BILL TOBIN'S "LITTLE PEOPLE"
By Terry Hellekson
Bill Tobin was one of our early day hackle herders
from Cortland, New York. Bill was also a passionate fly fisherman and fly tier
which inspired him to get into the hackle business along with Charles Willcox
and Hank Halstead. Naturally, there was some encouragement and prodding
by his friends, Leon Chandler of the Cortland Line Company,
Art Flick and others.
Well before the Internet, there was always a silent network in place where some claimed that if you sneezed on the East Coast in the morning, that someone on the West Coast would say, "God bless you" that very afternoon. This silent network, for the most part, existed among the sales representatives and shop owners in the tackle trade and as always with any group, little stories often became twisted and blown out of proportion, so little attention was ever given to most of what was floating around.
One such story was about Bill Tobin's "Little People." When I first got wind of that one I became intrigued by the "Little People" aspect of it all. I asked myself, "Was it possible that he had either kids or some real short people working for him on his farm?" I knew that Bill was a New York chicken farmer, but just how big of an operation he had was certainly questionable. I also knew he wasn't in a position where he could ever sell any of his feathers on the West Coast. In a good year, Bill never had more than 750 capes available and these were usually sold in advance.
As it turned out I never got any answers, but the term "Little People" got stored in my head and every year or so brief remembrances would emerge. A few years back, during the course of a conversation with Glenn Overton, Bill Tobin's name got mentioned when he showed me some hackle that he had gotten from Bill. Then out of no where, Glenn wanted to know if I had ever tied and fished any of Tobin's "Little People." Bingo! It just shows you, if you live long enough, everything will become clearer.
Bill never tied flies professionally, but he did considerable research and experimentation that later proved to be successful. While fishing for Atlantic Salmon on the Miramichi in New Brunswick, Canada, in the 1930s Bill had an exchange with a Scottish gentleman. When Bill explained how he had been having problems hooking fish on small size 22 hooks, the Scot suggested that he tie his flies on shorter shank hooks in larger sizes. He went on to explain that with the shorter shank hooks he could still tie his small flies, but on larger hooks with a wider gap. This was a practice in Europe that had been in place for a number of years. Bill was so taken with the idea that he went on and developed a series of 10 small wingless dry flies that were well received by everyone who used them. They were worthy of a special name and were christened "Tobin's Little People." They were never really well known because of the fact they were not commercially promoted. Bill did publish a series of small cards with patterns on them for several popular flies which he used for instructional purposes, however, unless you received his personal guidance, you would fall short when trying to understand how to tie any of his Little People.
The above represents a sampling of Bill's cards. All of the better known flies listed on his cards are available in other books, however, the Little People have been ignored. This is possibly due to the lack of clarity when one tries to interpret the patterns from his cards. Since Glenn Overton had the opportunity to receive Bill's personal tutelage, then pass it on to me, I offer you the "Little People." These flies were originally tied on size 16, 5X-short shank hooks. Bill believed in turned down eyes on his hooks and felt that turned up eyes on these flies gave the fish an unnatural silhouette of an insect. The closest hook model available today is the Daiichi 1510 that is 3X-short, but the design is very close. Bill tied all of these flies with extra long tails.
Ginger Quill
Thread: Tan.
Tail: Light ginger hackle barbs.
Body: Stripped peacock quill.
Hackle: Light ginger.
Olive Dun
Thread: Light olive.
Tail: Dark blue dun hackle barbs.
Body: Light olive thread.
Hackle: Dark blue dun.
Grizzly
Thread: Pale yellow.
Tail: Medium grizzly hackle barbs.
Body: Dyed yellow hackle stem.
Hackle: Medium grizzly.
Trico
Thread: Black.
Tail: Lavender dun hackle barbs.
Body: Black thread.
Hackle: Lavender dun.
Lavender dun is a dun with a lavender cast to it, usually when viewed in natural sun light.
Badger Quill
Thread: Black.
Tail: Badger hackle barbs.
Body: Badger hackle stem.
Hackle: Badger.
Iron Blue Dun
Thread: Dark gray.
Tail: Dark blue dun hackle barbs.
Body: Dubbed with natural brown beaver.
Hackle: Dark blue dun.
Brewer Bronze
Thread: Dark gray.
Tail: Dark blue dun hackle barbs.
Body: Antique gold yarn.
Hackle: Dark blue dun.
This fly was created to match the small olives and was named after Bill's best friend and fishing partner, Lee Brewer.
Dark Blue Quill
Thread: Dark gray.
Tail: Dark dun hackle barbs.
Body: Stripped peacock quill.
Hackle: Dark dun.
Pale Evening Dun
Thread: Pale yellow.
Tail: Light blue dun hackle barbs.
Body: Dyed light yellow hackle stem.
Hackle: Light blue dun.
Dun Quill
Thread: Dark gray.
Tail: Medium dun hackle barbs.
Body: Medium dun hackle stem.
Hackle: Medium dun.
I am certain that many will view this small collection of flies as just some more midge flies. However, one must appreciate the many hours of trial and error that went into this collection. Like Bill Tobin, I too find it more than difficult to beach large fish when tied on small hooks with regular shanks.
These small subtle patterns meet a wide range of conditions, and because of their simplicity they are worth the effort. There is a small box somewhere in my vest that is home to all of them.
(Photo of Bill Tobin courtesy of Glenn C. Overton)