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				“Rosario Martinez: The Production Tyer” Houston fly fishing guru Brooks Bouldin "discovered" Martinez when she was working part-time sorting yarn for needlepoint kits. Texas Parks & Wildlife By Phil H. Shook A look of mock anguish crosses the face of Rosario Martinez as she expresses her concern for the little pescaditos that might get caught on the flies she ties so expertly. Then she laughs. The truth is, Martinez knows that lots of fish have been caught on her flies. As a production fly tyer for 13 years, it is a good bet that her dry fly and nymph patterns have enticed rainbows, browns and cutthroats out of trout streams across the country, not to mention all those largemouths and sunfish that can't resist her Woolly Bugger and streamer patterns. And that doesn't include the numbers of redfish, speckled trout and flounder that regularly fall for the Clousers, Rattle Rousers and shrimp patterns that she has created for anglers fishing Texas' coastal flats. A "mass producer" of flies for the Angler's Edge, an upscale fly fishing and clothing store in Houston, she is recognized as one of the most meticulous and skilled fly tyers in the state. Houston fly fishing guru Brooks Bouldin, a former real estate developer who has operated the Angler's Edge for more than a decade, "discovered" Martinez in 1987 when she was working at a part-time job sorting wool yarn for needlepoint kits. "It was easy to see that she had the most nimble fingers among the workers," Bouldin says. He asked her to come and tie flies for his new business and a successful partnership was born. Bouldin says Martinez first learned to tie Woolly Buggers, a leech imitation, and it was obvious from the start that she was a talented fly tyer. "If she tied a fly that wasn't correct, I would point out what needed to be corrected and she was quick in making adjustments," he says. A native of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Martinez soon began tying many of Bouldin's innovative designs for saltwater fish, including the Brooks Shrimp, Caribou Shrimp and Caribou Slider. Martinez, a 37-year-old mother of three, has tied every thing form tiny, size-22 midge patterns for trout that can rest on a thumbnail with plenty of room to spare, to 14-inch-long sailfish flies with tandem 6/0 hooks. Martinez has the first pick of the fly-tying materials that are sold at the store. She says the fly patterns that take the longest to tie are the Brooks Shrimp and crawfish patterns. The least time-consuming fly to tie is the Woolly Bugger, which is one of the most popular. Martinez can tie as many as 15 flies an hour depending on the complexity of the fly. She can craft a Woolly Bugger or a small nymph in less than five minutes, while a billfish fly takes about an hour. Bouldin, a skilled fly tyer himself, continues to design new fly patterns for Martinez to tie, and provides guidance on executing them. "Our relationship is one in which she is as dependent on me as I am on her for the end product to come out just right," Bouldin says. "Our relationship is built on that exclusivity." Martinez ties flies in quantity bgut she thinks in terms of an individual fly, Bouldin says, noting that she routinely ties flies better than the fly's originators have. He says her flies are tied beautifully enough to place in a glass frame for the wall but if someone told her that, she would try to do a better job. Martinez demonstrates her skills at the annual Fly Tying Festival, sponsored by the Texas Fly Fishers Club of Houston, where her sessions always attract lots of spectators. At the shop's new location in Uptown Park, visitors now can watch her work at a tying bench in the middle of the store. Shy and reserved, she says she would rather stay in the background. And unlike the anglers who come to the shop to buy her flies, Martinez is not caught up in the fly-fishing obsession. In fact, she doesn't even fish. "I like to take my kids to the movies," she says. "Especially those with the animated characters." June 2000