Scott Harness has been a real estate broker for 35 years and owns Owner Options Realty in Edina. It’s a great job and pays the bills, but his real passion is fly tying and fly fishing.
Last year, he founded Feather Thief in order to share his love for the sport. The name comes from a book he read about Edwin Rist, a professional flute player who would travel around Europe playing concerts and events, and who was also an avid fly tyer.
“Back in the day, there were different birds that they would use certain patterns from and they would try to replicate them exactly,” says Scott. “Well, a lot of those birds became extinct. Rist somehow got access into the Natural History Museum in England and stole 300 extinct birds.”
Not only did Rist use the feathers to tie his own flies, but he also started selling the feathers. The authorities eventually tracked him down, but he managed to avoid prosecution. Even though Scott gathers a lot of his own feathers, and of course doesn’t steal any, he was intrigued by the story.
Scott, who’s going to be 64 this year, came to the point where he enjoyed the flies that he tied and giving them to friends as much as he enjoyed watching people or helping them to learn how to fish. “I had as much fun sitting on the riverside saying, ‘Cast over here’ or ‘Do this,’ and that's how I became a guide.”
Adds Scott, “I can fish vicariously through other people, and no one is in a bad mood on the river during a guided fishing trip because everybody's really excited to go fishing. It's people at their best and it’s just an absolute blast.”
Feather Thief specializes in teaching beginners. “That seems to be my forte,” he says. “I take people on their journey and teach them how to tie it, cast it, and catch it.”
Using flies as opposed to other bait can be more of a challenge, he explains. “You could always, of course, put a worm and a sinker on your line and you'll probably catch more fish, but there’s something special about fly fishing.”
Recently, he took two gentlemen, ages 82 and 78, fishing on the Rush River in western Wisconsin. “They've been friends forever and I helped them catch bigger fish than they've ever caught in their whole lives. It was so heartwarming. This is why my taglines are ‘Steal the moment’ and ‘Making memories.’”
Scott says you can catch all types of fish with a fly. “It can imitate a minnow, a crayfish, a leech, a bug, and anything else, so you can catch everything from bass to muskies.”
There’s even something called “match the hatch.” “There are bugs that trout eat in the river like mayflies, caddis, midges and more. They are very specific to each river, and so the term ‘match the hatch’ means when those trout are feeding on those bugs, you have to have something that's very similar or almost exactly the same as what they're eating. And that's where the fly comes in.”
Scott, an Edina resident, who has been married to his wife Eileen for 33 years and has two grown sons, Ben and Cole, is often at the Linden Hills Farmers Market and the Mill City Farmers Market. This is how most people, especially urban dwellers, find out about Feather Thief.
“A lot of people have always wanted to learn how to fly fish but didn't know they could do it around here,” he says.
This past winter, he taught classes at Edina Community Education Services, and currently offers classes and merchandise in local artisanal shops. Customized events are available for groups of friends at their homes and at companies for team building too.
Of course, many of his classes take place in the great outdoors where he guides people on true adventures. They may go to Whitewater State Park and Forest, Lake Harriet, and other great fishing spots.
For Father’s Day, Feather Thief will have t-shirts, hats and other merchandise available on its website. Scott also sells custom-tied flies in a gift tin. “Each one is slightly unique because the feathers are all slightly different,” he says.
“What better gift to give your dad than a gift certificate to go fly fishing and have him take you along?” says Scott.