John Clarence "Jack" Gartside was an American

fly tyer Fly tying (also historically referred to in England as dressing flies) is the process of producing an artificial fly used by fly fishing anglers to catch fish. Fly tying is a manual process done by a single individual using hand tools and a vari ...

and

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

author. Considered one of the most talented and innovative fly tyers of the modern era, Gartside was taught how to tie flies at the age of 10 by

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...

, the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

outfielder. Among his best-known original patterns are the Sparrow, the Soft Hackle Streamer, the Pheasant Hopper, the Gartside Leech, the FishHead, and the Gurgler. His designs have been featured in Eric Leiser's "Book of Fly Patterns," Judith Dunham's "The Art of the

Trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

Fly,"

Lefty Kreh Bernard "Lefty" Kreh (February 26, 1925 – March 14, 2018) was an American fly fisherman, photographer and fly casting instructor who resided most recently in Hunt Valley, Maryland.Budryk, Peter. "So Just Who is Lefty Kreh?"http://fishwithkev.blog ...

's "Salt Water Fly Patterns," Dick Stewart's "Salt Water Flies," Bob Veverka's "Innovative Saltwater Flies," and Dick Brown's "Flyfishing for

Bonefish The bonefish (''Albula vulpes'') is the type species of the bonefish family (Albulidae), the only family in order Albuliformes. History Bonefish were once believed to be a single species with a global distribution, however 9 different species ...

." He was one of the first fly tyers to be profiled in

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

(October 12, 1982). Gartside has been profiled in Robert H. Boyle's "Fishing Giants and Other Men of Derring-Do," and David Dibenedetto's "On the Run." In 2010 the

Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum The Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to: preserving America's fly fishing heritage; teaching its future generations of fly fishers; and protecting its fly fishing environment. The museum is ...

inducted Gartside into its fly fishing hall of fame. The

American Museum of Fly Fishing The American Museum of Fly Fishing is a museum in Manchester, Vermont, United States, that preserves and exhibits artifacts related to American angling. Exhibits and collections The American Museum of Fly Fishing was established in 1968 in Manc ...

added a number of Gartside items to its collection.

Tying style

Gartside was a proponent of natural materials and the

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

style of tying. A common theme in his patterns is blood marabou wound as hackle, as seen in his Soft Hackle Streamer and Soft Hackle Deceiver patterns. Although limited in his use of synthetic materials, he is credited with popularizing the use of corsair tubing (as seen in his FishHead and Floating Minnow patterns), and

closed-cell foam Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid. A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the reg ...

(as used in his Gurgler pattern).

Published works

* ''Flies for the 21st Century'' * ''Fly Patterns for the Adventurous Tyer'' * ''Flyfisherman's Guide to Boston Harbor'' * ''Original Salt Water Fly Patterns'' * ''Scratching the Surface'' * ''Secret Flies'' * ''Striper Flies'' * ''Striper Strategies''

Tying style

Published works

Notes

External links