Andrew "Drew" Chicone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Andrew D. Chicone 1979 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Saltwater fly designer, fly fisherman and author |
Andrew "Drew" Chicone (born 1979) is an American author, saltwater fly designer, fly fisherman and fly casting instructor. [1] He writes books and magazine articles demonstrating how to tie saltwater fly patterns, primarily focused on warm-water fish and fly fishing from standup paddleboards. [2]
Chicone grew up in upstate New York, where he learned how to tie flies at the age of six from his parents.; the first fish he caught with a fly he tied was a Landlocked Salmon. [3] [4] He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Hartrwick College in 2001.
Chicone started his fly tying business in 2008, followed by publishing a monthly email newsletter in 2012 with the desire to "spread the word about new or unique materials, techniques and patterns."
He is a contributing writer for Patagonia, and is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. [5] A number of his articles with his patterns and fly tying instructions have appeared in fishing and fly tying magazines including USA Today Hunt & Fish, [6] Fly Tyer , [7] Fly Life Magazine [8] and Salt Water Sportsman [9] as well as smaller fly fishing and fly tying magazines. He has appeared on ESPN 99.3 Reel Talk Radio [10] and was profiled in Fly Tyer Magazine, which called him ed the "reigning king of fly tying methodology" . [8] [11]
In 2013, Stackpole Books published his first book, Feather Brain: Developing, Testing, and Improving Saltwater Fly Patterns, which provides step-by-step instructions and photos for tying 14 flies that he designed. The book received endorsements from industry peers Jonny King and the late Eric Leiser.
Chicone's largest book, Top Saltwater Flies (Wild River Press),consists of a species-specific book for each of bonefish, permit and tarpon. The work is nearly 900 pages, reportedly the largest book written on the topic of fly tying. [12]
Most of his later books are self-published species-specific guides with instructions and photographs for tying fly designs created by Chicone and other designers or professional fly fishermen, sometimes combined with interviews with the original creator. [2]
Chicone's theory for creating effective fly designs revolves around his study of baitfish habits and movements through the water, that he attempts to replicate in his designs. Some peers regard his approach to fly design and tying methods as unique. [1] [13] Some of his designs have been regarded as effective by peers, won industry awards [14] [15] [16] and included in books by other authors. [17] [18] [19]
Chicone is or has been on many pro teams including Dyna-King, Nautilus, Hardy, Whiting Farms, Daiichi, Mustad, and Loon. [5] He's sponsored by Patagonia, CTS Fishing, Dyna-King, and Airflo.[ citation needed ]
Chicone is an ambassador for the American Museum of Fly Fishing, a member of the Tarpon and Bonefish Trust, and plays an active role in the preservation of local fisheries. [20] [21]
He has also invented materials and tools for fly tying which are sold by Hareline Dubbin. Some of Chicone's fly patterns which have been commercially tied and sold by Orvis & Umpqua Feather Merchants.[ citation needed ] He works as a fly casting instructor and has been credited with a casting method called the misdirection cast. [22]
Chicone lives in Fort Myers, Florida with his wife and daughter.
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 different from other forms of casting. The flies may resemble natural invertebrates, bait-fish, or other food organisms.
The bonefish is the type species of the bonefish family (Albulidae), the only family in order Albuliformes.
John Clarence "Jack" Gartside was an American fly tyer and fly fishing author.
Fly tying 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 variety of natural and manmade materials that are attached to a hook. Although the recent history of fly tying dates from the middle 1800s, fly tyers were engaged in tying flys since at least 200 AD.
The Woolly Bugger is an artificial fly commonly categorized as a wet fly or streamer and is fished under the water surface. It is a popular and widely used pattern for both freshwater and saltwater game fish and is generally listed as one of the top patterns to have in any fly box. John Gierach, a noted fly fishing writer discussed the Woolly Bugger first in his chapter on streamers in Good Flies. Woolly Buggers are typically fished in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and tidal flats. Today, Woolly Buggers are tied in a wide variety of styles and colors to imitate a wide range of game fish prey.
The Woolly Bugger is so effective, it should be banned from some watersheds. I suspect its effectiveness is due to its resemblance to so many edible creatures in the water—nymphs, leeches, salamanders, or even small sculpins. Its tail undulating behind a fiber, bubble-filled body is just too much for most fish to resist. It just looks like a meal!
The Muddler Minnow is a popular and versatile artificial fly of the streamer type used in fly fishing and fly tying.
The Atlantic tarpon is a ray-finned fish that inhabits coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers. It is also known as the silver king. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean, typically in tropical and subtropical regions, though it has been reported as far north as Nova Scotia and the Atlantic coast of southern France, and as far south as Argentina. As with all elopiformes, it spawns at sea. Its diet includes small fish and crustaceans.
The Clouser Deep Minnow is an artificial fly commonly categorized as a streamer and is fished under the water surface. It is a popular and widely used pattern for both freshwater and saltwater game fish and is generally listed as one of the top patterns to have in any fly box, especially for bass and saltwater flats fishing.
An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing. In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food of the target fish species the fly fishers try to catch. Artificial flies are constructed by fly tying, in which furs, feathers, thread or any of very many other materials are tied onto a fish hook.
Bernard "Lefty" Kreh was an American fly fisherman, photographer and fly casting instructor who resided most recently in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Kreh is most known for being one of the pioneers of saltwater fly fishing and his book, Fly Fishing in Salt Water, is considered the seminal volume on the subject.
This annotated bibliography is intended to list both notable and not so notable works of English language, non-fiction and fiction related to the sport of fly fishing listed by year published. Although 100% of any book listed is not necessarily devoted to fly fishing, all these titles have significant fly fishing content. Included in this bibliography is a list of species related fly fishing literature.
This annotated bibliography is intended to list both notable and not so notable works of English language, non-fiction and fiction related to the sport of fly fishing listed by year published. Although 100% of any book listed is not necessarily devoted to fly fishing, all these titles have significant fly fishing content. Included in this bibliography is a list of fly tying, fly tackle, regional guides, memoirs, stories and fly fishing fiction related literature.
Dave's Hopper is an artificial fly used for fly fishing, designed to imitate adult grasshoppers and other Orthoptera species. It is considered a dry fly terrestrial pattern. It was designed by fly tyer and angler Dave Whitlock, and combines the best aspects of Joe's Hopper and Muddler Minnow patterns.
A tube fly is a general tying style of artificial fly used by fly anglers. Tube flies differ from traditional artificial flies as they are tied on small diameter tubes, not hooks. Tube flies were originated in Aberdeen, Scotland by fly-dresser Minnie Morawski for Atlantic salmon anglers around 1945. Tube flies were designed to improve hooking success and to prevent damage to complex and expensive salmon flies by the teeth of hooked salmon. Tube flies have been widely adapted to fly patterns for a variety of cold water and warm water species and are extremely popular for steelhead and salmon in the Pacific Northwest and northeast United States, as well as saltwater species along the Atlantic, Florida and Gulf Coasts. They are widely used in European waters for Atlantic salmon, sea trout and pike.
The Lefty's Deceiver is an artificial fly streamer pattern used in fly fishing for freshwater and saltwater species. The fly was originated by fly angler and author Lefty Kreh in the Chesapeake Bay for striped bass. The original fly was tied to resemble smelt, a common striped bass forage. The Deceiver is arguably the best known saltwater fly pattern in the world and in 1991 the U.S. Postal Service honored Kreh’s creation with a postage stamp.
The Crazy Charlie is a bonefish fly for saltwater fly fishing developed on Andros Island in 1977 in the Bahamas by local bonefish guide Charlie Smith and popularized by San Francisco angler Bob Nauheim. They fly was developed to imitate glass minnows, a common forage for bonefish on the nearshore flats of south Florida and Caribbean islands. The Crazy Charlie has become a staple fly for bonefish and permit anglers around the globe.
Surf Candy is style of artificial fly used primarily in saltwater fly fishing to imitate small sand eels and other small baitfish. The style was developed by American fly tier Bob Popovics in the 1970s for bluefish, tuna and striped bass on the Atlantic coast.
Flats fishing is a method of fishing where anglers target species of fish specifically in shallow, saltwater bodies of water.
The Mickey Finn is a historic and effective bucktail streamer used by fly anglers for trout, warm-water and saltwater species. The fly is somewhat generic and imitates a wide variety of baitfish. Although most likely originated in the late 19th century by Eastern Canadian anglers, the Mickey Finn pattern once known as the Red and yellow bucktail was popularized by angler and author John Alden Knight in 1937.
Bonefish fly patterns are a collection of artificial flies routinely used by fly anglers targeting various species of Bonefish. Bonefish frequent tidal sand and mudflats in tropical and sub-tropical latitudes to feed on benthic worms, fry, crustaceans, and mollusks. Bonefish have small mouths and most Bonefish flies are tied on size 4 to 8 saltwater fly hooks.
