HAZEL He hasnt been fishing much in recent years, but Frank Headrick, age 99, spent a lot of time through the years casting flies on the Stillaguamish River.
Headrick is the last remaining fisherman from that generation who enjoyed the heyday of fishing for steelhead on Deer Creek and the Stillaguamish River. Indeed, they helped make the valley famous as the first ever fly-fishing only water, along with Pass Lake in Island County.
Headrick joined the Washington Fly Fishing Club in 1940 with his friend, Walt Johnson.
They were involved in conservation efforts on many lakes and rivers around the state but they put Oso on the map when members of the club petitioned the state game commission to make the North Fork Stillaguamish River the first fly-only fishing waters.
Headrick worked with the WFFC in a program that collected 23,000 young steelhead and salmon for a nearby hatchery. They were eventually planted in Deer Creek, spearheading the first steelhead-rearing program in the North Fork Stilly.
Headrick was honored recently with a plaque that tells the story of his life of service to the fish and the river. The plaque was installed on a monument that was built, in part, by Headricks son, Bob Headrick for the Evergreen Fly Club.
The monument, which was designed by Arlington architect and a member of the fishing club, Gregory Minaker, features a shake roof on top of the river rock pedestals that Bob Headrick installed. The shelter provides cover for a bulletin board for the latest information on fishing regulations as well as a visual tribute to a famous fishing hole.
The monument was completed June 5, 2002 and was dedicated later that year, during a drenching rainstorm Nov. 2, 2002.
Born March 4, 1908 in Bellingham, Headrick spent much of his time as a boy fishing Squalicum Lake or chasing cutthroat trout in Sumas Creek.
At the age of 25, he was introduced to fly fishing and taught himself to tie flies with his own homemade vise. He also built a number of cane and fiberglass rods.
Headrick worked with the Washington State Sportsmans Council for 10 years, promoting fly fishing and stream rehabilitation in addition to teaching fly tying and fly-casting at Green Lake in Seattle. After World War II, Headrick and other club members taught fly fishing to Italian and German prisoners of war.
Walt and I bought property in Oso in the same week, Headrick remembered, while sitting in front of the monument recently with members of the club and his family, who gathered to honor the history. Headrick and Johnson both acquired property in Oso in 1946 because of the famous fishery there. Other buddies who had fishing cabins in the neighborhood were Enos Bradner and Sandy Bacon.
Bob Headrick now lives on the property at the Elbow Hole.
Headrick said he caught his first steelhead on a fly rod on the Nooksack River, but he also enjoyed fishing on the Kalama and Tuttle rivers in southwest Washington as well as the Umpqua in Oregon. Now, Headrick enjoys sitting on the deck that his son built, reminiscing about the good ol days on the Elbow Hole.
The reason for this monument is to recognize the river, the fish and the pioneers of fly fishing, said Dale Dennis of the Evergreen Fly Club.
The Evergreen Fly Fishing Club volunteers its services on many conservation projects in the valley, planting trees and picking up garbage regularly through the years. Currently they are helping restore Eagle Creek, on the east edge of Arlington.