by Jurgen F. Preylowski - American Museum Of Fly Fishing

The
Thirtieth anniversary limited edition
lithograph from original watercolor,
The Bubble, by fly tyer and artist
John Betts, 4 " x 16% ", with ample
margins designed for museum-quality
framing. Available in Anniversary
Edition (edition of300 prints signed
and numbered by the artist, unframed,
$75) and Celebration Edition (edition
of thirty prints in a shadowbox framing
that includes the signed, numbered, and
remarqued print as well as a fly tied by
Betts that reflects the mayflies in the
print, $25o-twelve of these will be
offered at Museum dinner/auctions,
leaving only eighteen available here).
Order by phone (802) 362-3300 or by
mail: AMFF, PO Box 42, Manchester,
VT 05254. Shipping and handling is
$5 for the Anniversary Edition, $12
for the Celebration Edition. VISA,
Mastercard, and AmEx accepted.
An International Cast
F
LY F I s H I N G .
People all over the world indulge in this sport. Some even
think about its history and want to share their findings and knowledge in The
American Fly Fisher. This Spring 1998 issue is the most international I've had
the pleasure to work on.
First, Alvaro Masseini of Italy brings us "Fly Fishing in Valsesia, Italy: An Ancient Technique." In his article, Masseini discusses a fly-fishing technique found in
the valley of the Sesia River in northern Italy. He explains its equipment and
history-a history that has basically been passed on orally, not in written form.
Then, in "A Fourth-Century European Illustration of a Salmon Angler:' Frederick
Buller of England follows a lead to a bronze plate that was engraved with a representation of a fisherman during the Roman occupation of Britain.
Jiirgen F. Preylowski of Germany is back with a photo essay culled from his collection of historic fly-fishing photographs. The text, "He Avoids Fashionable Costume:' was originally published in the February 1985 issue of Fliegenfischen. Richard
C. Hoffmann of Canada translated the article for us, which addresses clothing and
equipment deemed appropriate in Europe in the early part of this century. (Every
spring journal needs a fashion section!) Some of the images were taken by Alexander Behm (see Winter 1998, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 20 to 23), the others by an unknown
photographer. My favorite appears on page 17, highlighting the camaraderie of Julie
Helene Brehm, Horst Brehm, and Baron von der Ropp.
Here in the United States, we're celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the
American Museum of Fly Fishing. On page 20, Board of Trustees President Richard
G. Tisch highlights recent accomplishments, goals, and our appreciation of member support in "The Museum Reaches 30.'' We're also proud to have honored
Trustee Gardner Grant with the Museum's Heritage Award this year at our successful benefit dinner in New York City (see Museum News for story and photos).
As part of celebrating our thirtieth birthday, two artists have made their art
available to the membership in limited edition prints. Pictured above is The Bubble,
a watercolor by John Betts that turned out to be the most coveted piece in his art
show last summer. The other, The Pool by Brett James Smith, is pictured on the inside back cover, where Executive Director Gary Tanner tells you more about both of
them.
Happy wading.
KATHLEEN
ACHOR,EDITOR
Preserving the Heritage
of Fly Fishing
T R U S T E E S
E. M. Bakwin Walter T. Matia
Michael Bakwin
Janet Mavec
Foster Bam
Wayne Nordberg
Paul Bofinger Michael B. Osborne
Donn Byrne, Sr. Allan K. Poole
Pamela B. Richards
James H. Carey
Roy D. Chapin, Jr. Tom Rosenbauer
Peter Corbin
Robert G. Scott
James Spendiff
Thomas N. Davidson
Charles Ferree
Arthur Stern
Reed Freyermuth
John Swan
Duncan Grant
Richard G. Tisch
David H. Walsh
Gardner L. Grant
Richard J. Warren
James H. Hunter
Woods King I11 Joe Wells
James C. Woods
T R U S T E E S
E M E R I T I
G. Dick Finlay David B. Ledlie
Leon L. Martuch
W. Michael Fitzgerald
William Herrick
Keith C. Russell
Robert N. Johnson
Paul Schullery
Stephen Sloan
O F F I C E R S
President
Vice Presidents
Treasurer
Secretary
Journal of 4the American Museum of Fly Fishing
SPRING
1998
VOLUME
24
Fly Fishing in Valsesia, Italy: An Ancient
Technique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alvaro Masseini
2
. . . . . . . . . . .2
A Fourth-Century European Illustration of
a Salmon Angler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frederick Buller
He Avoids Fashionable Costume. . . .
Jiirgen F. Preylowski
(translated by Richard C. Hoffmann)
NUMBER
. . . . . . . . .6
. . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Museum Reaches 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Richard G. Tisch
Honoring Our Membership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Museum News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Richard G. Tisch
Arthur Stern
Pamela B. Richards
David H. Walsh
James H . Carey
James C. Woods
oN
T H E c o v E R : From the files of Jiirgen F. Preylowski, a photograph
by Alexander Behm, dates uncertain. Preylowski documents angling dress
in his photo essay, which begins on page 14.
S T A F F
Executive Director
Administration
Events eS- Membership
Gary Tanner
Marianne Kennedy
Paula M. Welch
T H E A M E R I C A N FLY F I S H E R
Editor
Design eS- Production
Copy Editor
ConsultingEditor
Contributing Editor
Kathleen Achor
Randall Rives Perkins
Sarah May Clarkson
Margotpage
Paul Schullery
T h e American Fly Fisher is published
four tlmes a year by the Museum at PO. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254.
Publliation dates are winter, spring, summer, and fall. Membership dues include the cost of the
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All letters, manuscripts, photographs, and rnater~als intended for publication in the laurnal should be sent to
the Museum. The Museum and journal are not responsible for unsallcltcd manuscripts, drawings, photographic
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American Fly Fisher are to be considered gratuitous and the property of the Museum unless otherwise requested
by the contributor. Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and mdexed m Htstorical Abstracts and America:
History and Lzfe. Copyright D 1998, the American Museum af Fly Flshing, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Original
mater~alappearing may not be reprinted w~thoutprior permission. Second Class Permit pastagc p a d at Manchester
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POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to The Amencnn Fly Fisher, PO. Box 42,
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SPRING
1998
1
Fly Fishing in Valsesia, Italy:
An Ancient Technique
by Alvaro Masseini
I
that
our contemporary fly-fishing techniques originated in England at the
beginning of the sixteenth century. It is
also well known that during the same
period, similar techniques spread in
northern Spain, although historians do
not agree whether these techniques
originated in Spain or were imported by
foreign pilgrims during their trip to the
sanctuary of Santiago Compostelo.
Many fly-fishing historians agree that
even in ancient Greece, some species of
fish were caught with artificial flies
made of feathers.
But only a few people are aware that
T IS C O M M O N KNOWLEDGE
Fishing with the classical
Valsesiana rod: two pieces of natural reed
with the bamboo top (thefisherman is
Arturo Pugno, an expert of this technique, the president of the local
association of anglers).
ABOVE:
2
T H E A M E R I C A N FLY F I S H E R
in addition to the classic Anglo-Saxon
traditions, other methods developed independently in geographic areas located
far from the great arteries of European
communication. In these culturally
"closed" areas, a fishing tradition grew
based on the use of artificial flies, but
these methods were rather different
from the "English technique."
One of these areas is the valley of the
Sesia River in northern Italy. The typical
fly-fishing technique there is called
Valsesiana. I became aware of the Valsesiana technique and its variation,
pesca a frusta, when I saw anglers using
them and when I read about them in
Italian fishing manuals published before
the 1970s. Since then, one can seldom
find articles on the Valsesiana technique
in specialized magazines, and there is no
information published at all about the
pesca a frusta.
The Sesia River valley, located in
northwest Italy near the city of Vercelli
in the Piedmont region, covers a surface
area of 1,000 square kilometers. The
Sesia River springs from the Monte
Rosa, which, at 13,899 feet, is one of the
highest mountains in Europe. It runs
through the provinces of Vercelli and
Novara and flows from the north into
the great Po River. A mountain and
high-hill area, Valsesia is characterized
by meadows and forests in the north
and wineries in the south.
Umberto Eco wrote in The Name of
the Rose that during the Middle Ages the
impervious territory of the high valley
of the Sesia River, almost inaccessible,
sheltered the followers of the heretic
monk Fra Dolcino. This large group of
people was persecuted and slaughtered
at Varallo in 1307 by the papist troops of
the Bishop of Vercelli.
The Sesia River is a large-size alpine
stream in which grayling and brown
and marble trout find the best environment. The latter species-the Salrno
I
I
trutta m a r r n o r a t u ~ i sa biotype exclusively found in Italian alpine and
Slovenic rivers that can reach a weight
of more than 20 pounds. This secluded
environment of alpine valleys produced
a peculiar fly-fishing technique.
The first written evidence of this
technique is found in a cadastral map of
lands located in the municipality of Valmuccia, dated 1775. It shows the icon of
a fisherman whose posture and rod represent use of the Valsesiana technique.
No other written sources have been
found so far to reconstruct the history
of this indigenous fly-fishing technique.
To study its origins and development,
the historian has to rely on an oral
tradition passed down for centuries
through the generations. Its inventors
belonged to those populations who seldom leave written records of their material and spiritual life (bear in mind that
until World War I, more than fifty percent of the Italian population was illiterPhotographs by Alvaro Masseini
ate). Even today, no current book exists
to illustrate this technique: it was
taught, and learned, through experience.
It is clear that this technique was not
affected by any external influence. Angelo Bruni's book, I1 libro pratico del
pescatore all 'amo in acque dolci (1934;
The Practical Manual of the Fresh- Water
Fisherman with a Hook, one of the first
manuals of fishing in Italy), in its opening chapter on fly fishing reads: "True
fly fishing, which was born in England
and later successfully spread in Germany, America, France, etc., is practically unknown in our country. I went
throughout all Lombard valleys, fished
many mountain streams, but I never
found any person who knew, at least,
the basic elements of this system" (p.
337). In Italy, the English fly-fishing
technique became known in the late
1940s and developed along with two
preexisting indigenous techniques, the
Landscape of the
Sesia River near the
town of Varallo.
Valsesiana and the pesca a frusta (a variation of Valsesiana, using the rod like a
whip).
The Sesia River's fame for its exquisite trout dates back to the eighteenth
century at least. Napoleon was so enthusiastic about the Sesia's fish that he
made the river a reserve of the French
empire. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the philosopher Melchiorre Gioa and the historian Vincenzo
Cuoco-two republican and pro-French
Italian intellectuals actively collaborating with the Cisalpine Republic-in the
preface to an ordinance addressed to local people wrote: "Fishing is forbidden
at Albertagno, Varallo, Cravagliana,
Rinello, Fobello, because the Sesia River
belongs to the French Empire. The
quality of the trout fish of Sesia is excellent." (This quote is printed in a recent
advertising brochure issued by the
Valsesia association of local anglers with
no reference to the original).
SPRING
1998
3
Marble trout, a large type of the Italian and Slovenian alpine areas. In the Piave, Tagliamento,
and Isonzo rivers, marble trout of 9 to lo pounds can befished rather frequently. A few weigh
more than 20 pounds.
R O D . The Valsesiana rod was
made of a body of natural reed (Arundo
donax) of the Gramineous family. Its
length was between 12 and 14 feet, and it
had no reel. It was built in three pieces:
the first was lo feet long and made in
seasoned natural reed; the second piece
was made of the same material, approximately 2 feet, 4 inches long; and the
top piece was made of thin bamboo.
These three pieces, connected by metal
rings, constituted a flexible and strong
tool. This type of rod is not easily available today. Anglers using the Valsesiana
techniques now use telescopic fiberglass, parabolic action rods of similar
length.
THE
T H E L I N E . The
line is tied to the top.
Its length-a little longer than the rodvaries according to the angler's height.
At the appropriate length, the right
hand can keep the rod straight while
the left hand holds the hooked fish.
The extraordinary thing about this
line is that it is made with hair taken
from the tail of a white male horse (the
4
T H E A M E R I C A N FLY F I S H E R
hair from the tail of a female horse is
weakened by urine). The line has a conic shape. At its beginning, the braid is
made of twenty horsehairs; it gradually
decreases to one to four horsehairs at its
end. To allow a perfect floating, the
braid must be softly made with the
knots not too tight. Although today
many Valsesiana anglers use nylon for
the last 2 feet, 8 inches of the line, local
anglers prefer an end made of only one
horsetail hair for a softer fall of the line
in the water. Horsetail hair ends are still
available in some specialized stores of
Valsesia.
PAT T E R N s . Far from being imitations
of real insects, artificial flies used in the
Valsesiana technique are "free" interpretations, giving the impression or suggestion of real insects. They are simple
flies with characteristics similar to wet
and dry flies. These flies are essentially
emergers built with extremely soft
feathers, which, for the most part, stay
in the water and work just under the
surface. This type of dressing is a direct
response to the particular characteristics of the streams in Valsesia and in all
the surrounding mountain areas. The
Valsesiana technique requires the use of
three artificial flies at the same time: the
first one must be placed at the tip of the
line, then the three flies are spaced from
1foot to 1foot, 4 inches apart from each
other.
F E A T H E R s . Feathers are the most important feature of these special dressings. One to four feathers must be
placed around the hook, depending on
the characteristics of the river. Feathers
are chosen according to the season and
the hatch. Strongly bent hooks are used.
The body of these tail-less flies is made
of unpainted silk thread to allow a light
sinking. Colors vary according to the
type of fish: for the trout, yellow, hazel,
blue, violet, brown, red, and black; for
the grayling, a longer color list, including light pink, light blue, light green,
and gray. Hooks also vary according to
the fish: larger-from number 8 to 14
-for the trout; smaller-number 16 and
17-for the grayling.
The fundamental characteristic that
makes these flies particularly effective is
the softness of the feathers, which must
V
Valsesiana artificialflies with horsehair line and fiberglass telescopic rod.
be carefully chosen from mountain
birds with feather barbules that are soft
and thin (these barbules provide the
bird with excellent protection from the
cold weather). For the trout, partridge,
great grouse, and light and dark woodcock feathers are used; the grayling
dressings are made of thrush, fieldfare,
starling, grosbeak, or bullfinch feathers.
However. some of these birds are auite
rare and' therefore protected unde; the
law. In this case. substitute feathers can
be used. ~alsesianaartificial flies have
no wings. They are built using the same
techniques with which spiders and
diptera are tied in the English tradition:
a light silky body with hackles pushed
forward (see photo above).
The fundamental principle of the
Valsesiana technique is the special relationship the angler establishes with both
water and prey. At first, fishing the
Valsesiana way may seem simpler than
the English technique. Unlike the latter,
long castings with short rods are not
used. The rod acts like a whip without
leaving a mark as it softly places the flies parabolic, no-reel rod with a conic plaswhich, to the fish's eyes, may appear as tic line (two to three times longer than
if they have just fallen from the sky, the rod) with a nylon end and two to
been transvorted bv the stream. sunken three wet flies (spider type) drifting in
lazily, or are jumpy and unreachable like the stream. When the fish is hooked and
an evhemeral hatching. Thanks to the won, the long line is taken back by hand
rod i n d its slightly logger line, the an- and rewound on the left arm. It is hard
gler in the stream can precisely place the to find someone practicing the pesca a
flies to every pool or rock where a fish frusta variation of the Valsesiana techmay be waiting for feeding. This type of nique in central Italy today. The English
rod also allows the angler to use his or technique has entirely taken over the old
her wrist to make the artificial flv move traditions.
The Valsesiana technique still has a
and look like a living insect, a trick that
is often very effective. In fast water, the number of clever vractitioners who will
fish's attack is almost always fast. Conse- pass this tradition to the next generaquently, the angler's strike must be just tions. But the pesca a frusta variation
as rapid.
lacks historical and cultural background
The technique born in Valsesia has -it does not have any future. Pesca a
spread to the nearby valleys. Still prac- frusta is less useful than the English
ticed today by many passionate local technique. The low price of the rod
anglers, a modernized method uses fib- (about $20) seems to be its only attracerglass rods and silk or plastic instead of tive quality. Because of the difficult
horsehair lines. As in the past, local manual way of pulling the line back, the
dressings are used. The pesca a frusta very long rod, and the extreme length of
variation (using the rod like a whip) its always-stretched line casting, it is
spread only moderately in the central only useful in large rivers inhabited by
regions of Italy since the beginning of chub (Leuciscus cephalus) and impossithe century. It uses a similar 12-foot ble to use in the Appennine streams and
long telescopic fiberglass, flexible and brooks where the trout live.
-
SPRING
1998
5
A Fourth-Century European Illustration
of a Salmon Angler
by Frederick Buller
H
SPENT
many years
studying medieval church wall
paintings in my search for early
English illustrations of anglers, and subsequently having published my findings
in The American Fly Fisher ("The Earliest English Illustrations of an Angler:'
vol. 19, no. 3), I was anxious to follow
up another lead pointing to a representation of a fisherman that was engraved
during the Roman occupation of Britain
(which ended circa A.D. 410).
My lead was found in a footnote in
William Radcliffe's Fishing from the Earliest Times (1921), which refers to a
drawing in a book that he attributed to
W. King, illustrating "a diadem [crown
AVING
6
T H E A M E R I C A N FLY F I S H E R
or headdress worn by an officiating
priest] of [Romano-British] beaten
bronze representing a fisherman with
pointed cap. . . in the act of hooking. . .
a fine salmon."l
My investigation was delayed somewhat, as I discovered that King was not
the author in question. The information
in Radcliffe's note was culled from the
privately printed and rare book Roman
Antiquities at Lydney Park, Gloucestershire (1879).~Published posthumously,
it was the work of the Reverend William
Hiley Bathurst, with additional notes by
W. King.
~ u r t h e rinvestigation ultimately revealed a drawing of an engraved bronze
plate. The plate was found during excavations in 1805 at Lydney Park in
Gloucestershire. It depicted a seated
fisherman holding a rod and in the act
of landing a salmon (see the right-hand
side of the bottom drawing in Figure I,
above) and ipso facto was an illustration
of a British angler some 600 years earlier
than the aforementioned earliest English
illustration.
The site of the Roman camp at Lyd-
F I G U R E 1 . Drawings of bronze fragments, items 1 and 2, from William Hiley
Bathurst's Roman Antiquities at Lydney
Park, Gloucestershire. By permission of
the British Library, shelfmark 7705.J4.
A map ofthe
southern half of England
and Wales (Britannia)
showing Lydney in relation
to four cities prominent in
Roman times (there were
more than fify of them).
FIGURE 2.
3 . This view across the Severn estuary from Lydney (the site of the
Roman camp or watchtower) is commanding, which may account for its being
chosen by the invading Celts, who probably arrived from Brittany some zoo
years before the Roman invasion. According to Leonard Cottrell in The Great
Invasion (1958), "In the late second century B.C. tribes from Brittany settled in
Cornwall. . . . Later they moved on to the Cotswolds and may have exploited
the iron in the Forest of Dean" (p. 47). By the same token, the Roman lookout
on the hilltops of Lydney could scan miles of the river Severn and communicate to other Roman fortresses (Painswick and Selsley Hill) on the opposite
shoreline. This drawing first appeared in Roman Antiquities in Lydney Park,
Gloucestershire. By permission of the British Library, shelfmark 7705.j4.
F I G U RE
ney Park on the southern edge of the
ancient Forest of Dean is about a mile
and a half from the western bank of the
river Severn and about nine miles above
its confluence with the river Wye. The
city of Gloucester is twenty miles upriver (see Figures 2 and 3).
The Roman remains were first noticed when Roman coins and other antiquities were recovered after Benjamin
Bathurst-a forebear of both William H.
Bathurst and the present owner, the
third Viscount Bledisloe-purchased the
estate in 1723 and the details of these
and other finds were published by
Major Hayman Rooke in Arch~ologia
(1777, p. 207).3When in 1805 Benjamin's
SPRING
1998
7
grandson, the Right Honorable C.
Bathurst, was having some holes dug on
the estate in order to plant trees, he
found the extensive foundation walls of
a temple together with a whole range of
Roman buildings. Included in these remains were mosaic pavements, hypocausts, and painted stucco adorning the
walls.
Most significantly, the series of coins
that were found-representing the reigns
of many Roman emperors-pointed to
an occupation by Romans for the whole
period of their dominion in Britain.
Such a long occupation accounts for
changes in the character of artifacts
from those associated with a military
station to artifacts associated with a
temple where citizens hoped to be cured
of both physical and mental ills. Many
representations of dogs in stone, bronze,
and bone and other votive offerings
have been found.4 These include the famous Lydney dog, a miniature of a
wolfhound, which is one of the finest
surviving pieces of Romano-British
sculpture. It is on display in the museum room at Lydney Park, which is open
to visitors during the summer months.
The Romans were not the first to use
the five-acre hill site at Lydney. In 1928,
Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Britain's most famous archaeologist, reexcavated the site
(fortunately, the previous excavators
had stopped at the Roman level) and established proof of an earlier Celtic occupation of the hill fort. The Celtic tribes
(called Silures by the Romans) mined
iron ore. Doubtless they continued to
do so after the Roman occupation, but
probably as slave workers. Marks on the
mine walls made by the miners' picks at
Lydney-in what is now the only surviving Roman mine in Britain-are still
discernible.
The mixing of cultures is exemplified
by the Roman temple built on this site
during the late fourth century by the
fleet supply depot commander Titus
Flavius Senilis. It was dedicated to the
Celtic god Nodens (the greatest god of
F I G U R E 4 . Sadly, the already damaged tessellated
pavements at Lydney revealed and drawn in the last
century were not conserved at the time of their
uncovering because of crippling cost estimates. The
drawing reproduced here is the cella pavement within
the temple (the only one that was conserved because it
was covered over again). The frieze is made up of the
images of normal fish and two sea serpents that are
not unlike paleontologist? Ichthyosaurids (wrongly
identified as dolphins by Sir Mortimer Wheeler) with
pectoral paddles or flippers. The dedication to
Nodens, "God of the deeps," despite the fragmentary
state of the pavement, has been patiently but conjecturally formulated by Wheeler: "To the god Nodens,
Titus Flavius Senilis, oficer in charge of supply-depot
of the fleet, laid this pavement out of money offerings;
the work being i n charge of Victorinus, interpreter on
the governor's staff" Photograph courtesy of the
British Library. By permission of the British Library,
shelf mark 7705.j4.
the Silurians) and marked a local upsurge in paganism at a time when
Christianity was widely established as
the official religion of the Roman Empire.5 The temple was part of a building
complex designed to house staff and
visitors, embracing ten chapels-some
with mosaic pavements (Figure 4)within an arcaded and paved cella (central area) that was surrounded by a processional corridor (ambulatory). Doubtless it was not only used by local dignitaries and important visitors, who
would have enjoyed the lavish centrally
heated accommodation and the ritual
baths, but as Wheeler thought probable,
"Fishermen from the Severn must have
toiled up the narrow rocky path to this
shrine," especially since Nodens, "God
of the deeps," was supposed to have
powers over the sun and the sea.6
Having viewed Bathurst's book at the
British Library and Wheeler's papers
courtesy of Sue Byrne, archaeology officer of Gloucester's City Museum and
Art Gallery, I sought permission to view
the bronze fragments that are housed in
the museum room at Viscount Bledisloe's home at Lydney Park. Permission
to visit was readily granted by Museum
Custodian Mrs. B. Butcher, although
she was not hopeful that the fragmented
plate depicting a fisherman landing a
salmon (marked item 2 in the drawing
in Bathurst's book, p. 4) remained in the
collection.
This doubt reinforced my anxiety. I
already knew that although Wheeler
described the images on the larger fragment in Figure 1 in his report of the
Excavation of the Prehistoric Roman, and
Post Roman Site in Lydney Park, published by the Society of Antiquaries of
London (i932), he made no reference to
the image of a fisherman when he described the small fragment.
On my arrival at Lydney Park I was
given leave to search the collection of
Romano-British bronzes for the "missing" item. Wheeler had described both
upper and lower fragments as repoussk
SPRING
1998
9
the authirvat ~ y b n e ~ ~ in
a rNovember
k
1997. ~t ;s parTictharly appropriate that
the author was given permission to execute this research by the owner Viscount Bledisloe,
because this lord and his father before him have always been dedicated salmon fishers.
work, that is, raised or beaten (from the
underside) into relief. Items 123 and 124
in Wheeler's report should have corresponded with items 1and 2 in Bathurst's
drawings.
Wheeler described items 123 and 124
thus: "Fragments of bronze ornamented
in repoussk. The larger fragment may
have formed part of a head-dress7 or
may on the other hand have been part
of the decoration of a tray or dish. It
shows in the center the oriental sungod, armed with a scourge and standing
in a four-horsed chariot. On each side
of him flies a putto [representation of a
naked child or child in swaddling] holding apparently a flaming torch, and be10
T H E A M E R I C A N FLY F I S H E R
yond these again are two tritons [imaginary sea monsters] of whom one holds
two anchors and the other an uncertain
object, perhaps a conch-shell [a shell
used by tritons as a trumpet or horn]."s
He continued, "The small fragment
(124) represents part of a swag with the
figure of putto holding a basket and perhaps an agricultural implement. Both
these items were found during earlier
excavations."9
Whereas Wheeler's description of the
large fragment, item 123, corresponded
with item 1in Bathurst and King's drawing, his item 124 fragment, the so-called
small fragment, did not correspond
with their item 2 fragment. The confu-
sion caused by the archaeologists' conflicting statements was resolved when I
noticed that the small fragment, item 2
(now separated in the collection from
item I), was not, as described, ornamented in repoussk, but plainly engraved on both sides. Bathurst had described one side and Wheeler the other!
As the reader can observe, my photograph offers a more convincing image of
the Romano-British salmon fisherman
than the nineteenth-century drawing
(Figure 5). The fish is undeniably a
salmon, "the chief glory of the Severn."
If the reader wonders why the rod in
this illustration is so short and the line
so thick, let him look below at two relief
FIGURE
6.
A Greek angler from
the Agathemeros Relief;
circa third century B.c.,
from Fishing from the
Earliest Times (London:
John Murray, 1921),
facingp. 236.
images (Figures 6 and 7) from classical
antiquity and note the similarity in the
thickness or crudity of those items. Notice also that all three anglers are seated,
that all are right-handed, that all have a
hooked fish attached to their lines, and
that all are equipped with a creel. The
Romano-British angler has his creel suspended from the shoulder (the modern
way), whereas the other two have a
hand-held creel. Perhaps the shoulder
creel of the Lydney angler reflects the six
centuries separating the fabrication of
these images-and marks a change in
fashion.
I sent a copy of this photograph to
Linda Woolley, assistant curator of tex-
tile and dress at the Victoria and Albert
Museum in London, to see if the hood
or mantle and the clothing worn by the
angler was fashionable fourth-century
British clothing or had any other known
significance. Woolley, despite her considerable interest in the item. was unable to relate it to other dress items of
the period because examples simply do
not exist. Her earliest comparative
work-ing material was eighth-century
Anglo-Saxon. Indeed, she considered
the Lydney fisherman's dress as "source
material."
In this context it is probably helpful
to defer to the Reverend William Hiley
Bathurst who wrote, "On the other side
[meaning the right-hand side of item z]
sits the votary [one who is bound by
vows] of Nodens, the Silurian fisherman, enveloped in the hooded frieze
mantle worn to this day [1868] by his
brethren of Naples, and who, by the favor of god, has just hooked a magnificent salmon."lo
-
E N D N O T E S
1. William Radcliffe, Fishing from the Earliest
Times. London: John Murray, 1921, p. 195.
2. William Hiley Bathurst, Roman Antiquities
at Lydney Park, Gloucestershire. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1879 (British Library Catalog
shelf mark 7705.f.4). With additional notes by W.
King.
SPRING
1998
11
FIGURE
3. This reference to Major Hayman Rooke's
piece (Arch~ologiaor Miscellaneous Tracts Relating
to Antiquity, vol. 5. London: Society of Antiquaries
of London, 1779) cited in Reverend William Hiley
Bathurst's Roman Antiquities at Lydney Park,
Gloucestershire (1777) is incorrect; the date was
1779.
4. "Exports from Britain which reached the
Roman World included wheat, hunting-dogs [author's emphasis] and a species of freshwater pearl,
of which Caesar was particularly fond." Leonard
Cottrell, The Great Invasion. London: Pan Boolzs
Limited, 1958, p. 48.
5. Established by the Emperor Constantine in
A.D. 325 at a time when the vast proportion of his
subjects were not Christians.
6. R. E. M. Wheeler, Excavation of the Prehistoric Roman, and Post Roman Site in Lydney Park,
Gloucestershire. London: Society of Antiquaries of
London, 1932, pp. 90-105.
7. "Worn either by the idol itself or by the offi-
12
THE AMERICAN FLY F I S H E R
7.
An Etruscan panel from Orvieto, c. 300 B.C.
According to B. Ashmole, sometime keeper of the
department of Greek and Roman antiquities of the
British Museum, in a letter published by The Fishing Gazette (13 May 1939), the panel may have been
a part of a fountain. "This would probably be the
front of the fountain, the jet coming through the
hole." Photograph courtesy of The Fishing Gazette.
ciating priest," according to Reverend William Hiley Bathurst, in Roman Antiquities at Lydney Park,
Gloucestershire. London: Longmans, Green 81 Co.,
1879, p. 40.
8. Wheeler, Excavation of the Prehistoric Roman, and Post Roman Site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, p. 90.
9. Wheeler, Excavation of the Prehistoric Roman, and Post Roman Site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, p. 90.
lo. Bathurst, Roman Antiquities, p. 195.
SPRING
1998
13
He Avoids Fashionable Costume
Photograph taken by Alexander Behm
(see The American Fly Fisher, Winter 1998, vol. 24, no. 1,
pp. 2*23), dates uncertain.
14
T H E AMERICAN FLY F I S H E R
by Jurgen F. Preylowski
Julie Helene Brehm (1867-1912).
Taken by a n unknown photographer, c. 1900.
H
o w H A P P Y Dr. Karl Heintz would be today to know
that his beloved "rucksack" has been taken over directly into the English language without translation!
He even wrote in his 1903 book Angelsport i n Siisswasser [tr.:
SportIJishing i n Fresh Water], " . . . the English are otherwise
so practical that it is incomprehensible to me why they have
still have not yet adopted our rucksack [tr.: literally i n German, back bag]."
But even in Heintz's Germany this so highly praised piece
of equipment had not yet been adopted by all anglers at the
turn of the century. Dr. Horst Brehm, in the 1904 book Die
Fischwaid [tr.: Game Fishing] by Dr. Fritz Skowronnek, is
quoted as saying " . . . in southern Germany the rucksack is
surely in general use, [but] in northern Germany the angler
who carries a rucksack on his back still often gives rise to
public merriment."
Originally published in Fliegenfischen, February 1985, pp. 50-51. English translation by Richard C. Hoffmann.
SPRING
1998
15
Photograph taken by Alexander Behm, dates uncertain.
The question of appropriate clothing and equipment took
up far greater space in angling books of the turn of the century than it does today Surely the chief reason for this was
that one could not then get to the fishing waters so quickly
and easily. Time-consuming journeys by rail, coach, and foot
forced anglers to take account of every possible weather condition and be correctly equipped to meet it.
Although a strong national[ist] attitude is found in all an-
gling literature at that time, there was still no truly competitive alternative to English goods in the area of clothing (as
was also the case in the areas of rods, reels, and flies). Recommended in fishing catalogs and angling books were outer
fabrics of mountain loden (heavy wool) and the "millerainierte" cloth of the Imperial navy (an early waterproof cloth
with air permeability), and undergarments of wool and
buckskin. But recognized as the best were products of the
Left to right: Julie Helene Brehm, her husband Dr. Horst Brehm (1863-1917), and Baron von der Ropp.
Dr. Horst Brehm was the founder and first president of the Deutscher Anglerbund (German Angler Association).
His father was Alfred Brehm (1829-i884), better known as "Tiervater Brehm," who wrote and published the largest
encyclopedia of animals, Brehms Thierleben (first edition in six volumes published from 1864 to 1869).
Taken by an unknown photographer, c. 1900.
English firms Anderson, Anderson & Anderson, Cording &
Co., and Burburry. This was especially true for the wading
boots so important to the fly fisher, but only a few could afford this English luxury. Germans more often wore sturdy
mountain boots with linen leggings, solid cowhide fishermen's boots, or thinner ones made from Russian leather.
Naturally these had to be carefully oiled with Mars01 [tr:
Mars oil] before and after fishing. But because there was still
no guarantee of dry feet, the recommendation was simply to
carry two of everything.
Scarcely a single old photo [shows] a fly fisher without a
hat-an important item for protection against sun and rain,
but at the time also the most practical place to keep leaders
prepared with flies on hand. Innumerable details were
thought through: the arrangement of pockets, the buttons
concealed so that nothing would get tangled, even the soSPRING
1998
17
Baron von der Ropp, photographer unknown, c. 1900. The baron's daughter wrote
to Mr. Preylowski in 1985, when she was eighty-two years old, saying that this
photograph (and the ones on pages 15 and 17) had been taken in Saxony.
called grandfather's cuff for the chamois leather knee
breeches.
Far ahead of his own time was Max von dem Borne, who
made recommendations in the fourth edition of his angling
book, Taschenbuch der Angelfischerei (1904) [tr.: Pocket Book
of Angling], to women who fished: "They may put on a cornbination of women's hunting and cycling costume with
knickers and a short skirt. Have many small and large pockets, though these are rarely present in women's clothes. With
that are worn high waterproof laced boots and heavy linen
leggings. A pert little loden or sailor's hat looks good and
makes a good place to wind up leaders. A short waterproof
cape of loden will serve as a coat."
But the fly fisher was also advised against being dressed
Photograph taken by Alexander Behm, dates uncertain.
too fashionably. All authors then urged clothing that was
unobtrusive in natural surroundings, as did von dem Borne:
"The color should be brown, gray, hunters' green or mottled,
in any case not conspicuous." This advice would still hold today for those fly fishers who walk around like moving billboards for the tackle industry.
Thanks to modern materials, these days we find it much
easier to dress ourselves for the weather. But Dr. Karl Heintz's
recommendation of 1903 still holds: "In selecting clothing,
the sport fisher should above all make sure that it protects
him against wetness from above and wetness from below."
-
SPRING
1998
l9
The Museum Reaches 30
by Richard G. Tisch, P R E S I D E N T
BOARDO F TRUSTEES
T
HOUGH
WE
ARE
precise in describing the fish we catch
and celebrate to others
-"that bonefish weighed
8 % pounds" or "the rainbow was 17% inchesn-we
seem to prefer celebrating
only anniversaries cornfortably divisible by five. If you've been
married a mere twenty-two years, you
and your spouse may be the only ones
taking notice of this estimable mark.
Reach twenty-five and it's a silver anniversary with more friends and relatives than hairwing salmon flies or
Clouser Minnows in your vest.
The Museum is pushing thirty, and
we're not about to break traditionwe're celebrating, too. These are some of
the highlights since our silver anniversary in 1993.
Your Museum's collection continues
to grow: 2,800 books, scores of manuscripts and journals, untold magazines,
with many first and rare editions (I recently gazed at a 1558 volume of Rondelet's Histoire des Poissons). Through
the generosity of trustees, members, and
friends, we continue to add to the tens
of thousands of flies and thousands of
reels and rods, many of which are extraordinary and some of which are mundane, but all of which represent the evolution of fly fishing. These artifacts and
the creels, fly boxes, and hundreds of
other objects celebrate more than just
the history of a sport-they embrace in
part the folklore, ethics, social strata, art
history, commercial marketing, conservation history, economics, industry, and
literature of generations of fly fishers.
Each object has a unique story, having
been held, cast, tied, written, read, or
carried by past or present anglers, and
visitors to the Museum are invited-no,
urged-to imagine those glories, conjure
them up, with every story being possible
and none less real than any other.
The American Fly Fisher grows in
20
T H E A M E R I C A N FLY F I S H E R
stature as well, Through the able editorship of Kathleen Achor and the artistic
design marvels of Randall Perkins, this
journal sustains a respectable scholarship in fly fishing and acquaints readers
with events of the past that have shaped
the sport. It is a beautiful journal, too,
having won first place in the scholarly
journal category for its design in the
1996 New England Museum Association's publication awards. This issue of
the journal will be funded in part by advertisers, which will help us cover costs
as we add more color. Let us know what
you think of it. We think it's terrific.
The Museum now has a full-time
membership directorlevents coordinator,
Paula Welch, and a director of administration, Marianne Kennedy. Membership has grown almost 20 percent in the
last six months-the largest such increase in at least a decade. We forecast
continued growth at more than 20 percent annually through 2000 and expect
to achieve it. The financial and other
records of the Museum, needed to ensure smooth handling of donations,
dinnerlauctions, payroll, and dozens of
other transactions required of nonprofit
organizations have never been better
handled. We're interviewing candidates
for curator and expect to hire someone
shortly.
Our executive director, Gary Tanner,
in only seven months has presided over
the development and early implementation of the Museum's first three-year
business plan, engineered substantial
membership growth, and overseen the
strongest end-of-year financial results in
memory. With the full support of the
trustees, Gary will continue to ensure that the
American Museum of Fly
Fishing remains a permanent institution dedicated
to the careful and responsible stewardship of angling objects. Among the
expected changes for 1998
are the hiring of a part-time registrar,
quarterly exhibits featuring the Museum's collection, and publication of a
quarterly newsletter, similar to the former Greenheart Gazette. You may read
more about saltwater fly fishing too.
The Board of Trustees has both many
new and many well-recognized faces.
Their judgment and dedication have
provided a needed steadying influence
these past few challenging years. Trustees do, indeed, owe a duty of disinterested loyalty, but the service provided by
many trustees has been exceptional, for
which I am profoundly grateful.
Recently, the trustees' donations to
the Museum, and those of Museum
friends, have been unequaled. Thanks to
the trustees, the Museum has a dedicated Endowment Fund with a balance of
more than $loo,ooo, commitments of at
least another $50,000, and the likelihood that substantially more will be
added to the account before year's end.
Although the endowment is still small,
what required twenty-nine years to create has effectively tripled in one month.
The board and staff still have many
challenges before them, such as maintaining financial stability, hiring a
curator, ensuring membership growth,
implementing educational outreach
programs, enhancing exhibitions, and
continuing the care and growth of the
collection. With your continued support, however, we will accomplish these
goals and set our sights beyond them.
The American Museum of Fly Fishing
is a vibrant, healthy thirty-year-old.
Thank you for this birthday present.
-
Honoring Our Membership
C L U BA N D T R A D ES U P P O R T E R S The Museum's ability to accomplish its mission has been significantly
enhanced by the support of fly-fishing clubs and members of the fly-fishing trade who realize that yesterday is as
important as tomorrow when it comes to the future of fly fishing. We are thankful to them for their many contributions of time and resources.
Abenaki Publishers
Bennington, Vermont
The American Museum of
Wildlife Art
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Angler's & Shooter's Bookshelf
Goshen, Connecticut
The Anglers Journal
Livingston, Montana
Athens Fly Fishing Shop
Athens, Georgia
Battenkill Angler
Manchester, Vermont
The Bay King Club
Tokyo, Japan
Callahan & Co., Booksellers
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Catskill Fly Fishing Center
Livingston Manor, New York
The Cortland Line Company
Cortland, New York
The Diablo Valley Fly Fishermen
Walnut Creek, California
Federation of Fly Fishers
Bozeman, Montana
Fish & Game Frontiers
Wexford, Pennsylvania
Fishing World
Floral Park, New York
Fly Fisherman magazine
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Fly Fishers of Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Fiy Fishing Outfitters
San Francisco, California
Fly Tier's Primer
Carrollton, Texas
The Fontinalis Club
Vanderbilt, Michigan
Gates AuSable Lodge
Grayling, Michigan
Glenn Struble Manufacturing Co.
Sutherlin, Oregon
Golden West Women's Flyfishers
San Francisco, California
Gray's Sporting Journal
Augusta, Georgia
Green Mountain Fly Tyers
Chittenden, Vermont
Hexagraph Fishing Rods
Houston, Texas
The H. S. Trask Company
Bozeman, Montana
The Joe Jefferson Club
Saddle River, New Jersey
Key Largo Angler's Club
Key Largo, Florida
Kidd Guide Services
Auckland, New Zealand
Me1 and Fanny Krieger's Club
Pacific
San Francisco, California
Lang's Sporting Collectibles
Raymond, Maine
The Lyons Press
New York, New York
Martin J. Keane, Classic Rods
Ashley Falls, Massachusetts
Midwest Fly Fishers
Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Orvis Company
Manchester, Vermont
Orvis San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Press of the Sea Turtle
Easthampton, Massachusetts
Primal Scream Outfitters
Sun Valley, Idaho
Quest Fly Fishing Shop
Louisville, Kentucky
Retreats
Nashville, Tennessee
River Essentials
Honesdale, Pennsylvania
River Graphics
Portland, Oregon
River's Edge
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
R. L. Winston Rod Company
Twin Bridges, Montana
Rodale Press, Inc.
Emmaus, Pennsylvania
Rod & Reel magazine
Camden, Maine
Scientific Anglersl3M
St. Paul, Minnesota
South Creek Outfitters
Lyons, Colorado
Sporting Classics magazine
Columbia, South Carolina
The Sporting Life
Memphis, Tennessee
Stackpole Books
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Theodore Gordon Flyfishers
New York, New York
Thomas & Thomas Rodmakers
Turners Falls, Massachusetts
Trout Unlimited
Arlington, Virginia
Troutwater Supplies
Kelowna, British Columbia
United Fly Tyers, Inc.
Woburn, Massachusetts
Vagabond Angler
Castle Rock, Colorado
C L U BA N D T R A D E continued
Vermejo Park Ranch
Raton, New Mexico
Vermont Dept. of Fish &Wildlife
Waterbury,Vermont
C O R P O R A TAEN D F O U N D A T I O N M E M B E R SThe significant
financial contributions of our corporate and foundation members have
always been vital to the day-to-day operation of the Museum as well as to its
ability to carry out its mission: the preservation of our fly-fishing heritage.
Baron Technology
Vermont Inst. of Natural Sciences
Woodstock, Vermont
The Kara Foundation
Trumball, Connecticut
Bloomingdale, Illinois
McGean-Rohco, Inc.
Borden and Affiliates
Western Fly Fishing magazine
Portland, Oregon
Cleveland, Ohio
Denver, Colorado
Cargill Lumber Company, Inc.
McGraw-Hill Companies
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Whale River Outfitters
Parish, New York
Culbro Corporation
Princeton, New Jersey
Steve O'Brien
South Hamilton, Massachusetts
New York, New York
The Wild Trout Journal
Bozeman, Montana
General Cigar Company
Wood Classic Sport Enterprises
Barton, Vermont
RemyJAmerique
New York, New York
Bloomfield, Connecticut
S. C. Johnson Company
Sharf Marketing Group
Racine, Wisconsin
Wright & McGill Company
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Samuel F. Johnson Foundation
Denver, Colorado
Redmond, Oregon
L I F E M EM B E R S An institution like the American Museum of Fly Fishing doesn't move into its fourth
decade of existence without the significant contributions of a core group of people who, through their lifetime
membership commitments to the Museum, have helped ensure its future. The general membership, the trustees and
staff, and fly fishers the world over owe these individuals a sincere debt of gratitude for their significant support.
E. M. Bakwin
Michael Bakwin
Foster Bam
William Barrett
Philip J. Baugh
Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr.
Erik Bedford
Heidi S. T. Bedford
John F. Betts
Hamilton W. Budge
Donn Byrne, Sr.
James H. Carey
Hoagie Carmichael
Roy D. Chapin, Jr.
Kenneth M. Childs, Jr.
Thomas Clark
Michael D. Copeland
Peter Corbin
Hugh Corrigan
James R. Dalziel
Thomas Davidson
John C. Dorn
John D. Drinko
Charles R. Eichel
Charles E. Ferree
Cliff Fitzgerald
22
Michael Fitzgerald
Audun R. Fredriksen
Arthur T. Frey
Reed Freyermuth
George F. Fry, Jr.
Vernon E. Gallup
Patrick I. Gilligan
Larry Gilsdorf
David I. Glaesser
Francis Goelet
Duncan Grant
Gardner L. Grant
Wayne Hicklin
Curtis I. Hill
Herman C. Hittenberger
Robert J. Hoback
James H. Hunter
Robert Johnson
Arthur Kaemmer
Martin J. and Lillian Keane
John Kiely
Woods King I11
Martin Kline
Me1 Krieger
Edward D. Landel
David B. Ledlie
T H E A M E R I C A N FLY F I S H E R
William Levy
John J. Louis
Nick Lyons
Ian Mackay
William J. Mares
Leon Martuch
Walter T. Matia
Janet Mavec
James F. McCloud
Tom McCullough
Henry P. McIntosh
W. Harrison Mehn
John Merwin
Robert L. Mitchell
Michael H. Monier
Christopher E. Mullin, Sr.
Wallace I. Murray 111
Wayne Nordberg
David D. Perkins
Leigh and Romi Perkins
Perk and Randall Perkins
Joe A. Pisarro
0. Miles Pollard
Allan K. Poole
Ivan and Susan Popkin
Thomas J. Rice
Pamela Bates Richards
Dean E. Richardson
Tom Rosenbauer
Keith Russell
John Schlesinger
Paul Schullery
Robert G. Scott
Stephen Sloan
Brett J. Smith
Jim Spendiff
Wallace J. Stenhouse, Jr.
Arthur Stern
John Swan
James S. Taylor
Richard G. Tisch
David H. Walsh
Richard J. Warren
Joe C. Wells
Dickson L. Whitney
Pete Widener
George Widener I1
James C. Woods
Earl S. Worsham
30th Anniversary Poster
This work of art will be a stunning addition to any home or office. We are grateful to photographer and longtime
member Bob O'Shaugnessy and designers Jeff Billig and Anthony Henriques of P A R T N E R s & Simons, Inc. for
donating their creative services. Posters, which measure 20" x 30", may be ordered by phone (802) 362-3300 or by
mail: AMFF, P.O. Box 42, Manchester, VT 05254. $24 includes shipping. VISA, Mastercard, and AMEX accepted.
SPRING
1998
23
The
American Museum
of Fly Fishing
Box 42, Manchester,Vermont 05254
Tel: 802-362-3300. Fax: 802-362-3308
JOIN!
Membership Dues (per annum)
INDIVIDUAL
Associate
Sustaining
Benefactor
Patron
$35
$60
$125
$250
GROUP
Club
$50
Trade
$50
Membership dues include four issues of
The American Fly Fisher. Please send your
payment to the Membership Director
and include your mailing address. The
Museum is a member of the American
Association of Museums, the American
Association of State and Local History,
the New England Association of Museums, the Vermont Museum and Gallery
Alliance, and the International Association of Sports Museums and Halls of
Fame. We are a nationally accredited,
nonprofit, educational institution chartered
under the laws of the state of Vermont.
As an independent, nonprofit institution,
the American Museum of Fly Fishing
relies on the generosity of public-spirited
individuals for substantial support. We
ask that you give our museum serious
consideration when planning for gifts and
bequests.
1998 AMFF Heritage Award
Dinner
Trustee Gardner L. Grant was guest
of honor at a benefit dinner at the Yale
Club in New York City on January 29.
Grant, a lifelong supporter of fisheries
conservation and the preservation of
the fly-fishing tradition, was the recipient of the Museum's Heritage Award.
The award, created in 1997 by the Museum's trustees, honors those individuals
who have made contributions of their
time, energy, and resources to a degree
that sets a standard for others. Museum
founder Leigh H. Perkins was the recipient of the first AMFF Heritage Award.
The evening featured cocktails, dinner, and tributes to Gardner. Dona1 C.
O'Brien Jr., chairman of the Atlantic
Salmon Federation (U.S.) served as
master of ceremonies, and noted author
and fly-fishing expert Ernest G. Schwiebert gave the keynote address. In his remarks, Schwiebert recounted Gardner's
involvement and leadership in organizations such as this Museum, Trout Unlimited, the Theodore Gordon Fly Fishers, the l?nvir~nmentalPlanning Lobby
for the State of New York, the New York
State Commissioner's Council on Envi-
DinnerIAuction Events
APRIL
24
Westford, Massachusetts
Westford Regency
9
Manchester, Vermont
The Equinox Hotel & Resort
MAY
Author Ernest G. Schwiebert gave the
keynote speech honoring Gardner Grant.
Hours are lo AM to 4 PM. We are closed
on major holidays.
Available at $4 per copy:
Volume 6,- umbers 1,2,3,4
Volume 7, Number 3
Volume 8, Number 3
Volume g, Numbers 1,2,3
Volume lo, Number 2
Volume 11, Numbers 1,2,3,4
Volume 13, Number 3
Volume 15, Number 2
Volume 16, Numbers 1,2,3
Volume 17, Numbers I, 2,3
Volume 18, Numbers 1, 2,4
Volume 19, Numbers 1, 2,3,4
Volume 20, Numbers 1,2,3,4
Volume 21, Numbers 1,2,3,4
Volume 22, Numbers 1,2,3,4
Volume 23, Numbers I, 2,3,4
Volume 24, Number 1
Museum volunteer Peter Castagnetti and Events and Membership Coordinator Paula Welch display a reserved deluxe edition of Fishing Atlantic Salmon:
The Flies and the Patterns by Joseph D. Bates Jr. and Pamela Bates Richards.
At the podium, Executive Director Gary Tanner served as auctioneer.
All ~ h o t o e r a ~ hbvs Mareot Paee
President Richard Tisch, Trustee Gardner Grant, and Executive Director Gary
Tanner at the dinner honoring Grant with the Museum's Heritage Award.
Reelmaker Stanley Bogdan, who
donated a reel for the first in the
Museum's Great Rods &Reels series.
Ellen Stern and committee member
Wendy Tisch.
Volunteer John Mundt displaying auction
item, "Gone Duckin:" a limited edition,
museum-quality bronze by artist and
Trustee Walt Matia.
ronmental Conservation, the Atlantic
Salmon Federation, and the Hudson
River Foundation for Science and Environmental Research. Schwiebert also related some personal fishing tales about
Gardner, and summed up by saying "I
celebrate Gardner Grant for his remarkable fishing skills, his continued husbandrv and leadershiv in environmental
affairs, his support of our little fly-fishing museum in Vermont, and thirtyodd years of unflagging friendship and
generosity."
At evening's end, Board of Trustees
President Richard Tisch presented
Gardner with the Heritage Award.
Both a silent and a live auction were
also features of the evening. The silent
auction featured domed displays containing flies dressed by some of the
world's premier tyers. Tyer Rick Whorwood created an original pattern especially for the event called "Gardner's
Benefit." Trustee Pam Richards and Bob
Blain assembled the treasures.
Thanks go to the benefit committee
for their work that made this such a
successful event: Richard Tisch, Chair;
SPRING
1998
25
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But don't let the light weight fool you - these rods
are tough. Trident TLs combine featherlight feel with
the strength to set the hook on the big boys with total
confidence.
New Compound Tapers: Where the Acti
Power flows through a
Trident TL.As
you make your
T L rods are also
first cast, you'll
available i n a Silver Label version,
which gives Y O U light weight with a light
feel the balance
price tag.
and symmetry
that only an Orvis compound taper can provide. And
vibration-reduction technology for increased accuracy
and distance.
Orvis Quality from End to End
All Trident TLs are further graced by anodized
aluminum reel seats, superior quality cork handles, and
low-glare, low-friction carbonitride rmides. and
precision-ground
integral ferrules.
Trident TL
rods are available in
two- and four-piece
models, a variety of flex
Trident T L rods come in both
profiles, and line weights
fresh- and saltwater models,
in line weights from four to eleven.
from four to eleven.
And if budget is a concern, but you don't want to
compromise on your equipment, try out a TL rod from
our Silver Label" series.
Casting is Believing
Fishing a Trident TL is an exceptionally satisfying
experience. Visit your local Orvis dealer and
experience firsthand the lightness
and power of
Trident TL.
ORW
A SPORTING TRADITION SINCE 1856
www.orvis.com
Hlstor~cRoute 7A, Manchester, Vermont 05254 Call toll free 1-800-333-1550 MI. 990 for further information on our dealers world-wide or for a free Fishing Catalog
26
T H E A M E R I C A N FLY F I S H E R
Would you like to host a fund raiser for the
la Welch at 802-362-3300.
President Richard Tisch presented
Gardner Grant with the Museum's 1998
Heritage Award.
MTHE
- LYONS PRESS
Limited and Deluxe Editions!
Our limited editions are slipcased and printed letterpress on 80pound paper. There will be 750 copies available at $95.00 each.
The deluxe leatherbound editions are large-format and printed on
Arches Mouldmade paper. There will be only 2 5 copies, available at
$750.00 each.
Each limited and deluxe edition copy is signed by the author, artist,
and publisher.
Former Trustee Art Kaemmer with benefit committee member Judith Bowman.
Attendees of the benefit dinner included
Sallie Baldwin and Ed Migdalski.
Michael Bakwin; Foster Bam; Judith
and James Bowman; Roy D. Chapin Jr.;
Paul Fitzgerald; Bill Hazen; Bob Johnson; Dona1 C. O'Brien Jr.; Michael Osborne; Janet Mavec; Wayne Nordberg;
Leigh and Romi Perkins; Allan K.
Poole; Pamela Bates Richards; Terry
Shultz; Ernest Schwiebert; Robert Scott;
and Wendy Tisch.
IN PRAISEOF WILDTROUT ONE RIVERMORE
On the Pleasure, Biology, and
A Celebration of Rivers and Fly
Preservation of Wild Trout
Fishing
Edited and with a Foreword by
Nick Lyons
W. D. Wetherell
ISBN 1-55821-677-4 (limited)
ISBN 1-55821-676-6 (deluxe)
ISBN 1-55821-750-9(limited)
ISBN 1-55821-751-7 (deluxe)
RIVERSOF THE HEART
A Fly-Fishing Memoir
BLOODKNOT
Fishing Stories by Pete Fromm,
author of Dry Rain
Steve Raymond
ISBN 1-55821-748-7(limited)
ISBN 1-55821-749-5(deluxe)
ISBN 1-55821-752-5(limited)
ISBN 1-55821-753-3(deluxe)
M o r e t h a n 125 fine fishing t i t l e s !
For quick credit-card service, call 212-620-9580 ext. 39 from 9-5
EST, or write for a complete catalog of books on the outdoors to:
The Lyons Press / Dept. TL
3 1 West 2 1 Street
New York, New York 1 0 0 1 0
SPRING
1998
27
C O N T R I B U T O R S
Frederick Buller is one of England's
finest all-round anglers and is the
author of the highly acclaimed book,
Pike. He founded the gunmaking and
fishing tackle company of Chubbs in
London and is now the managing director of the famous London gunmaking
firm of Charles Hellis, Frederick Beesley
and Watson Bros. He is the author of '
four books and coauthor of two
His most recent contribution to this
journal was a Notes & Comment piece,
"The Earliest Fishing Reel: A New
Perspective," which appeared in the
Summer 1997 issue.
Jiirgen Preylowski, whose images
and articles have graced the pages of
several of the most recent issues of
The American Fly Fisher, is a freelance
designer and art director living in
Diisseldorf, Germany. He is a collector
of historic tackle, books, and angling
art. Preylowski designed the fly-fishing
tackle collection of Rudolf Reichel, one
of the most important collections in
Europe, for the South Tyrolean Museum
of Hunt and Fishery on Castle
Wolfsthurn.
Richard C. Hoffmann, Preylowski's
translator, is professor of history at York
University and a continuing member of
the Centre for Mediaeval Studies at the
University of Toronto, as well as author
of Fishers' Craft & Lettered Art: Tracts on
Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages,
which we excerpted in the Winter 1998
issue. That very issue featured another
PreylowskilHoffmann collaboration,
"Dr. H. C. Alexander Behm and the
Behm Fly."
Alvaro Masseini is a high-school teacher of history and philosophy in Florence,
Italy, and has worked with several Italian environmental organizations. An expert
on water pollution and related problems, he is the author of numerous articles on
fly fishing in western and eastern European countries and in the Americas.
Masseini is author of "The French School: Messieurs de Boisset and de Chamberet
and Les mouches de la se'rie Gallica," which was published in the Winter 1997 issue
of this journal.
As a reader of The American Fly F~sherMaszine, \'ou ~ l i s t ~ n ~ uvourself
i s l ~ as one who obviously appi-eciates the finer elements ot our
wonderful pastime. That fact alone identifies you as a fisherman wlhc will appreciate and unilerstand HEXAGRAPH. Our company helleves that
a fly rod can and should reflect an equally advanced perspective and we build our rods with that in mind.
HEXAGRAPH rods deliver unequalled strength, exquisite cosmetics and unparalled performance in a graphite package unique among fly rods.
Froin our delicate Small Stream Series to the awesome power of our new Atlantic Salmon Special, we have a rod that will take you to a higher plane of
satisfaction and enjoyment. And - I guarantee that!
Harry J. Briscoe - President
Etching by noted sporting artist
Brett James Smith, The Pool.
Released in an edition of only thirty
9" x 12" hand-struck, signed, and
numbered prints annotated "AMFF
30th Anniversary." Available only
through the Museum-twelve will be
offered at Museum dinner/auctions,
with the remaining eighteen available
only through our first-ever mail-in-yourbid auction. The fair market value and
minimum bid for this extremely limited
edition etching has been established at
$200. Bids in excess of that minimum
may constitute a charitable contribution
for income tmpurposes; check with your
tax preparer. Mail or phone your bid
to Paula Welch, AhfFE PO Box 42,
Manchester, V T 05254; (802) 362-3300.
9Note: Bidding closes May 15,1998.
Artful Commemoration
T
HE AMERICAN
Museum of Fly Fishing's thirtieth anniversary has arrived! We've grown from a collection of seventeen rods, a few reels, and
fewer flies in 1968 to a treasure trove of more than 1,200 rods, 1,000 reels,
and 25,000 flies. Our library now has 2,700-plus volumes on the shelves, and our
art collection exceeds 650 images that revolve around the world of fly fishing.
Speaking of images, we are commemorating this milestone in our history by
releasing two works of fine art in limited editions: The Bubble by John Betts and
The Pool by Brett James Smith. These images bring the essence of fly fishing
alive. In The Bubble (see the inside front cover), the careful observer will notice
that one mayfly in the group floats backwards, tied by a leader to an anxious angler. It takes us into that wonderful, tension-filled moment in our fly's drift
when success or failure (as defined by a "take") is but a heartbeat away. The Pool
(pictured above) takes us back a step, to a time when a creel was not quite the
"collectible" it is today and when life was simpler (or so we like to think or remember).
You may wonder why we have chosen these images instead of, for example, a
still life that portrays items from our collections-the "neat stuff," as one of our
trustees like to call it. That is certainly a valid question. I guess my answer is that,
in my view, the Museum is ultimately about fishing, albeit through the arts and
crafts and even sciences that are integral components of the activity. These images celebrate fly fishing, including the "stuff" that makes it all so much fun.
And so, for our supporters' enjoyment in their own home, office, or getaway
spot, we are proud to present these thirtieth-anniversary celebrations of fly fishing. To the artists, our sincere gratitude-like so many other artists associated
with this Museum before them, they have declined remuneration for their
efforts.
DIRECTO~
GARYTANNER,
EXECUTIVE
I
THEAMERICAN MUSEUM OF FLY FISHING,
a nationally accredited, nonprofit, educational institution dedicated to preserving the
ch heritage of fly fishing, was founded in
lanchester, Vermont, in 1968. The Museum
serves as a repository for, and conservator to,
the world's largest collection of angling and
angling-related objects. The Museum's col, d o n s and exhibits provide the public with
iorough documentation of the evolution of
y fishing as a sport, art form, craft, and industry in the United States and abroad fron
the sheenth century to the present. Rods
reels, and flies, as well as tackle, art, books,
manuscripts, and photographs form the major components of the Museum's collections.
The Museum has gained recognition as a
unique educational institution. It supports a
publications program through which its national quarterly journal, The American Fl
Fisher, and books, art prints, and catalogs art
regularly offered to the public. The
Vuseum's traveling exhibits program ha.
~adeit possible for educational exhibits tc
e viewed across the United States anc
,road. The Museum also provides in-housl
exhibits, related interpretive programming,
and research services for members, visiting
scholars, authors, and students.
The Museum is an active, member-orient~d nonprofit institution. For information
lease contact: The American Museum of Fly
ishing, P. 0. Box 42, Manchester, Vermon
I