Flyfish@ history of the list


setting up camp

 The "WIZ"    ff@ homepage

Here is the real story.

Back in early list days when there were not very many of us, a former member and perhaps still a lurker named Mike Rose asked about what do and use on Hat Creek in California. Mike lived in southern CA some place at the time and always referred to himself as living on the "left Coast".

While I responded to his post that being as I was the only list member from Kansas, I must be the Wizard and knew all. That being the case I told him that if he used a size 22 olive bodied Adams he'd catch all the big fish he could stand.  Actually at the time the OBA had been talked about by E-man (my son of age 12-13 at the time) but I'm not sure that one actually existed. That was kind of the flood-gates to a lot of other things such as Julia the Witch from New Zealand. Consorted with her for a few days during my trip down there. Wizards - Witches (tattoos that you need a mirror to see all three at once) - magical flies - big trout on a horse hair and the prowess of a legend grew beyond control.

Norm Crisp aka "The WIZ"


Again, from the WIZ's mouth, circa 1993 (via Rob Tucker).

Hello all you new kids! Who/ What is the WIZ?

  1. Consort of Julia the Witch from Taihape, New Zealand (she has a tattoo of a pentagram on her @#*&) {Conrad can /will you verify}mistress of fly tying and caster of spells on fisherman.

  2. Sire of Ethan, originator of the world famous OBA and tier of wings on size 28's

  3. Reader of Hemingway on the banks of a river in the Pyrenees.

  4. Teach of the fine and gentle art of flyfishing to a Swiss dentist's wife on the shore of lake Como.

  5. Thrower of snowball at barbary apes in the Atlas Mt. of Morocco.

  6. Double poacher (river and kitchen) of sea trout in Scotland.

  7. More handsome, charming and witty then his southern hemisphere reflection Conrad Black.

  8. Anti-gear snob (favorite rod is a 4wt St Croix and reel Cabela's graphite el cheapo)

  9. Catcher of big trout on a horse hair tippet.

  10. World renown chironomid ecologist and good midge fisherman.

  11. Person of character but not penacha.

  12. The feral spirit for all of us.

  13. Dreamer of dreams and doer of things.


One listers encounter with the WIZ  in 1996 at Stapleton Airport ...

Saturday night, typical of Seger's America, was 'Pickup Night'. Mine was no exception, off I go to Denver airport to pick up the WIZ. I had seen a grainy photo on a couple of websites of this spirit, but was not prepared for what approached me from the Vanguard aircraft...here comes this 6'6" guy, flowing robes, long black hair and beard, his Wizard's standard in one hand, the 5wt and 1wt in the other hand...he had this salt of the earth sheepshearing tatooed lady by his side (I was jealous), he puts on a big you-know-what-grin and I know I've meet my match! ... Okay, okay, so I stretched the truth a bit about his long flowing robes and he's not quite 6'6" ...

- Sister Sue


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