Aaron Marzec
Currently, Aaron lives in both the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and in the Twin-Cities area of Minnesota. He is a Union Refrigeration Pipefitter and is in high demand, but he does an excellent job of balancing his day job with his passions….fly fishing and fly tying.
Aaron got into fly fishing while attending Northern Michigan University (Go Wildcats!). Before class, he would spend time on the Carp River. Between classes he would spend time on the Dead River near the Jacobetti Center. After class (sometimes instead of class…) he would hike towards Big Bay, MI and fish the Little Garlic River.
Aaron’s father-in Law, Joseph Bicigo, got him into fly-tying and is responsible for his tying addiction (or at least that’s what he tells his wife)! One day, Joe sent Aaron a bag that contained bucktail, squirrel, chipmonk, a vise and some thread. When visiting his in-laws, he and Joe would stay up all night and tie classic Scottish patterns from YouTube. All of those videos started a snowball effect, and soon Aaron has hooked on tying…it became a passion.
With the move to Minnesota, Aaron started studying under Michael Alwin who, at the time, owned the famous “Bob Mitchell’s Fly Shop”. Mike fueled Aaron’s passion for tying classic patterns. Aaron was in heaven…working at a job he loved and during his off time fishing and tying. One day the phone rang and life was about to get even better. Nick Simon from Switchback Gear Exchange called and said he had heard about Aaron’s flies and asked him to send him some as he was interested in having locally tied flies at his shop. One thing lead to another and Aaron found himself tying for Nick as well as 10 additional shops in Michigan, one in Wisconsin, two in Minnesota, and a numerous other fly shops around the US and Canada. Upper Peninsula Flies was born, and currently ties for 20+ shops.
Aaron considers the small streams in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan his home waters. “There is just something about losing yourself in the woods. When you are alone, and the only thing with you is your Maker; a person can find themself.” He ties primarily for the rivers, streams, and tributaries of Michigan. He also ties for South Eastern Minnesota streams and rivers, and West Central Wisconsin. He is a self-professed “Midwestern Fly-tier.”
Through his studies, he developed a deep and abiding passion for everything “Ray Bergman”. Through his travels, he has had the good fortune to meet Don Bastian who shares his love and appreciation of the classics. As Don once told him, “Ray Bergmans plates are nice, but seeing and holding the real fly in your hand is where the joy really starts”.
Aaron also loves the Catskills style of fly tying. “The flies are sparsely tied, simple, and elegant. There isn’t much material on the fly to hide poor tying or poor skill. “What you see is what you get. You must make every turn of the thread count.
If you want to purchase flies tied by Aaron, head over to MyFlies.com.
Depth Charge Spiderman
Description: The “Depth Charge Spider-Man” is an original pattern that I created for Steelhead fishing in deep fast moving water that sees quite a bit of pressure. When fishing water that many others fish, sometimes it is the little things that will make a steelhead bite or not bite.
In many studies, it has been reported that trout see in the Ultra-violet light spectrum, so I tied this using UV material. The tungsten bead acts as the thorax and gets the fly down quickly to where the fish are holding and also adds a bit of flash that can trigger a strike. The hackle used is white and black Hungarian partridge; combined, allow the nymph to be fished in clear and off-color water.
In the smaller sizes, the Depth Charge Spider-Man is an excellent trout fly!
What it imitates: Attractor nymph
When to fish it: All the time
Where to fish it: In rivers and streams that are known to hold steelhead, salmon, and resident trout. This fly was designed for fishing deep runs. The movement of the soft-hackles induce an effect of something living.
How to fish it: Any waters that hold steelhead, salmon, or trout. Any nymphing technique; with or without an indicator, just make sure it is dead drifted.
Thank you so much for this. My tying has been greatly influenced by you, Paul. Means a lot to me.
Thank you Aaron! I’m truly honored and thrilled that you feel that way!
🙂
-Paul
Glad to see a young man tying classic patterns running out to buy a hand full!