Last February, I was in Seattle to meet with the Washington Fly Fishers Club. During the “wet fly” — the hour before dinner when members and guests gather in a common area, have a drink and swap fishing tales — Les Johnson introduced me to Leland Miyawaki, a contributor in Les Johnson’s latest book.

Les’ first book, Fishing the Sea-Run Cutthroat Trout, was published in 1971. During the past few years, he wrote and published Fly-Fishing Coastal Cutthroat Trout: Flies, Techniques, Conservation, which I received a copy of in November 2005 for my assistance.

At the “wet fly,” Les said to Leland, “You should give Art one of your popper flies to try.” Leland is an ardent beach fly-fisher for salmon and trout, and had actually come off the beaches to attend the meeting.

He left to go to his car and when he returned he handed me one of his Miyawaki popper flies. He explained the fly’s effectiveness and gave me advice on fishing techniques for the best results. I slipped the fly into my pocket and did my talk. When I got back to my hotel room, I put the fly into my briefcase because my wife and I were heading south the next day to spend some time in California.

A week or so later, after we returned home from our trip, I was cleaning out my briefcase and found the popper fly. I looked at it again and mused about where I could use this type of fly. I don’t do much beach fishing for salmon or trout, but I do skate flies across the surface for summer-run steelhead, and figured I could use it then. I picked up my box of steelhead wet flies and stored it with my Lingren’s Indispensables.

Written by Art Lingren