this event, Oh for those of you not familiar with the Sowbug RoundUp and its origins, it got started by Tony Spezio of the North Arkansas Fly Fishers, at first his club didn’t think it a viable event and probably wouldn’t last. Well I am here to tell you this was the 15th year and is now recognized as a National and Worldwide Event. Not only do some of the best Tiers in the country come here but from across the pond also. Some now reside here. Davy Wooton, for example, came from across the pond, people like Dave Whitlock, Jay “ Fishy” Fullum, Dwayne Hada etc…those are just a few. You never know who you are going to meet.
So If your looking for a neat way to spend your vacation, plan around the month of March, whether its fishing for t – – – t or some ballsy Smallmouth, the Sowbug RoundUp is a good idea.
That night a few of us went out to Arnies Sports Bar and Grill for some Hockey , food and spirits if you know what I mean. Not gonna mention any names but we had a blast—What happens in Mountain Home stays in Mountain Home, Ha! You will just have to come and see for yourself. Oh! Make sure you take me too!
Fish and Fish more often!!
The Ragin Cajun
PS: I am sure I have left some names out that I did not write down or get cards for. I apologize however I am Cajun and my brain is full of muddy bayou water, so drop us a line and I am sure at some point and time we will have an area for the various flies and their tiers.
I have tied at the Sowbug RoundUp on and off for several years, but had not been back in a couple of years. I am looking forward to going because some of my friends were going to be there. Kyle Hand whom I lost contact with and Fishy Fullum. I am also hoping to see Joe Mahler and Gene Love there. Jr. especially wanted to go to meet Fishy since he missed him at our last program for the Indianapolis Fly Casters.
The one sad note is that Joe and Gene couldn’t make it in due engine or mechanical problems with their flight and couldn’t get a flight in till Saturday the last day of the show; what’s the point! Bummer. I really wanted to see first hand how he improved on his original Straw Boss. Twas not to be.
We also met up with a sweet lady by the name of Kerri Russel of their CFR Chapter. Jr. explained to her who we were and our involvement with Barb Simpson and the CFR Chapter in Indy. We respectfully tied Jr.’s Frog and my Hellboy in none other than pink fashion to raffled off for their benefit. She was thrilled and happy to meet us.
Later after tying all day we all went out to eat with Tony Spezio (Busek award winner) and our whole gang that drove up there. Al Fish, Larry Fulkerson, Sam Neushwanger, Buck Hall and on and on. Later we went to Tony’s house for a visit where we met up with more friends; it’s like one big family. Later we decided to head out from driving, tired and to give Tony some reprieve since his health has not been the best, but he was looking well.
The next day were all tying in the same area again. Jr. was tying his famous frog pattern and a weed less type of Sculpin pattern, now we got the idea for some of these flies from our friend Derrick Filkins of FlyMasters of Indianapolis, the best equipped fly shop in the Midwest. Derek’s article will be coming out I think this summer in Fly Fishing in Saltwater magazine. 
