Roosters on the Fly (Box)
Since our trips to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge have rekindled my love of roosterfish, I’ve been exploring everything about them – not just places to catch them, but also techniques and even ephemera related to them. I knew that there was a vibrant group of roosterfish fly fishing addicts through our friend Steve Grant, who guided us on the Bitterroot River in Montana, and told us stories about his winters running the beaches of Baja chasing these incredible fish. We struggled enough against them on conventional tackle – I can’t imagine how hard they pull on a fly rod, particularly when you have to factor in the crashing surf.
In my search for fishing art, I’ve repeatedly come across the yellow fly boxes made by Wyoming’s Cliff Outdoors, high-end, ultra-durable boxes tailor made for specific applications. If you’re a bass angler, the best comparison I can make is to the storage solutions from Bass Mafia. One cool thing about the Cliff Boxes is that the yellow exterior lends itself particularly well to artwork. [It also makes them harder to lose and easier to find if you do misplace them]. Normally that consists of trout or tarpon or redfish or some other more widely-spread species, but I’ve also found plenty with great renderings of Pez Gallo.
Noted angler/blogger/author/traveler Jeff Currier is also an artist, and lends his drawings to not just shirts, mugs and other consumer products, but also to Cliff Boxes. It’s hard to choose a favorite because he has so many cool ones including Humphead Wrasse and Bluefin Trevally but the Roosterfish model is particularly engaging.
Tyler Hallock of Wyoming, who in addition to being an artist is also a guide and a biologist, produces not just art for Cliff Boxes, but also for cooler wraps (lid and/or insert, or full cooler). His colorful rooster jumped out at me off Instagram.
Michael Williams of Michigan, whose Green Bus Designs we’ve featured previously, produced a killer Cliff Box but I also like his roosterfish rendition of “Dia de los Muertos” and his Yeti art.
Graphic designer Dylan Drebitko of Brooklyn is young, but has a distinct style that combines the street, the water and all sorts of distinct surrealism. This Baja-bound box is amazing.
Pat Cohen of Cobleskill, New York, is a noted fly tier, tattoo artist and also paints Cliff Boxes (his northern snakehead is particularly cool). I couldn’t find a roosterfish fly box under any of his “Rusuperfly” accounts, but I did find this amazing baby rooster fly to match the hatch.
I guess our next step is to get into the fly game on something other than trout in Montana and Alaska. Our upcoming trip to Guatemala for sailfish seems like a good opportunity, but I’m a little bit afraid of that leviathan tackle they use. Maybe I’ll save it for when we get on some aggressive roosters.
