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Fly Tying Group
History of the Buszek Award
By Marty Seldon; originally written December 19, 2007
(First edited and posted by David Nelson April 2, 2008; last updated April 30, 2009)
Buz Buszek, undated photo
(courtesy of Buck Goodrich)
The Federation of Fly Fishers’ Buz Buszek Fly Tying Award is the most prestigious award in the world of fly tying. The award was established as a memorial to Buz Buszek a well-known fly tier and flyshop owner since 1943. His flyshop, simply called the Buz Buszek Fly Shop, was located at 400 North Johnson Street, Visalia, California. Mickey Powell, his son-in-law, who took over the shop, has written a fascinating personal view of the history of the Buz Buszek Fly Shop, here. Buz was a world-class angler, an excellent fly tyer and a dedicated teacher. He had a number of patterns to his name and his fly shop specialized in fly tying materials. Buz died suddenly in 1965. A Fresno club established an award in his name. Later, led in part by his wife, Virginia Buszek Perry, the Buz Buszek Memorial Award was established at the international level of the Federation. The award came with a one-inch gold feather recognition pin.
The First Buz Buszek Award was presented in 1970. By 1987, 18 awards had been presented, the last of which went to Dick Nelson. Virginia had purchased a total of 20 of the original gold feathers and told Darwin Atkin that she had given the last two pins to her daughters, Judy and Rosalee, in honor of their father. There were no more recognition pins to give to the award winners!
FFF Awards Chairman Ken Heimbecker led a design project and worked with Dick Nelson to establish a new pin for future awardees. Each step of the design was approved by Virginia, and she did not want the new pins to be identical with the original set. The double feather pin design was created. Dick’s single feather pin was taken to George Stewart, a well-known jeweler in Los Gatos, California, who cast the new double-feather pin from impressions of the original one.
Under Darwin Atkins’ leadership, the project was funded by the Phrozen Phantom Phlytyers who made fly plates and sold them to generate income. At the completion of the project, the mold and fifteen pins were turned over by Ken Heimbecker to FFF Headquarters then in West Yellowstone, Montana.
Virginia Buszek, undated photo
(courtesy of Buck Goodrich)
Until her passing in 1989, the awards were personally presented by Virginia Buszek. At the 1998 FFF Conclave in Idaho Falls, Buck Goodrich chaired a Buz Buszek Awardee reunion that presented special fly tying tool sets as gifts to these gifted fly tyers. Buck also compiled and edited an “Excellence In Fly Tying” booklet that included biographies and pictures, which was one source for these pages.
The Buz Buszek award is one of the most important awards given by the Federation of Fly Fishers. It is the "Academy Awards" of the fly tying world that recognizes exceptional talent and dedication to the art of our sport.
FFF BUZ BUSZEK FLY TYING AWARDEES 1970-2007
| 1970 Jacqueline Knight | 1980 Boyd Aigner | 1990 Kent Bulfinch | 2000 Bob Jacklin |
| 1971 A.I. Alexander | 1981 Doug Prince | 1991 Wayne Luallen | 2001 Bruce Staples |
| 1972 Dave Whitlock | 1982 Darwin Atkin | 1992 Stanley Walters | 2002 Helen Shaw Kessler |
| 1973 George Grant | 1983 Art Flick | 1993 Chuck Echer | 2003 Bill Heckel |
| 1974 Ken Bay | 1984 Frank Johnson | 1994 Royce E. Dam | 2004 Chris Helm |
| 1975 E.H. "Polly" Rosborough | 1985 Bill Blackstone | 1995 Marvin Nolte | 2005 Reginald Denny |
| 1976 John Schollenberger | 1986 Billy Munn | 1996 John "Ned" Long | 2006 Gary Borger |
| 1977 Andre Puyans | 1987 Dick Nelson | 1997 Judy Lehmberg | 2007 John Van der Hoof |
| 1978 George Harvey | 1988 Bing Lempke | 1998 Jeff "Bear" Andrews | 2008 Henry Hoffman |
| 1979 Everett Drake | 1989 Jimmy Nix | 1999 Al Beatty |
Group photo of Buszeks (l to r): Darwin Atkin, Judy Lehmberg, Wayne Luallen, Bruce Staples, Chris Helm, Jeff "Bear" Andrews; (front) Dick Nelson and Bob Jacklin (photo courtesy of Marty Seldon)
FFF BUZ BUSZEK FLY TYING AWARD CRITERIA
(http://www.fedflyfishers.org/awCriteria.php; accessed on 10/2005)
BUZ BUSZEK MEMORIAL AWARD - An award plaque presented annually to that person who has made significant contributions to the arts of fly tying.
A. Must be an FFF member.
B. Can be an amateur or professional. (This is a difficult area. What an amateur does out of sheer love and enjoyment, a professional must do to make a living. Nevertheless, it is often the professional who, through their skills, offers more to the advancement of the art. Therefore, it will be necessary to make some judgment on intent. Obviously, if the primary intent is to teach and share knowledge, it should merit serious consideration.)
C. Areas for judgment are: tying skill, creativity or innovation, and sharing knowledge by teaching or publication.
D. Advancement of the arts need not be on a national scale, it can be at local or regional levels.
E. Participation in the FFF is not a prerequisite, but any such activity as benefits the Federation should be highly regarded.
F. Achievements and contributions should promote the advancement of the arts and qualification should be superior to other candidates.