“The Phantom” — that anonymous fly tier I told you about in last week’s column — has thankfully returned.
As (I hope) you recall, The Phantom is regular reader who sent me an unexpected package last week: A pair of fishing flies wrapped in birch bark that he named the “CPL Cole,” in tribute to Somerset County Sheriff’s deputy Cpl. Eugene Cole, who was killed in the line of duty earlier this year.
I included a photo of the flies, and shared the thoughts of The Phantom, who said he hoped I’d pass them along to Cole’s family or co-workers, or to do as I saw fit with the unique gift. My choice: I’ll give them to a trusted game warden who’ll find a way to get them in the right hands.
The problem: The Phantom didn’t include the fly’s “recipe,” which consists of a list of materials used, typically in order of their inclusion in the fly.
I needn’t have worried. On Friday, just hours after that column was published, I received a message from Capt. Pete Douvarjo of Sedgwick, a fantastic guide who has taken me afield more than once, and who is always willing to help share Maine’s outdoor wonders with others.
“John — Do you have a detailed photo of those flies from your column today?” asked Douvarjo, the proprietor of Eggemoggin Guide Service. “I want to try and duplicate. I want to give some to some wardens and friends. Give me a better pic than what you posted, and I can probably duplicate. It’s a cool way to carry on a legacy.”
I carefully peeled one CPL Cole fly out of its plastic wrapper, snapped a photo with my phone, and sent it along to Douvarjo.
Then, a few days later, another piece of old-fashioned mail ended up on my desk.
As you may recall, in last week’s column I explained that The Phantom signed off with only a zip code as a hint of where he or she lived. I looked at the zip code, plugged it into the magic Google machine, and determined that our anonymous fly tier lived in Brooks.
Turns out, I was wrong. The Phantom pointed out that the final digit in the zip code, handwritten in that letter, may have looked like a “1.” In fact, it was a “0.”
Here’s what The Phantom, who actually included a first name this time around, had to say:
“The Phantom strikes again. Thank you for the nice article in Friday’s paper,” he wrote.
“Enclosed is a CPL Cole streamer fly for you. I did make a mistake in the note I sent. Sorry I misled you on the zip code. Age, again. It was supposed to be 04920. This is the zip code for Bingham, Moscow, Pleasant Ridge and Concord, which is an area [Cole] patrolled beside the Kennebec River. He was really well liked by all the people in the area,” The Phantom explained.
Then The Phantom delivered the real goods, which I’ll share today: The recipe for the fly, which I hope you’ll try to recreate and share with others in Cpl. Cole’s memory.
“The pattern is as follows,” The Phantom wrote. “Body: Gold tinsel. Hackle: Peacock herl. Wings: Dark blue saddle hackle. Cheeks: Golden pheasant. Eyes: Jungle cock.”
Then, The Phantom let his guard down for a moment.
“Thanks again,” he wrote, before signing off as “Bob.”
So there you have it: The original pattern of The Phantom’s tribute fly. And here’s my thought on the matter: Tie as many as you like, or as many as you can.
Then, do me a favor. Don’t sell them. Ever.
Give them away. One by one. At special times, to people who matter.
And then, humbly, spread a message that I think The Phantom would rally behind:
The man that this fly honors stood for something. And we do, too. Use it proudly. Share it willingly. Use it wisely. Let his legacy live on.
John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.com or 990-8214. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnHolyoke
