Here’s the second part of our interview with North Alabama master tyer Brandon Bailes, read Part One here.
You’ve got a week off to do nothing but fly fish. Where would you run to fish if you were staying in your neighborhood? On the coast? Anywhere you wanted to go?
If I had one week to fish local…..it would be on a blueline smallie stream! I never have enough time to hit every pool there and I would love to see what I could discover! Even though I am a self professed Streamer junkie, my next love is hopping pools and catching eager smallies and spots. It’s like brookie fishing in the smokies! I have a sweet spot for short glass rods and throwing terrestrials.
Now if I could hit the salt for a week, I would head straight to a tidal marsh and chase tailing reds! Awesome action and so visual!! But if I could go anywhere in the world to fish for one week…EASY…..straight to South America to chase monster Peacock Bass! Thats on my bucket list for sure.
Best advice for the experienced tyer who’s thinking about moving into the professional arena?
Well I don’t see myself in the professional arena yet but maybe that will change. I can say that social media has been so helpful in getting out my work via Instagram, Facebook, and several forums. I receive emails weekly for flies and thats always a plus to fund my addiction.
What’s the best barbecue / regional food around home?
My wife will argue with me on this but if you come thru North Alabama you gotta get some Whitts BBQ. She thinks Sonny’s BBQ is awesome but you would have to go to GA (her home state) or FL for it.
Of the flies you tie, what’s been the best seller and where are they shipping?
Of all my flies I sell, the Insomnia Streamer and my new Hopper pattern are great sellers. And it seems both get more sales to Arkansas/ Missouri but I still sell a good number here locally.
If you could encourage fly fishers to do just one thing in terms of stewardship this next year, what would that be?
Spend one weekend cleaning up your local beat! Not only will it look better but others might see that and be encouraged to do the same thing.
Brandon’s Bio
My wife and I have been married for 7 yrs. and have 2 lil boys….one’s a Hunter, and the other loves fly fishing. I live about 5 miles from where I grew up in Limestone County and cut my teeth on stream fishing.
The flies I tie are made with lots of time and care. All the streamers I tie are built to have maximum movement in the water, using the most fluid materials. I don’t tie many trout dries so my surface flies are designed to make some disturbance when they hit the water and get the fishes attention.
My favorite streamer, the Insomnia, was brought about on a tough note; my youngest( 2yr) got very sick and was hospitalized for awhile. Even when he was well enough to come home he had to have a PIC line for antibiotics for a few weeks. My wife is a registered nurse and she’s extremely good at her job and could handle seeing our little one this way. On the other hand, I don’t do well with sick little ones or needles! Somehow, God made me unique in that I can gut and butcher a deer but can’t even get blood draw without falling out. Needless to say, during this rough patch I would sit at my tying bench until the wee hours of the morning, combining different patterns that I admired from tiers such as Kelly Galloup, Mike Schimdt, and Tommy Lynch.
I came up with an articulated streamer that cast great on both my 6 and 8 wts, had everything I liked in a streamer, and had tons of movement! I took it out and fished it……in the first 10 minutes i landed a 4.5# Largemouth!! I fished it over and over and tweaked it even further and now it has caught lots of fish and even helped me through a rather scary time in our life. For me fly tying and fishing are just a few more moments I get to be relaxed, at peace, and free to converse with God.
Instagram: @bailebr3
