"The Loving Fly"
Tom Loving
A pioneer in brackish-water largemouth fly fishing.

  In the late 1920’s a Baltimore fisherman by the name of Tom Loving regularly fished for shad along the tidal rivers of the Northern Chesapeake Bay around Port Deposit. Using natural fibers, Loving had designed a fly for taking Shad swimming upriver to spawn. But he quickly found that Rock Fish ate his Shad pattern as if they were jumping on the hook.

After making minor adjustments to his simple pattern and having incredible results, this pattern became wide known as the first Stripped Bass lure. Not much has changed since his initial combination of hair and color. This fly is a "classic fly" in the truest sense. Named for it's originator,  the "Loving fly" is the very first known pattern designed specifically for striped bass. As with many of the classics, it's beauty lies in the effective simplicity of the design. It is also among the oldest saltwater fly patterns still in regular use today.

This fly was first in the Susquehanna in the 1920's

Tom Loving was the first man to tie a fly for shad, and he was one of the first to take Striped Bass on flies. His name is now locked in place in saltwater fly fishing history as being the creator of the first Striped Bass fly.