Donald S. Martinez (1903-1955), was an American commercial fly tier, fly shop owner and fly angler. He is most noted for his development and promotion of the woolly worm fly and dry fly fishing in the

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

region. He operated a seasonal fly shop in

West Yellowstone, Montana West Yellowstone is a town in Gallatin County, Montana, United States, adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. The population was 1,272 at the 2020 census. West Yellowstone is served by Yellowstone Airport. It is part of the Bozeman, MT Micropoli ...

during the summers of 1932-1943. Pat Barnes bought the business after World War II and operated the Pat Barnes Tackle Shop until 1981.

West Yellowstone, Montana

Martinez was also a founder of the

Izaak Walton League The Izaak Walton League is an American environmental organization founded in 1922 that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. The organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by a group of sportsmen who wished to protect fi ...

and is credited with introducing dry fly fishing to Yellowstone National Park in the 1930s. To Martinez has been attributed the marketing of the Woolly Worm (imitation) lure for western waters. ''Northwest Fly Fishing Magazine'' named Don Martinez to its 'Pioneers & Legends' distinction in the fall of 2004, two years before

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

. Don Martinez has also been featured in the book, ''Fly Fishing Pioneers & Legends of the Northwest''. In his classic 1955 text “Matching The Hatch” Ernest Schwiebert credits Don Martinez with developing the Whitcraft fly pattern, and declares it “excellent in sizes 10 through 16”. Born in Chicago and later relocating to southern California, Martinez was a real estate executive, and son of George D. Martinez and Alice Shillman Martinez. He and his spouse Nola had two children, David G. Martinez and Mary M. Martinez.

Education

Martinez graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1918, and was a member of the

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...

fraternity.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Don Cornell University alumni People from Los Angeles People from Gallatin County, Montana Fly fishing 1903 births 1955 deaths People from Litchfield County, Connecticut