Featured Maine Maker: Selene of Maine

“As an angler and pro fly tyer, I am devoted to preserving the angling traditions of Maine by unabashedly sharing all I have learned from our past greats. I do this by demonstrations and tying fly reproductions in the style of Carrie Stevens, in my hands without a vise, as she did nearly a hundred years ago.” – Selene of Maine

About Selene of Maine

You could call her a modern-day Carrie Stevens. Or say that Selene of Maine was fated to become one of the state’s most renowned fly-fishing tyers. In the last century, Carrie Stevens created some of the most beautiful and popular flies in Maine, including the Gray Ghost Streamer, still used today in trout and salmon fishing. Selene was born the year Carrie died and today is a gifted fly tyer. She won the Northeast Fly Tying Competition in 1998, just four years after tying her very first flies from a kit she received as a Christmas gift.

Selene is committed to practicing traditional methods of fly tying that imitate the flies and small fish found on the rivers she fishes as a Registered Maine Guide, specializing in the fields of fly fishing and recreation.

Selene lives with her husband, Eric Frohmberg, and three teenagers in Readfield, Maine, and records the Angler’s Entomology Podcast with her husband.

What She Makes

Selene’s specialty is tying flies without using a vise, just like Carrie Stevens. She prefers to use authentic materials, including native wood duck feathers, jungle cock and silk floss. While she makes many of Carrie’s patterns, like Gray Ghost and Black Cat, she also creates original patterns, including the Hexamongus, which is designed to imitate the emerging phase of the Hexagenia limbate, also known as the giant mayfly.

Where You Can Find Her Products

You can buy Selene’s flies directly through her website — www.seleneofmaine.com — or even have your own one-of-a-kind fly commissioned. Her clients often ask her to create new streamer flies that celebrate an occasion such as retirement or a life-changing event like overcoming cancer. Selene collaborates with the client for style and color ideas along with suggestions for the name of the fly. You can also visit her shop in Gardiner, Selene’s Fly Shop, for all your fly fishing needs, including rods and gear, repair and classes.