101 Green Butt Skunks

~101 Green Butt Skunks~
the Dan Callaghan Collection

When Dan Callaghan passed away in April of 2006 a good friend of his, Steve Bukieda came by the shop and we were lamenting the loss of a good friend, photographer and angler. We decided that to honor his memory we would gather a collection of Green Butt Skunks (a pattern Dan is credited with creating) tyed by some of the best known tyers, steelheaders and friends of Dan’s. We would auction off this collection to benefit the North Umpqua Foundation, a cause near and dear to Dan’s heart.

Well shortly thereafter Steve lost his own battle with cancer and left me as a committee of one. It has taken far longer than I had planned to amass this collection, but it has grown into one of the biggest collections of flies from some of the best tyers in the NW if not the world.

I have re-photographed each fly so I have a good image posted here on the web site. Fritz Gerds, an artist when it comes to mounting flies has mounted this collection of 101 Green Butt Skunks, including a Dan Callaghan original. In addition there are several original Callaghan photographs of the North Umpqua framed with the flies. Each fly has a brass plaque with the name of the tyer.

The public unveiling was held Feb. 25th at the State Capitol Building in Salem, Oregon. I was honored to be introduced on the Senate floor by Senator Frank Morse and Senator Jason Atkinson.

After being on display at the NW Fly Tyer and Fishing Expo, the Native Fish Society Auction, and down on the North Umpqua at the Steamboat Inn, the collection was auctioned off in October 2010. The winning bid was $6300.00. All of the proceeds went to The North Umpqua Foundation to aid in their work to protect the river and the fish that live there.

The collection remains on public display. You can find out where it is now by following it on Facebook by searching 101 Green Butt Skunks and becoming a Fan.
Cheers!
see the collection here

Check out the whole collection by clicking on the Alec Jackson fly to the left....

I’m adding to the collection! Send me your version of a Green Butt Skunk and I’ll photograph and post it. All flies will be donated to groups working to protect wild fish. More info here...