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Tom Kintz
Signature Tyer
Fishing interest began at an early age targeting panfish and trout with help from my father, uncles and cousins who showed me the way. Friends, family and Scouts helped to develop my interest in fishing and to get the idea to try tying my own flies. My Southern-California next-door neighbor and scoutmaster helped me to build my own fishing rods. As a teen-ager, I saved enough from yard-work jobs to build my own fly rod and try out some of my own feeble ties at local ponds. The older brother and uncle of a fishing friend invited us to join their Orange County Fly Fishers club fly tying class and to fish in the Cali surf with flies for perch and corbina. With that help, my tying improved and the saltwater edge captured my interest.
College pursuit brought me to Kings Point on Long Island Sound. Fishing for striped bass and bluefish with various methods provided great relief from the challenges of academy life and offered new access to excellent fishing spots. Landing a job in Connecticut after college kept me along the New England coast where I first explored inland ponds, rivers and streams for the panfish and trout. Later I moved nearby to Rhode Island where I discovered surf fishing. I built a saltwater fly rod in hopes of success. Soon a new friend showed me the excitement of hooking a false albacore on the fly from one of the jetties we fished. That moment converted me exclusively to saltwater fly fishing and soon I landed my own albie.
Saltwater fly casting was a constant challenge and the surf made it more so. At times the surf size, wind and weed content made the available fish-zone presentation so small that only a few seconds were available to place the fly. Casting success favored the long cast on every effort and timing of the final shoot to actually make it over the wave was practiced each time. Stripping baskets to hold the loose fly line coils were essential to avoid the churning surf and weeds. Bluefish were prevalent at the time and were most attracted to a popper made of lobster buoy foam. This popper with a short wire leader was very successful and fun; however the light air-resistant fly was tough to cast. Shifting to a feather-and-bucktail fly helped with the air resistance, but ran the risk of rapid abrasion on the steep beach behind with an unfortunate sand tap. This basic fly design also could be subject to tangling in the hook gap resulting in refusals from following fish – wasting the effort and skill of a well-placed cast.
Some new friends I met at work were interested in fishing and I introduced them to fly fishing and tying. We soon were venturing out to the local reefs in their boats to catch more and larger fish with greater regularity. Casting from the boat was substantially easier, but the lessons learned in the surf helped me to formulate the fly designs that I preferred for both surf and boat fishing.
It was about this time in mid-1990s that I had successfully submitted Major Bunker to Umpqua and we began the contract tyer arrangement. The major design features for Major Bunker included a double collar to provide resistance to tangling, an epoxy reinforced head to provide abrasion resistance, and wire-weighting to provide density compensation for improved casting. Some years later, in 2007, I was asked by Umpqua to expand the Major Bunker fly design to include some other bait species. The new flies took advantage of new materials that had become available since Major Bunker was designed. The eyes and hook were improved to include a solid molded eye and the use of the Tiemco 600SP hook. Major Herring, Major Mullet and Major Sardine were some pretty sweet additions to the Umpqua fly lineup.
Today, I am exploring new places and continuing to provide instruction and encouragement to new fly fishing and tying enthusiasts. It is great fun to see the opportunities for fishing and experience the joy of finding new fly tying materials and the thoughts of what can be done with them. I hope that the lessons I have learned provide fresh opportunities for others to experience and advance.
Fishing interest began at an early age targeting panfish and trout with help from my father, uncles and cousins who showed me the way. Friends, family and Scouts helped to develop my interest in fishing and to get the idea to try tying my own flies. My Southern-California next-door neighbor and scoutmaster helped me to build my own fishing rods. As a teen-ager, I saved enough from yard-work jobs to build my own fly rod and try out some of my own feeble ties at local ponds. The older brother and uncle of a fishing friend invited us to join their Orange County Fly Fishers club fly tying class and to fish in the Cali surf with flies for perch and corbina. With that help, my tying improved and the saltwater edge captured my interest.
College pursuit brought me to Kings Point on Long Island Sound. Fishing for striped bass and bluefish with various methods provided great relief from the challenges of academy life and offered new access to excellent fishing spots. Landing a job in Connecticut after college kept me along the New England coast where I first explored inland ponds, rivers and streams for the panfish and trout. Later I moved nearby to Rhode Island where I discovered surf fishing. I built a saltwater fly rod in hopes of success. Soon a new friend showed me the excitement of hooking a false albacore on the fly from one of the jetties we fished. That moment converted me exclusively to saltwater fly fishing and soon I landed my own albie.
Saltwater fly casting was a constant challenge and the surf made it more so. At times the surf size, wind and weed content made the available fish-zone presentation so small that only a few seconds were available to place the fly. Casting success favored the long cast on every effort and timing of the final shoot to actually make it over the wave was practiced each time. Stripping baskets to hold the loose fly line coils were essential to avoid the churning surf and weeds. Bluefish were prevalent at the time and were most attracted to a popper made of lobster buoy foam. This popper with a short wire leader was very successful and fun; however the light air-resistant fly was tough to cast. Shifting to a feather-and-bucktail fly helped with the air resistance, but ran the risk of rapid abrasion on the steep beach behind with an unfortunate sand tap. This basic fly design also could be subject to tangling in the hook gap resulting in refusals from following fish – wasting the effort and skill of a well-placed cast.
Some new friends I met at work were interested in fishing and I introduced them to fly fishing and tying. We soon were venturing out to the local reefs in their boats to catch more and larger fish with greater regularity. Casting from the boat was substantially easier, but the lessons learned in the surf helped me to formulate the fly designs that I preferred for both surf and boat fishing.
It was about this time in mid-1990s that I had successfully submitted Major Bunker to Umpqua and we began the contract tyer arrangement. The major design features for Major Bunker included a double collar to provide resistance to tangling, an epoxy reinforced head to provide abrasion resistance, and wire-weighting to provide density compensation for improved casting. Some years later, in 2007, I was asked by Umpqua to expand the Major Bunker fly design to include some other bait species. The new flies took advantage of new materials that had become available since Major Bunker was designed. The eyes and hook were improved to include a solid molded eye and the use of the Tiemco 600SP hook. Major Herring, Major Mullet and Major Sardine were some pretty sweet additions to the Umpqua fly lineup.
Today, I am exploring new places and continuing to provide instruction and encouragement to new fly fishing and tying enthusiasts. It is great fun to see the opportunities for fishing and experience the joy of finding new fly tying materials and the thoughts of what can be done with them. I hope that the lessons I have learned provide fresh opportunities for others to experience and advance.