By Kelly McCoy
The unassuming town of Todd is tucked away between Boone and West Jefferson, NC. It’s a little community comprised of a General Store, Bakery Mercantile, Post Office, two churches, and RiverGirl Fishing Co. and is best described as one of those places where if you blink, you’ll miss it. But like everything else in this town, it’s usually the seemingly insignificant thing that is packed with odd surprises.
Take the infamous Pink Woolly Bugger as an example. At RiverGirl, we love to utilize as many local custom made products as we can. Lee Burgess, aka Stretch, is a tall, lanky 70 year old, who has been tying flies for most of his life. Lee is our main source and has been providing us with flies for ten years. Lee came in one day and was showing us his latest handiworks. Tucked away in the corner of his fly box was a pink woolly bugger. Lee just laughed it off and said he made it for his daughter. Lee’s daughter has Down Syndrome and had requested a Barbie fly… which of course had to be pink. So after seeing it multiple times, we were curious to try it out. Nine years later, it is still our number one seller and most popular fly with the fish.
I can still remember my first fish on that fly. Very rarely would I travel more than 24 minutes from Todd to go fishing, but a friend called and said he was going up to Helton Creek and would like a fishing buddy that day. Well, this was before having my son, so I made the big 40 minute drive north to meet him. The water was a tad stained and we weren’t having much luck with our stimulator dry flies or bigger nymphs. Almost ready to call it quits, I showed my buddy the pink wooly bugger and thought, hmm… maybe I should give this new fly a try. One cast upstream at a 90 degree angle to the current, with that bugger right on the bottom, hanging under an indicator and as soon as it made its way downstream to swing around, the biggest brook trout of my life took it! Now granted, this was a stocked fish and not the wild little brookies that I dream of… but man, this fish was awesome! As a result, you will always find my box lit up with a few of the pink flashy marabou tail flies.
Since then, I have caught all three species of trout on that fly and another 20+ species on it as well. From bass to bream to spotted sea trout, redfish, pompano…. many more. The pink bugger imitates a fish and ALL fish eat other fish. Folks come into RiverGirl and want a unique fly, but some guys are reluctant to be seen with such a girly fly in their box, so sometimes, I will tell them that it takes a “Real Man” to fish with a pink fly, so they’ll buy one, try it and usually come back for a baker’s dozen. It’s the little things in life that create the greatest impressions. One tiny town, one tiny fly, one act of love…a lifetime of memories. Best Fishes and Over and Trout for now!
Kelly McCoy is Founder of RiverGirls Fishing Company Located in Todd, NC.