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 1990:
Turck Tarantula
Good weather came back
to grace the One Fly in 1990. George Anderson was looking to repeat his
performance but was at a loss as to what fly to pick. As any good guide knows,
when in doubt, go to the people who know the water best. Because everybody knew
George loved rubber legs, a fly was thrust in front of him for his inspection.
It looked sort of like a Madame X, but sort of didn't. It was unusual and right up George’s alley. He was told that it was a
Turck Tarantula. With his patented grin, he snatched the fly from its
creator, Guy Turck, with a promise that he would use it. He was willing to
gamble and used the now infamous concoction. Quite simply, George kicked butt.
The Turck Tarantula did its job and became the new One Fly champ. A star was
born.
 1991:
Adam’s Wulff
The Adam’s Wulff turned
out to be the quiet hero. In the excitement of the Hollywood team roaring to
the front to snatch first place, the Adam’s Wulff got dwarfed. It was very much
a part of the reason the Hollywood stars won. Saturday morning brought normal
One Fly weather (rain and drizzle), but it was surprisingly warm. Master fly
tier Scott Sanchez suggested to the All-Stars that the Brown Drakes would come
out in spite of the bad weather. The best fly was a New Zealand creation of
Jack Dennis, the Adam’s Wulff, made to imitate the Brown Drake. The secret was
the Australian Opossum underfur, just the right color, and the white wing would
show up under poor light conditions. Captain Skip Brittenham convinced the
majority of the team to try the fly on the first day. Only Art Annecharico
stuck with the Dry Muddler to catch the largest trout of the event. They
continued to use the fly in the next day’s competition and piled up enough
points to win. The Drakes came out as Scott had predicted, and the rest is
history. This was the first time that any team swept the individual,
largest-fish and top-team awards.
 1992:
Double Bunny
In 1992, One Fly
winner Walter Ungermann took the advice of guide Carter Andrews, who suggested
that he try Scott Sanchez’ rabbit-fur creation on the South Fork. Walter, who
had never used anyone else’s flies in the last four One Fly’s reluctantly tried
Carter’s version of Scott’s fly on the first day. He promptly set a record with
560 points. The next day, he used the same fly to score another 500+ points and
captured the individual title. This marked the first time a streamer fly ever
won the event. Sanchez crafted the fly from two different colored rabbit pelts
glued together. He cut them into quarter-inch strips and affixed eyes to the
body. It is intended to mimic a small wounded fish.
1993:
Double Bunny
In 1993, Walter took
the Single Bunny and crafted a slightly sparser version of the Scott Sanchez
Double Bunny, creating what he called the Half Bunny. The Half Bunny is tied
with glass eyes and two rabbit strips glued together, cut very short, thus its
name. Walter fished the Half Bunny on a sinking line deep into the runs and on
deep pools of both the Snake and the South Fork rivers. The high winds of the
day made dry fly fishing difficult, but Walter’s deep rig proved to be the
winning combination, scoring him more than 800 points to win the 1993
individual honors.
1994:
Double Bunny
In 1994, the Double
Bunny was victorious again. Carter Andrews, who had tied the “Son of Bunny” for
1993 winner Walter Ungermann, was the angler who fished it to perfection. Carter
set a record for the most points ever scored in the One Fly history. Carter
fished the fly deep, with amazing results on the South Fork river on Saturday.
He racked up more than 900 points, and followed on Sunday with 500 points to
cinch the title of “Top Rod.” Changes in the One Fly’s 1995 rules limit the hook
size to an 8 and length to 3x. The Double Bunny will not disappear, it will just
be more challenging.
 1995:
Chernobyl Ant
The winning fly of
1995’s One Fly was out of the ordinary, as its name suggests. This foam-bodied
fly is the product of the guides of Flaming Gorge—namely Emmette Heath. While
the winning fly propelled amateur Gary Eckman into the winner’s circle, he
claims his fly is another version of the Chernobyl Ant. No matter which version
an angler might fish, the basic concept and design is the same: High density
foam forms the abdomen and head, and rubber legs give the critter incredible
lifelike action as the ant struggles in the water. The name suggests a mutant
insect so true to form that the fly can be a myriad of colors, design schemes,
etc. This year’s event is sure to entertain many different varieties as a
result of Gary Eckman’s success. Eckman amassed 864 points for the amateur
title.
 1996:
Tasmania Tarantula
The angler can fish the Tarantula fly
dry or wet. Size and color are its most important aspects. The fly tier has the
ability to craft the fly to perform differently on each angler’s rod. There is
no question that this too is a deadly fly. Ask Frank Hussey of Hobart Tasmania,
our 1996 champ, who used the basic concept and design of the Tarantula to craft
a highbred version, say, Aussie “down under” style, or as Frank calls it, a
“Tassie Tarantula.” The deer hair and rubber legs gives the critter fly
incredible lifelike action and the ant struggles in the water. It was good
enough for Frank as he captured the 1996 amateur championship and added to the
One Fly mystique.
 1997:
Black Rubber Leg Wooly Bugger
In a number of past One
Fly events, wet flies have done well. The Rubber Leg Wooly Bugger is a
combination of an old pattern, the Wooly Bugger, and a newer pattern, the Yuk
Bug. The rubber legs and marabou tail both provide motion, which generally
triggers strikes. A gold bead is added for extra weight. This color combination
can imitate a variety of aquatic foods. (Fly shown here without bead).
 1998:
Rusty Spinner
The 1998 event
was back at home on the Snake and South Fork. Peter Moyer led a close group of
anglers by catching an amazing 44 fish on a Rusty Spinner. Day two allowed Brad
Downey to score numerous points on a Chernobyl Ant variation. Brad Downey’s day
two score combined with Mike Fitzgerald score the day before to clinch the
individual award. Peter held on however to receive the highest point score for
one person. It is a tough decision between Brad’s Chernobyl Ant and Peter’s
Rusty Spinner. We called Peter’s high point fly, the Rusty Spinner, the winner.
 1999:
Amy’s Ant
The
foam bodies strike again with Jack Dennis’ variation of the Chernobyl Ant. The
Frontier Fly Fishers cast to victory with this high floating ant pattern with
all members using the creation. Joe Bressler scored over 700 points on Saturday
setting a new high point score for the Professional Division using a two day
old, used Amy’s Ant found on the floor of the guides car. He plans using the
same fly again this year after 4 days of use and literally over 100 fish. This
durable fly combines the good visibility of Elk hair with a Chernobyl style
body. The under body sparkles with silver-flash chenille and dyed Grizzly
hackle. Brown round rubber legs add to the killer swimming fly action to make
this fly a new, popular addition to the One Fly winners.
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