Published Oct 18. 2002 - 21 years ago
Updated or edited Jun 15. 2016

Big Mike's streamers

Truly influential fly tyers are rare. Mike Martinek is such a tyer. He has been the initiator and a major contributor to the revival of the American streamers. Read Bob Petti's article about Mike's beautiful, classical streamer patterns.

Mike Martinek

Truly influential fly tyers are rare. By influential, I mean tyers who make us stop and think about what we are doing, who have a profound and obvious impact on what we tie, how we tie it, and often how we fish it. Their influence extends beyond our bookshelves and is most visible in our fly boxes, where it matters most. Mike Martinek, Jr. is certainly such a tyer.

As Bob Skehan's Streamers@ group began to piece together tributes to those individuals who contributed to the development of streamer fly tying, I felt there was a piece missing. The people we had paid respect to had been very influential, of course, but for the most part they have passed. Mike Martinek has unassumingly served as a bridge between the historical figures of yesterday and the tyers of today. Through writing and demonstration tying, he was on the fore of what is now rejuvenation in the realm of streamer fly tying. He has gone so far as to drive the creation of a series of hooks modelled after the old Allcock hooks that are no longer available - his Mike Martinek Rangeley streamer hooks sold under the Gaelic Supreme brand.
Mike's flies have appeared in some of the most beautiful fly tying books in print. Flip through any Schmookler and Sils book and you will certainly happen across a plate of Mike's streamers. He is one of the tyers featured in Judith Dunham's book "The Atlantic Salmon Fly - The Tyers and Their Art", one of my favorite fly tying books. Any article on the classic New England streamer style of fly tying in magazines usually draws upon Mike's expertise. In addition, he has two self-published books filled with beautiful original streamer patterns and a number of videos under the "Fly Fishing Video Magazine" label. He is regarded as the living authority on the techniques, style, and history of the streamer fly.

Mike has the uncanny ability to combine aesthetics and functionality in his fly tying. He produces flies that are at the same time incredibly beautiful yet completely practical. His art training and natural talent have obviously given him the ability to combine colors and materials in such a way that the resulting fly truly is greater than the sum of its parts. The rainbow smelt, the forage fish most often imitated with New England style streamers, lends itself to colorful streamers, and Mike makes use of color so well that his flies have life beyond their natural materials. This ability to see with the eyes of both artist and fisherman is what attracts me to the flies of tyers like Mike Martinek and Dave Whitlock.

For me personally, Mike has been a great inspiration. Sitting through one of his slide shows, the deep felt respect he holds for the founders of the streamer craft comes shining through. Such respect is contagious. His love of streamers and fly tying is contagious. His lack of pretense and ego is refreshing. The endless wise
cracks and one liners serve as a reminder that fly tying is, if nothing else, about having fun. He is grounded enough to realize that a well tied fly is supposed to be tossed into the water and chewed beyond recognition by a fish. It has come to the point that any trip to one of the big fly fishing shows centers around Mike's tying table, where I try to listen and absorb his knowledge and influence. As I alluded to before, his most profound influence has been at my tying bench and in my fly boxes.

I have great respect for Mike Martinek as a fly tyer, but I have even more respect for him as a person. The heritage of the streamer fly could not have been placed in better hands.
Bob Petti
Spring 2001

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Allow me to extend a special thanks to my friend, Chris Del Plato, for supplying scans of one of his flies as well as those tied by Mike Martinek.
Follow these links to see more of Mike's contributions to Raske's New England Streamer site
- Carrie Stevens Originals
- Mike Martinek's Rangeley Originals
- Jim Warner, A New England Classic
- Also see Chris Del Plato's review of one of Mike's videotapes. Classic Maine Streamers

Mickey's Ghost

A Martinek original, the Mickey's Ghost clearly demonstrates Mike's mastery of color and composition.

Tyer: Mike Martinek, Jr.
Tag: Flat Silver Tinsel
Body: Yellow Floss
Ribbing: Flat Silver Tinsel
Belly: Red bucktail with yellow bucktail beneath
Throat: Golden Pheasant Crest, Yellow Schlappen, Bright Red Schlappen
Underwing: Peacock Herl and a long Golden Pheasant Crest
Wing: Bright red outside of yellow saddle hackle, two hackles per side
Shoulder: Silver Pheasant
Cheek: Jungle Cock

Mike's Red Ghost Special

Mike is very well known for this pattern, Mike's Red Ghost Special.

Tyer: Chris Del Plato
Tag: Flat Silver Tinsel
Body: Red/scarlet Floss
Ribbing: Flat Silver Tinsel
Belly: Red Bucktail
Throat: Golden Pheasant Crest and Red Schlappen
Underwing: Peacock Herl and a long Golden Pheasant Crest
Wing: Red Hackle two per side with one slate gray hackle outside 2/3 as long
Shoulder: Silver Pheasant
Cheek: Jungle Cock

10-Feather Streamer

Mike's experienced hands are evident in this wonderfully tied 10-feather style streamer which are so difficult to tie properly.
Ten Feather Emerald Shiner

Tyer: Mike Martinek, Jr.
Body: Flat Silver Tinsel
Underwing: Sparse White Bucktail
Wing: Black over Tan over Yellow over White narrow saddle hackles
Eyes: Pearl Nail Polish with Black Pupil

Brook Trout

The "Brook Trout" is a wonderful little casting streamer.

Tyer: Bob Petti
Tail: Hot orange over black over white schlappen
Body: Copper Tinsel
Ribbing: Copper Wire
Belly: White Bucktail
Throat: Black followed by Orange Schlappen, to mimic tail
Underwing: Hot Orange Bucktail (arctic fox was used in the pictured fly)
Wing: Brownish olive hackle

Jim Warner Special

A tribute to one of his major influences Jim Warner, this casting streamer has all the elements of a wonderful fish catching fly.
Jim Warner Special

Tyer: Bob Petti
Tail: Gold Floss, clipped square
Body: Flat Silver Tinsel
Ribbing: Oval Silver Tinsel
Wing: Yellow Bucktail under Olive Grizzly Hackles
Throat: Red Schlappen
Cheek: Jungle Cock

Orange Darter

Mike has a whole series of these little "darter" flies in his second book. They all look terrifically fishy, but each are challenging ties.
Orange Darter

Tyer: Bob Petti
Tail: Orange Hackle
Body: Flat Silver Tinsel
Ribbing: Oval Gold Tinsel
Collar: Red Eastern Squirrel Tail
Wing: Two Orange Hackle Points with Wood Duck Flank over them as long as tail
Hackle: Tan Grizzly folded and gathered back as a collar
Head: Black, Yellow painted eyes with black pupils, red painted throat.

Pete Williams

A tribute to a lost friend, the Pete Williams is a wonderful blend of materials.
Pete Williams

Tyer: Chris Del Plato
Body: Flat Copper Mylar
Rib: Doubled Copper Wire
Belly: Yellow Bucktail, Red Orange Bucktail, White Bucktail (top to bottom)
Underwing: 6 Peacock Herls with long Golden Pheasant Crest on top
Wing: Four Claret Saddle Hackles
Throat: Red Orange Schlappen
Shoulder: Mallard
Cheeks: Jungle Cock

Sandbar Smelt

The Sandbar Smelt is one of the first Martinek patterns that I ever saw, and it caught my eye for it's style and blend of colors.
Sandbar Smelt

Tyer: Bob Petti
Tag: Flat Silver Tinsel
Body: Orange Floss
Ribbing: Flat Silver Tinsel
Belly: Yellow bucktail followed by White bucktail
Throat: Yellow Schlappen
Underwing: 6 Peacock Herls
Wing: Two white and one shorter yellow olive hackle per side, Rangeley style
Shoulder: Woodduck Flank
Cheek: Jungle Cock

Comments

Hello Mr. Petti, Tha...

Hello Mr. Petti, Thank you for this fine article. Guys like you are what inspire guys like me, carrying the ball further downfield. It was the "Grey Ghost" streamer that hooked me LS&B way back and the go to fly for many years, often the only fly I fished with few exceptions, other streamers, sculpins, muddlers and rabbits. I have released many trout to the credit of the Ghost. Sincerely, Tom Gibbons.

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