Fly of the Month - June 2017

THE CROWD SURFER STONE – Clint Goodman

The inception of the Crowd Surfer Stone came from one soggy spring in Montana. Three days of constant rain, nothing but clouds and freezing temps at night. Days were muggy and warm and I swear nothing was going to dry in time for the drive home. Ok, so it isn’t like I was camping under the open expanse of sky and pelting rains, but cabin or no cabin everything that I had was wet, and adorning the furniture in an attempt to dry. In an effort to “warm my bones beside the fire” I decided that my last couple of days in Montana’s early summer would be spent inside, at the table, innovating flies. Anything that would improve my odds against heavily fished trout that endure WWII like bomber attacks from dry fly fisherman.

I set out to perfect an extended body Salmonfly I had been playing with before I moved on to smaller stones. With some coffee at hand, some music on and a few friends around the table I pressed on. This was early 2000's, up until then I hadn’t seen anything similar to the Crowd Surfer Stone.

That year and the following summers were excellent years for myself and friends, as we fished the stonefly hatches and did very well even on heavily pressured fish.

Coming up with a new pattern isn’t always as easy as it might sound, but sometimes, innovating something fresh and effective does comes together fast and easy. This was one of those times. It was fate. With pliers and a T-pin I formed an extended body tool. I cut up some foam and started tying. It only took a few flies until the proportions were correct as I had live insects on hand to model for me. The Crowd Surfer Stone has been a staple stonefly pattern for me and others ever since.

The Crowd Surfer Stone comes in Golden Stone, Skwala and Salmon Fly. I usually fish it on a heavier, shorter leader and tippet set up of 7'-10' total. I deliver them hard to the water and usually very close to the banks. The drifts usually never last long if there are fish around. If you happen to be fishing a salmon fly hatch late in the event, the fish can be full to the gills, yet a smaller golden stone offering many times is the icing on the cake and can bring many fish to hand.

Clint was born in Utah, but while still young moved to long island New York. That is where he really started to get into fishing. He began tying in 1993 and one year later began fly fishing. Once he started catching fish on home tied flies my hobby became an obsession; A life-long quest to turn a hook into a fish fooling work of art. Clint works for the Union Pacific Railroad and currently resides in Bountiful Utah with his family.