Donald Mayo, Fly Tier

Donald Mayo is notable not only for his extreme passion for fly tying, but for the fact that he never makes money on the classic flies he ties, even those sold by Bob Marriott’s Flyfishing Store in Fullerton, California. “Some nights, in sleepless hours before dawn, Mayo will shuffle into the workroom, sit at the bench and tie until sunrise. He takes about 20 minutes to create a small one, up to an hour for a bigger one. But it’s not unusual for him to spend 40 hours on a salmon fly.” Gary Polakovic in the Los Angeles Times.