The bell rang, I opened the door, and a young boy of about 13 introduced himself as Sebatian Letelier. He wanted "to talk about fly fishing" as he said. That is the beginning of a long fishing story, which started 1993: Sebastian was eager to learn how to tie flies, how to fly fish and to get into it all with the enthusiastic drive that youngsters of his age sometimes take a challenge.
My own beginning in fly-fishing was not easy; I had to teach myself from scratch. Because of that I enjoyed it so much, and my memories are priceless. As a result, I have taught literally dozens of children and youngsters and shown them through the intricate paths of the traditions of the fly fishing world.
Sebastian learned fast how to tie flies, the real flies, the delicate patterns which we not only enjoy to fish with, but even more so, the time we spend tying them, creating, solving problems, gathering and collecting the materials, learning all the time...no plastic substitutes, no bead heads, no lure-like contraptions, no short cuts. The gentle art of fly fishing, delicate casts with lovely rods, beautiful flies, impressionistic imitations, pure art and joy.
In order to improve his knowledge, Sebastian even had to learn English, as there is not much fishing literature in Spanish. He started catching trout with lovely tied flies, his own creations... enjoying fly fishing the way it is meant to be. His father as a present for his achievements in school, bought a beautiful bamboo rod for him.
Years went by, and today Sebastian, a born artist, is tying both trout and salmon flies that are breathtaking. He is also painting absolutely exquisite studies about the world of fly-fishing. Some of his most beautiful flies have been framed and decorate with pride our fishing lodge in Southern Chile. The biggest accomplishment however, in my case, is to have found fertile ground to teach someone who turned to be a great fly fisherman, and without any doubt is already a world class fly tier who belong to the exclusive club of the very best. |
