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Sidney and Melynda Jarratt and Production Assistant
Sean Yeomans during the shoot of
Sidney Jarratt: Classic Fly Tier, June 1996.

ndeed, when the plates are mounted in a frame and placed on a wall, they are beautiful to look at and can fetch a high price.

But getting my father to make the flies for display plates can be difficult sometimes. That's because the display flies have to be specially tied in order to fit into the small space between the glass and the mat in the frame. He has warned me not to make too many plates ahead of time because he doesn't to feel that it has become a chore. He wants tying to be fun.

People who know my father will agree that he is an unusual breed of man. He is a multi-talented person with eclectic interests, ranging from the fisheries and conservation to forestry and working with wood. He is the type of man who prowled the rivers of this province when they were still relatively unknown, and he has many a fish story to regale if you'll give him the chance. He loves nature, and he reveres the birds and animals that are a crucial part of his art form.

His flies are well known along the salmon and trout rivers of New Brunswick, including the Nepisiquit, the Miramichi, the Restigouche and the Tegeagouche. Small wonder, considering the expertise that comes from 60 years in the business.

No doubt, he never dreamed it would be that way that Christmas more than a half century ago, when a friendly American pharmacist sent him a fly tying kit and told him to "tie your own."

Likely, many New Brunswickers who have enjoyed a tasty New Brunswick salmon or trout caught on one of Sidney's hand tied flies are very glad that he did.

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This article originally appeared in the
Bathurst Northern Light, Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada
on May 1, 1991.