Joe Messinger Jr.

Update Dec 2023:

Read the Q&A I did with Joe.

I've been fortunate to call the legendary deer hair tier Joe Messinger Jr. a friend. I have been corresponding (no internet back then!) with Joe since 1994. Along the end of the 1990's we lost touch due to finishing college and being busy with work.

Almost 20 years later we got in touch again and our friendship is continued like it was never lost. Meeting Joe one day would be a huge honor. Maybe I'll convince Joe one day to visit Europe.

Yesterday the postman delivered a Bucktail Frog and a DVD from Joe. Joe is now in his 70's yet his tying is still immaculate! Thank you Joe! In the DVD Joe shows the unique tying technique Messinger Sr. developed in the 1920's. I think I need Joe's guidance to really understand the technique. Messinger Sr. is also the inventor of the Irresistible.

Anyone interested in the history of the Bucktail Frog I definitely recommend Mike Valla's book 'The Founding Flies'. This book also covers other fly tying legends like Lee Wulff, Rube Cross and the Dettes.

Inspired by Joe's Bucktail Frog, I tied this 'leaping frog' somewhere in the mid 1990's. The picture was taken by Hans Weilenmann during a DAAFT (until some 15 years ago a club of tiers from both the USA and The Netherlands called the 'Dutch American Association of Fly Tiers') get together. I have no idea where the frog leaped to, but Hans later generously gave me a big print out of this picture as a memory.

Here's the only article (American Angler - July/Aug 1991) ever published on how to tie the Messinger Frog. Here's another article (Jan 2020) about Joe and how he is trying to keep the legacy his father started with the deer hair frog alive.

Here's a nice article from Field and Stream, 1991 august issue about the history of Joe Messinger Sr. and his Bucktail Frog. The best way to read this article is to place the mouse pointer on the article and press right button to 'Open frame in new window' to get a full screen view.