Don Bastian
I was very sorry to hear the passing of fly tyer and fly fisherman Don Bastian. Even though we never met in person, I chatted with Don through many emails and he was always an extremely nice gentleman. He was a wealth of knowledge when it came to fly tying and was always helpful. He ran a website called Don Bastian Wet Flies that is still there and I recommend going there and reading past posts because there is a ton of interesting information there. Even though it’s called “Wet Flies” Don tied many other flies and the site has information on a variety of flies.
Don is included in many posts here on FrankenFly. If you use the search box over to the right and just type “Bastian” in. It will list many posts. Don tied a lot of classic Rangeley Streamers, classic wet flies, and also had his own fly patterns like Bastian’s Floating Caddis/Mayfly Emerger and the Red Squirrel Silver Picket Pin.
So I encourage you to head over to Don’s site and read through it. I’m sure you will gain some fly tying knowledge.
RIP Don, you will be missed.
Bastian’s Floating Caddis/Mayfly Emerger
Red Squirrel Silver Picket Pin
Carry Stevens style streamer called Larry’s Special
Extended Body Fan Wing Coffin Fly
Parmacheene Belle wet fly
Don will be sadly missed – he taught me much about Ray Bergman, he inspired me to try tying all the wets from Trout. Don was generous with his knowledge and time – a true gent of the tying/fly fishing world. RIP.
This is so sad to hear. I’d followed Don’s work and site, it was amazing. Maybe 10-15 years ago I’d been given a leather wallet of english flies from the 1930’s. I sent him photos and he got back to me with all sorts of neat info about them, and was happy to discuss it.
He was a great contributor to out passion, and quite a musician I believe as well.
Very sorry to hear of his passing.
Rest In Peace Don. Thank you for your ideas, inspiration and help.