Volume 7 Number 3 SUMMER 1980

Volume 7 Number 3
SUMMER 1980
The Great Rodmakers
I
Most of the material in T h e
American Fly Fisher is from the
rather distant past of the sport;
we only rarely venture into the
period since World War 11. One
reason for this is that for most
people the older something is the
more historically interesting it becomes.
Another reason is that more recent developments in the sport are being documented far better than similar events
were a century ago; we're busy gathering information on what's happening
now (like interviews with modern crafts
men) so that i t won't be as hard to learn
about them as i t is t o study someone like
Art Agnew
Robert B m e t t
Jostph S p e u Beck
Purl Bofinrer
Stlnlcy B o b
Kay Brodncy
Robcrt Buctnuster
Dan
H o y y Carmichael
Errol Champion
Roy Chapin '
Dudley Corkran
Chulcs Eichel
G. Dick Finlay
Williun G b s f o r d
will GodfrrV
J
I
I
Charles Murphy. And a third reason is
that as long as we deal with individuals
and companies only in the past we run
far less risk of seeming to offer any modern company too much free advertising.
One unfortunate side effect of our
concentration on earlier times is that we
may seem not to appreciate what is being
done today. For example, we've featured
rods by some of America's most renowned rodbuilders in the past few issues - Leonard, Kosmic, and now Murphy - and will continue to d o so. We
aren't implying that the work of these
early masters is not being equalled today;
TRUSTEES
Gardner Grant ,
George Griffith
Alvin Grove
Austin Hogan
Susie lrpksen
Alee Jackson
Sam Johnson
Martin Keane
Dana Lamb
David Ledlie
Bud Lilly
Nick Lyons
Leon Martuch
Alvan Macauley, Jr.
John Merwin
Dudley Mills
Carl N a w r e
today's rods just aren't history yet. We
are trying to gather samples of modern
rodbuilders' work, and we keep track of
modern developments in many other
ways, because that's part of the mission
of the Museum. The American rodmaking tradition is, we believe, in good
hands. A few years ago, a senior executive of a leading tackle company was being interviewed by an outdoor writer. The
writer asked him who was the last of the
great rodmakers. The answer was simole"Young man, the
last of the great
rodmakers is not
yet born."
0
OFFICERS
Charles Nelson
Ed Oliver
h i g h Perkins
Mrs. Romi Perkins
Steven Raymond
Riqk Robbins
W i d Rockwell
Ben Schley
Col. Henry Siege1
Preseott Tolman
Ben JJpson
Ralph Wahl
Roger White
Dick Whitney
Don Zahner
Ed Zern
President
Leon Martuch
Vice Presidents
Gardner Grant
. . Au8,
S.
Charles Nelson
~~4
Treasurer
eigb H. Pcrkins
Mn. Lam Towalee
Executive Director
Paul Schullery
Published by The Museum of American Fly Fishing
for the pleasure of the membership.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Kienbusch Collection
by J. I. Merritt
The Michigan Grayling
by Thaddeus Norris
Volume 7 Number 3
SUMMER 1980
On the cover: A Durham Ranger, drawn b y John Adam, from
Dean Sage's The Ristigouche,
1888. Alec Jackson's article on
page 24 explores the golden age
of Atlantic salmon fly tying.
Michigan Originals
A Colonial Fly Fisher
by David Ledlie
The Charles Murphy Rods
Idaho Trout
by Wakeman Holberton
New Exhibits
How Trout Take a Fly
Salmon Systematics
by Alec Jackson
Books
Museum News
Editor: Paul Schullery
Assistant Editor: David B. Ledlie
Creative Consultant: C. M. Haller
Von Kiebnbusch with a 9% pound
In from tihe Jupitagan, 195 7.
The Kienbusch Collection
b y J. I. Merritt
N o t l o x g ago we werr able t o
make a brief visit t o t h e campus
o f Princeton University, for a
look at the magnificent atzgli~zg
book collection there, and t o
m e e t J i m Aferritt, Pri7zceton's
Associate Llirector o f Commu?zications and caretaker of t h e collection.
We are pleased t o have established a rewardi~zginterchange o f information with
this exceptional library, and w e have
hopes o f featuring some o f its rarities
i?z future issues o f t h e ma,qazi?ze. Jim,
an avid f l y fisher himself, prepared t h e
followirzg report o n t h e origins o f t h e
collection, its character, and especially
the career o f its m o s t important benefactor, Carl O t t o von Kienbusch.
The Kienbusch Collection a t Princeton University contains some of the most
extraordinary gems in the history o f angling literature. Anyone familiar with the
landmarks in this history a n d privileged
t o spend a few hours browsing through
the collection can come away literally
gasping a t the riches stacked in locked
cabinets behind wire mesh screens. There
are about 1,500 books and manuscripts
in all, representing the collective wisdom
of five centuries of angling writers, from
Berners t o Bergman and beyond, as well
as periodicals, paintings, o d d items o f
tackle and other memorabilia of the
sporting life.
In addition t o the Kienbusch Collection there are t w o other chief repositories for angling books a t Princeton:
the Kenneth 1-1. Rockey Collection of
mostly twentieth-century titles boasts
another 4,300 volumes, while t h e works
of Eugene V. Connett (editor, author,
publisher and founder of the great 1)errydale Press) round o u t the holdings. The
combined collections total some 7,000
volumes-enough reading, for those anglers who d o most of their fishing between book covers, t o last a score o f
lifetimes.
Many a n g l i n g b i b l i o p h i l e s in the
Princeton, New Jersey area are aware
of the Rockey and Connett collections,
most of whose volumes are o n open
stacks in a cozy reading room o n B Floor
of Firestone Library. Few, however, are
familiar with the Kienbusch Collection
housed immediately next door. The
Kienbusch Room is not open t o the
public, although angling scholars and
others with a need for its materials can
gain access t o them through the library's
rare books division. Writers who in recent years have found the Kienbusch
Collection an invaluable resource include
Ernest G. Schwiebert, author of the exhaustive two-volume Trout ( 1 9 7 8 ) , and
Austin Francis, coauthor with Harry
Darbee of Catskill h'ly tier (1977), who
is currently a t work o n an angling history
of the Catskills.
The Kienbusch Room is used mainly
by members of the library staff for meetings or seminars. I am certain that not
one in fifty of its visitors has any interest
in fishing or any concept of the sport's
rich literary heritage-the enshrinement,
in one of the great research libraries of
the world, of so many books o n so seemingly mindless a subject must come as a
shock! The room's book-filled cabinets
and paneled walls, hung with sporting
prints and paintings, give it t h e comfortable air of a gentleman's club library. A
marvelous nineteenth-century study of
three frock-coated sportsmen o n the
Upper ~ u d s o n ldominates the far side
of t h e room, so that o n entering one is
a p t t o overlook the photograph behind
the door of the old angler, white-haired
and ruddy-faced, in the red bandanna
and stocking-foot waders. He is smiling
for the camera, but his eyes have a n unfocused look a b o u t them, and he squints
as though the sun were painful. The
p h o t o was taken on the Jupitagan River,
o n t h e north shore of Quebec, in July
1961. The angler is Carl O t t o von Kienbusch, who was 76 years old a t t h e time
and going blind.
A prosperous tobacco merchant with
a wide-ranging set of avocational inter-
ests, Kienbusch by his own admission
was "an inveterate collector" of art, armor and-not least-angling books and
m a n u s c r i p t s . He o f t e n r e m a r k e d t o
friends a t the Princeton University Art
Museum that he might have become an
Egyptologist had it n o t been for his obligations t o the family wholesale tobacco
business of C. H. Spitzner and Son. 0 1 1
occasion he represented the Metropolitan
Museum of Art a t armor auctions and
over the years assembled one of the pm e a t
personal armor collections in the world.
(Its 900-odd items, including armor worn
by Philip I1 of Spain and the Earl of
Pembroke, now reside in the Philadelphia
Art Museum.) His love for art was niatched by a passion for the out-of-doors
shared by his wife, Mildred Pressinger
Kienbusch. "Our idea of a vacation." he
wrote t o his Princeton classmates in
1916, ten years after their graduation,
"is two weeks o n a salmon river in
Canada. She [Mildred] can cast a fly
with the best of them, tramp till the
cows come home, eat any old thing,
and sleep anywhere."
Given his love for flyfishing and his
engaging nature, it is not surprising that
Kienbusch made friends with so manv
of the outstanding anglers of his day.
His streamside companions included Edward R. Hewitt, George M.L. LaBranche,
Guy Jenkins, J o h n Alden Knight and
Sparse Grey Hackle. He also had a passing acquaintance with Theodore (;ordon,
who may have tied flies for him on
commission.
"Theodore Gordon lived in a little
cottage in the Catskills ant1 made a living dressing flies a t a dollar a dozen."
Kienbusch told me a t a memorable
luncheon I hat1 with him in March
1974. "He used t o have a particular
rooster t h a t was the only one that would
produce the gun-metal black feathers he
preferred for the Gordon Quill. It was so
tame it would perch o n his boss's knee
while he pulled o u t feathers for his fly."
In later years Kienbusch purchased
Page 3
flies from Harry Darbee, w h o attributes
the now-standard impala-wing version o f
the Rat-faced MacDougall t o Kienbusch's
failing eyesight. The old angler couldn't
see the fly o n the water when it was tied
conventionally with grizzly hackle-tips,
so Darbee substituted white impala for
its greater visibility.2
I met Kienbusch while researching a n
article o n Princeton flyfishermen for the
university's alumni magazine. Though I
had planned simply t o interview him by
phone, he insisted t h a t I come t o New
York t o see him in person. I was living
nearly three hours away a t t h e time near
Cape May, New Jersey, b u t reluctantly
made t h e long trip up the Garden State
Parkway and into Manhattan for lunch
as his guest a t the Downtown Association, one of t h e financial district's more
elegant and exclusive watering holes.
It was a n occasion that I will not soon
forget. Kienbusch, who despite blindness
and old age (he was then 8 9 ) still p u t in
a 9-to-3 day a t his office, arrived some
minutes after myself-a small, somewhat
stooped figure in a three-piece charcoal
suit, assisted b y a factotum in a checked
flannel shirt who might have passed for a
Patapedia salmon guide. My initial nervousness about the meeting dissipated
q u i c k l y o v e r b o u r b o n ("an h o n e s t
Page 4
drink," Kienbusch declared), broiled salmon and conversation a b o u t angling.
Some years later, after I had gone t o
work a t Princeton and had the opportunity t o familiarize myself with the
Kienbusch Collection, I would think
back on that March day while poring
over its priceless contents.
The collection includes first orsecond
editions of every major work o n angling
from the fifteenth through nineteenth
centuries, beginning with t h e Book o f
St. Albans, published by Wynkyn de
Worde a t Westminster in 1 4 9 6 and containing Dame Juliana Berners' A Treatyse
of Fysshynge W y t h an Angle. Running
through the litany of early titles, one
finds A Book o f b'ishing with Hooke a?zd
Line by Leonard Mascall (1490), J o h n
Taverner's Certaine Experimerlts Concerning Fish and Fruite (1600), The Secrets ofAngling b y J o h n Dennys (1613),
Gervase Markham's The Pleasures o f
Pri~tces ( 1 6 1 4 ) , Thomas Barkers' The
Arte o f Angli~lg (1651) and the first
(1653), third, fifth and famous sixth
(1676) editions of Izaak Walton's Comp l e a t A n g l e r . 3 T h e r e is a l s o J a m e s
Chetham's Angler's Vade M e c u m (1681)
and The True A r t of Anglillg by J o h n
Smith (1696). which closes o u t the
seventeenth century.4
The most important document acquired by Kienbusch over t h e years was
undoubtedly The Arte of A?tgli?zg, printed by Henry Middleton in 1 5 7 7 b u t unknown in modern times until its discovery in 1 9 5 4 by a London rare book
dealer among a package of odds and ends
from t h e attic of a country house. Kienbusch came upon the work o n a trip t o
London t h a t summer and, recognizing
its importance, immediately purchased
it. He presented the slim, 74-page volume t o Princeton, which in 1956 and
1 9 5 8 published facsimile editions with
modern t e x t and annotations. Its editor,
Gerald Eades Ilentley, noted structural
and textual parallels between the anonymous work (its title page is missing, but
the author was probably William Samuel,
discovered by Thomas Harrison and discussed in various issues of The Americarz
Fly Fisher and Walton's Compleat Angler of 76 years later. Both books employ dialogue t o advance their narratives,
and Walton clearly borrowed from the
earlier writer for instruction in raising
gentles (maggots) for bait a n d in making
malt-baits. Thus, The A r t e o f Angling
appears t o be a definite, if unacknowledged, source for W a l t o n ' s p a s t o r a l
classic.
Such landmarks of the eighteenth and
appear throughout. Dry-Fly Fishing i n
Theory and Practice was Halford's second book, and Kienbusch managed to
collect four copies of it in all-of the
other three, t w o are presentation copies,
and one of these has bound into it t w o
of the original illustrations from which
the book's engravings were made.
early nineteenth centuries as Richard
Bowlker's T h e A r t o f Angling (1747)
and T h e Fly-Fisher's Guide by George
C. Bainbridge (1816). as well as other
works from this period, are also represented in the collection along with the
later books that ushered in the modern
revolution in flyfishing knowledge and
tactics: F l y - F i s h e r ' s E n t o m o l o g y by
Alfred Ronalds (1836), G.P.R. Pulman's
Vadc M e c u m of Fly-Fishing (1846),
William C. Stewart's Practical Angler
(1857) and A B o o k of Angling by
Francis Francis (186 7).
The movement toward upstream fishing and use of the dry fly culminated in
the works of Frederick M. Halford, who
burst upon t h e angling scene in 1 8 8 6
with his seminal I-710ating Flies and H o w
t o Dress T h e m , t h e first of seven books
he would write. The most valuable item
in the Halford material a t Princeton is a
unique volume of Dry-Fly Fishing i n
Theory and Practice (1889) t h a t includes
a handwritten note by Halford o n the
flyleaf stating t h a t this particular copy
was "specially prepared f o r t h e Author's
use in making and recording suggestions
for revisions of future editions. ." The
volume was bound with a blank page
facing each page of t e x t ; Halford's inserts, marginalia and other annotations
.
Halford's great rival. G.E.M. Skues,
is also well rrpresenterl in t h e Kienb-isch
Collection, which amounts t o a veritable
archive of Skues material. There is n o
documentary evidence in t h e collection
that Kienbusch and Skues ever met, b u t
given the fact t h a t Skues lived until 1949
and that Kienbusch was often a guest a t
the Fly Fishers Club of London, there
presumably was some contact between
the two. The wealth of manuscript material includes 1 2 autograph letters from
Skues t o Edward Boies of Connecticut
as well as autograph letters t o Skues
from the noted French angler M. Louis
Bougl&. The prolific Skues also carried
o n a 22-year correspondence with Robert
S. Austin, a retired gunnery sergeant in
the Royal Artillery. Austin was a Crimea
veteran, 26 years Skues' senior, and a
noted Devonshire angler who fathered
the Tups Indespensible. ("I was the Godfather," Skues tells us in a memorial t o
Austin.) l'he collection contains 46 autograph letters from Austin t o Skues written between 1 8 9 1 and 1913; their subject was mainly flydressing, with salient
points underlined b y Skues in red ink.
Historically, the most valuable of the
Skues items are the manuscript and typescript copies of Trivialities o f a L o n g
Life, b y a Person o f N o ConsequenceSkues' unpublished autobiography, written in a typically self-deprecating style
in the last years of his life. The angler's
younger brother gathered the manuscript
together after t h e elder Skues' death and
managed t o find a typist who could decipher his brother's nearly illegible scrawl.
Trivialities makes pleasant reading,
even if it is n o t great literature-or even
great angling literature, as fishing plays
something of a secondary role t o Skues'
remembrances o f his Winchester school
days (he received frequent beatings for
his reputation as being "infernally spree,"
or impudent) and t h e comfortable life of
a young solicitor in London (where he
made t h e acquaintance, among others, of
Henry Morton Stanley and Oscar Wilde).
We learn that Skues saw his first trout a t
age five, finning over a "shallow gravelly
patch" o n a Somersetshire stream and
became "greatly excited a b o u t it," and
t h a t o n one of his early bait-fishing excursions he caught n o t r o u t b u t accidently hooked a hen! Anyone familiar with
the great schism t h a t later developed between the dry fly purists of the Halford
school and the nymph-fishing followers
of Skues will be surprised t o learn that
Skues was proposed for membership in
the Fly Fishers Club of London by none
other than Frederick Halford. This was
in 1891, before Skues, under the bylines
of "Seaforth and Soforth" and "Val
Conson," began recording his nymphing
experiments in the journal Field. We
learn. too, that in 1 9 4 0 Skues caught
"the last trout o f a long life" on a fly
tied with a woodduck flank feather sent
t o him 35 years earlier by his most celebrated American correspondent, Theodore Gordon.
Kienbusch's friendship with promine n t American anglers spanned several
generations, and over the years he gathered important manuscript materials from
Hewitt, LaBranche, Knight and Alfred
W. Miller (Sparse Grey Hackle).
As Hewitt's literary executor, Kienbusch was responsible for a wealth o f
manuscripts from the estate of this colorful angler, creator of the Bivisible fly and
Neversink Skater and self-proclaimed
authority on all things piscatorial. Hewitt
was a chemist by training and an inveterate tinkerer whose non-angling technological contributions included a ciesign of an early Mack truck. Hewitt's
friends, Kienbusch among them, recognized his talents b u t were frequently e r asperated by his egocentric nature ancl
know-it-all attitude. At our luncheon,
for example, Kienbusch explained Hewitt's method of photo-dying leaders t o
give them a dull, lead-colored appearance t h a t he claimed made them invisible
t o trout.
"The minute Ed invented anything,
that was the cat's whiskers. While I think
it had some advantage over regular leaders, I don't think it was quite as great as
Ed thought."
Kienbusch told me another story illustrating Hewitt's proprietary concern
for the t r o u t he kept in his fabled stretch
of t h e Neversink. Hewitt once leased a
"rod" of these waters t o Kienbusch, who
looked forward with keen anticipation
t o fishing it. When he was a t last able t o
take a day off from business and drive
up t o the Catskills for some fishing, however, he was surprised t o find t h e way
barred by a gate with a buzzer device.
"Ed was very particular about his
fish o n the Neversink. After I pushed
this button he came t o t h e gate t o let
me in. He told me, 'I want t o give you a
wonderful treat-we've discovered two
beaver working o n the river, and wouldn't
it be marvelous t o find them.' Well, all
day I didn't p u t my rod together because
all day we were chasing beaver-which, I
needn't add, we never found. But it saved
Ed from sacrificing a few of his favorite
fish."
The Kienbusch Collection contains
38 manuscript articles by Hewitt o n fish
culture, stream management and angling
Page 5
,
techniques, including a number "not published," "not printed" and "rejected."
(It happens even t o t h e most eminent
outdoor writers!) There are also Hewitt
speeches, source materials (225 pages o f
articles o n fish and fishing, all carefully
indexed b y Hewitt) a n d t h e typescript
with autograph corrections of Telling o n
the Trout (1926). Of particular value is
the manuscript t o Hewitt's swan song t o
one of the longest angling lives o n record,
A Trout and Salmotz Fisherman for Seventy-Five Years (1948).
Among all his angling friends, Kienbusch seems t o have most admired
George M. L. LaBranche, who after
Gordon was chiefly responsible for adapting the dry fly t o American waters. In
addition t o the manuscript and galley
proofs of the Dry Fly and Fast Water
(1914), t h e collection includes several
items of LaBranche's tackle: a threepiece cane rod; a Hardy "Bough" reel,
engraved with the owner's name and the
year 1903, with silk line still attached;
and a cedar-lined box with d r o p trays,
filled with a n estimated 1 , 0 0 0 exquisitely tied English dry flies of many different
patterns (evidence that LaBranche, despite his stated preference for t h e Whirling Dun and Wickham's Fancy, fished
with a wider selection of flies than he
claimed).
"George LaBranche was always my
model as a flyfisherman. He was t h e finest technician with a flyrod I ever came
Page 6
in contact with. He never cast a long
line-onlv 25 or 3 0 feet-but he could
p u t the fly in a curve o n a penny, and he
could catch fish when n o one else could."
Kienbusch made a point of adding
t h a t LaBranche was "a much better fisherman" than Hewitt. "Ed used t o boast
t h a t 'Any fish I can see I can catch'which of course is a l o t of baloney."
The friendship between Kienbusch
and J o h n Alden Knight appears t o have
been especially strong. The 17-page autograph manuscript t o Knight's "Ocean
Tides and Fresh-Water Fish," t h e 1 9 3 4
article in T h e Sportsman t h a t introduced
the Solunar Theory, can b e found in t h e
collection along with proof sheets and a
presentation copy of The Modern Angler
(1936); o n t h e flyleaf of the latter is the
following bit of doggerel, "Soliloquey
(sic) in Brown," inscribed by the author:
I wish I were a brown trout,
Instead of being shy,
I'd have a l o t of fun with fellows
Fishing with a fly.
I'd swim about the pools and runs
And try t o tantalize
By jumping over bucktails
And missing every rise.
I'd teach the other brown trout
All feathers t o eschew.
I'd even teach them t o ignore
Solunar Tables, too!! !
With writers of all angling books
I'd certainly play Hell.
Left: Kienbusch fishing t h e
Pot Hole o n t h e Jupitagan.
Right: Kienbusch 's houseboat o n t h e Patapedia. All
photographs for this article
are courtesy o f t h e Princet o n University Library.
But then-I'm n o t a brown t r o u t
Perhaps it's just as well.
Quill Gordon
"John Alden Knight was one of the
great anglers of our time. He was an insurance man who discovered t h e Solunar
Theory. Jack finally got his theory so
popularized t h a t he gave u p t h e insurance
business a n d began selling his Solunar
Tables for 5 0 cents. I always accepted
it with a grain of salt."
Another Kienbusch companion was
Alfred W. Miller, t h a t venerable teller of
fish tales who as Sparse Grey Hackle related some of his best stories in Fishless
Days, privately published b y the Anglers'
Club of New York in 1 9 5 4 and later revised and expanded in a trade edition as
Fishless Days, Angling Knights ( 1 97 1).
The author's f i s t copy of t h e 1 9 5 4 version was inscribed "with gratitude and
affection" t o Kienbusch. T h e collection
contains t h e manuscript t o Fishless Days,
including chapter-by-chapter critiques by
Miller's editor, Lewis M. Hull, and the
author's rejoinders-fine examples of the
interplay between editor and writer and
the craft of editing a t its best. Kienbusch
was one of Miller's "knights" and pops
up as a character several times in Fishless Days. The classic little tale of "The
Angler Breached" relates the fate of
Kienbusch's custom pair of waders, never
worn, that were sent t o t h e tailor for
some minor repair and came back pressed
and dry-cleaned, w i t h all t h e rubber removed from their fabric! In another section, Miller described his old friend in a n
elaborate piscatorial conceit: "Like the
mayfly, O t t o spends eleven months of
the year in a stone-bound crevice a t the
bottom of the stream which is New York,
dreaming of his springtime metamorphosis. But when J u n e comes he rises t o the
surface, casts off his nymphal shuck and
then, o n shining gauzy wings, flies off t o
Canada for a month of dry-fly salmon
fishing o n his miles of t h e Patapedia."
Kienbusch owned 4 5 miles of the
Patapedia from 1 9 3 1 t o 1941, with a
houseboat o n it. In the 1940's he shifted
his angling focus t o Wyoming, staying
each summer a t t h e A-Bar-A Ranch o n
the North Platte. Between 1 9 5 4 and
1965 he made a n annual excursion t o
the salmon rivers of the north shore of
the St. Lawrence - the Anticosti, La
Loutre and what became his beloved
Jupitagan. Following a n old gentlemanly
tradition, Kienbusch kept elaborate diaries of his fishing trips, recording them
in words and photographs. The diaries
were typed and bound in leather, with
the year and the river embossed in gilt
letters o n the spine.
The old angler cherished his monthlong sojourns o n the Jupitagan and the
respite they offered from business responsibilities and the clangor of Manhattan. The sleek silver fish that the
river surrendered were toasted with 100-
proof Wild Turkey bourbon and packed
in snow for shipment home. He must
have savored the sight of t h e big river
gliding past under t h e shelving cliffs and
evergreens, f o r his vision had begun t o
fail with the onset of glaucoma. By 1960,
the photographs show, he was wearing
a smoked lens over his left eye, and b y
1965-his last year o n a salmon riverhe was totally blind.
Other misfortunes, both personal and
piscatorial, befell him. His wife's health
began t o fail, and he mourned t h e deaths
of his t w o old friends, Hewitt and LaBranche. "These t w o men," he wrote in
a n unpublished autobiographical sketch,
"I have missed as much as a n y who were
f o r years part of my life." His beloved
Mildred died in 1968, a n d his t w o Long
Island t r o u t clubs, t h e Wyandanche and
Southside, were condemned by the state
and turned i n t o parks over t h e strenuous
protestations of their members.
Despite such s e t b a c k s , K i e n b u s c h
maintained his multifarious interests and
even developed a new one-women's
athletics (which he generously endowed)
a t his now-coeducational alma mater.
And though blind, he continued t o fish.
Deprived of his club waters o n the
Connetquot and the Nissequogue, he
switched t o angling a t the Long Island
Country Club with the aide of a guide.
"They have three ponds there t h a t they
stock each year with three different
types o f trout. I can catch fish with
them, b u t n o t with a dry fly. You p u t
your lure o n t h e end of a sinking leader,
cast o u t , let it sink, and retrieve-then
maybe a t r o u t will hook o n t o it. I can
catch six or eight fish in a day t h a t way,
although last summer I was rather discouraged because t h e only way I could
get any action was by pulling them up
from downstairs."
On February 23, 1976, two years
after he told me this, Kienbusch died a t
age 91. Like his friends Hewitt and
LaBranche, as well as Skues and Walton,
he had lived a full life long past the
actuary's odds. I am told that, as recently
as t h e summer before, he was still pulling t r o u t o u t of t h a t Long Island pond.
l " ~ l l i o t ta n d H i s Friendsu-Charles
Loring Elliott a t Trenton High Falls,
by Junius Urutus Sterns, 1885.
2 ~ a r D
r a~r b e e and A u s t i n F r a n c i s ,
C a t s k i l l F l y t i e r ( N e w Y o r k , 1977).
p. 53.
3 ~ h e1 6 7 6 edition was published as The
Universal Angler and incorporated for
the first time Charles Cotton's essay o n
flyfishing as well as a section (dropped
in subsequent editions) b y Robert
Venables. Scholars quibble over whether
the 1 6 7 6 Walton was the fifth or sixth
edition.
4For a lucid account of flyfishing's early
history, see J o h n Waller Hills, A History
o f Fly-F'ishi~tgfor Trout (1921).
Page 7
The Michigan Grayling
It seems peculiar t o us n o w that
m u c h of t h e great fishing t o be
had in Michigan was n o t discovered until after t h e settlement o f
California. A s Thaddeus Norris,
author of The American Angler's
Book, explained in this article,
.Ilichigan Grayli?zg didtz't become a popular sportfislz until well after t h e Cizlil
War. Norris was one o f t h e first t o publicize the grayling, which surely had olze
of t h e shortest careers as an American
game fish of any species. T h e y first became a popular sport fish in the 1870's,
avd withilt thirty years werc all b u t
gone. The followi?lg article appeared as
a chapter in Volume II o f Alfrcd Mayer's
Sport With Gun and Rod, published in
1883.
Until within a few years, t h a t portion
of Michigan extending from the fortyfourth parallel t o the Straits of Mackinaw, dotted with beautiful lakes and
traversed by many a clear, winding river,
was terra i?zco,qnita t o the fly-fisher; and
although we were told years ago by explorers and adventurous anglers that
trout in great numbers and o f large size
\\.ere taken in the waters of t h e northern
portion of the peninsula, the grayling by
its true name was unknown, and does
not now form a subject for any of our
angling authors. It was supposed that,
except in the Arctic regions, it did n o t
b y Thaddeus Worris
exist o n our continent. About ten years
ago, however, hunters, and those who
were looking u p timber lands, began t o
talk of a white-meated fish with all the
game qualities of the trout, which they
captured in streams of both water-sheds
-east and west-as an addition t o their
venison 2nd "hard-tack." I t was known
t o them as t h r "white trout," the "Crawford County trout," and under other
local names, until a specimen in alcohol
was sent t o Professor E. D. Cope, of the
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, who described it in t h e proceedings of t h a t institution in the year 1865,
and gave it the scientific name of T h y mallus tricolor, t h e generic name arising
from the fresh thyme-y smell of t h e fish
when first taken from the water, the
specific appellation having reference t o
its beautiful dorsal fin. And yet its discovery as a true grayling escaped the
notice of nearly all of our fly fishers;
and t o the few who might have meditated
an expedition in search of it, its habitat
was far off and then almost inaccessible.
The following passage, however, from
"American Fish Culture" (p. 196), by
the present writer, and published by
Porter 8c Coates, in 1867, soon after Professor Cope described the fish, attracted
the notice of Mr. J. V. Le Moyne, of
Chicago.
"While o n a trout-fishing excursion
lately in t h e northern part of Pennsylvania, I met a very intelligent, though
not a scientific person, who informed
me t h a t in exploring some timber lands
o n t h e Au Sable, in Michigan, he came
across a new kind of trout which he had
never seen before. From his description
it was doubtless this new species of
Thymallus. He said it readily t o o k a bait
of a piece of one of its fellows, a piece
of meat being used t o capture the first
fish; and t h a t it was very beautiful and
of delicious flavor."
The following summer, after consulting persons interested in timber lands,
Mr. Le Rloyne packed his "kit" and
found his way by steamer t o Little Traverse Bay, and thence by canoe through a
series of lakes t o the River Jordan, where
he had great sport, n o t only with grayling, but with trout of good size, taking
both from the same pool and not unfrequently one of each o n the same cast. I
may here mention that the Jordan is one
of the few streams of Michigan in which
both are found. Trout are unknown in
the Manistee and Au Sable. My friend,
Mr. D. H. Fitzhugh, Jr., of Bay City. the
year following, t o o k them in the Rifle
and went by a new railroad then being
built t o the Hersey and Muskegon, walking twenty miles of the distance. He had
been waiting with much interest the extension of the Jackson, Lansing, and Sag-
A 12lichigan g r a y l i ~ z gas
,
tlrawtl .for iilfrccl ,tla)ier's
Sport With Gun and Rod,
by James Bcarrl. The illustrations o n pages 11 and
12 were drawn by ?'homos
hloran, and are also from
~llayer's b o o k , whiclz was
in large part a collcctio?~
o f p r e o i o u s l y published
articles.
Page 8
inaw Railroad northward, and in 1873,
when it crossed the Au Sable, he launched his boat high u p o n t h a t lovely river.
Since then t h e fame of t h e rare sporting
qualities of this fish has spread among
anglers, and they now come from many
of our large towns and cities (especially
those o f the \Vest) t o camp o n t h e banks
o f the Michigan rivers and enjoy the
sport.
In Michigan, in a day's fishing, the
true-hearted angler returns t o the water
a great many more than he puts in his
live-box. He will keep none under a half
pound, and where the streams are so abundantly stocked, he will n o t begrudge
their liberty t o all under t h a t weight.
Our grayling are much more slender than
the European species, but, if we credit
English authors, d o n o t attain as large a
size. Three-fourths of a p o u n d with us is
a good average size, and one of a pound
and a quarter is considered a large fish. I
have heard, however, of their being taken
in t h e Jordan over three pounds. The
grayling is a fish of more symmetrical
proportions than the trout, although i t
has not the vermilion spots and bright
colors over its body, b u t its head and
mouth are much smaller, and with handsome, prominent eyes. Its habits also differ materially from those of the trout. I t
is never found in the strong, turbulent
water a t the head of a rift, b u t in the
deeper portions of the smoothly gliding
stream. I t avoids a b o t t o m of clay or the
mosses so common t o the beds of Michigan rivers, b u t is always found o n gravel
or sand. Its rise is straight up-sharp and
sudden, and when its attention is once
drawn t o the artificial line, i t does not
turn back, as a t r o u t does, o n getting a
sight of the angler, b u t in its eagerness
disregards him entirely, a n d in running a
river with t h e speed of t h e current, or
even if the boat is poled along down
stream, it frequently takes the fly within
a few feet of t h e pole o r t h e boat. Its
play is quite as vigorous as t h a t of the
trout, and it leaps frequently above the
surface of the water before it is sufficiently exhausted t o be drawn in. There
is this difference, however, between t h e
two. The trout, like a certain denomination of Christians, seems t o believe in
"final perseverance," and will kick and
struggle t o the last, even as i t is lifted in;
while t h e grayling, after you have sufficiently overcome its obstinate pluck t o
get its head above water, is taken in with
pendent tail, as much as t o say, "It's all
up"; b u t as soon as it touches t h e floor
of the boat, its flapping and floundering
begin. If it takes a sheer across t h e cur-
rent, with its large dorsal fin, it offers
greater resistance than the trout. Where
they are so numerous, one seldom uses
the landing-net, for few escape b y breaking away, and if they do, there are more
t o take hold a t t h e next cast.
If in fishing with a whip of three flies
the angler hooks a fish o n either of his
droppers, the stretcher fly as it sails a-
Page 9
round beneath is pretty sure of enticing
another, a n d n o t unfrequently t h e disengaged dropper hooks a third fish.
Sometimes, as I have sat o n the cover of
t h e live-box, I have looked d o w n t o see
three of these bright fish, after I had exhausted them, all in a row, their dorsal
fins erect and waving in the clear water
like s o many beautiful leaves of the coleus. Nor is t h e grayling in taking a fly as
chary a fish as the trout. On a perfectly
still water y o u may see t h e latter rising
and taking in the minute natural flies,
when t h e veriest artificial midge will n o t
t e m p t it; b u t let even alight breeze spring
u p and a ripple appear o n t h e surface,
and then i t cannot distinguish t h e natural from the artificial, and will take hold.
The grayling, o n t h e contrary, is t h e
most eager, unsophisticated fish imaginable. When i t sees anything bearing t h e
most remote semblance of life, it "goes
for it," even if t h e water is a s smooth as
a mirror.
The whole of Michigan s o u t h of t h e
Straits of Mackinaw may certainly be
called flat country. The only rising
grounds t o be found are a few sandy
eminences,-they can scarcely be called
hills,-the formation of which we leave
the geologist t o account for. And y e t
the rivers abrading against these sandhills occasionally cause precipitous bluffs
(few of which exceed a hundred feet),
or such an elevation as is known in a
lumberman's parlance as a "roll-way."
There is a gradual b u t almost imperceptible elevation from Bay City o r
Grand Rapids t o the region where grayling are found. From the former t o
Grayling, where the railroad crosses the
Au Sable, a distance of nearly a hundred
miles, there is a rise of seven hundred
feet, which gives t h e rivers a n average
current of a b o u t t w o and a half miles a n
hour. Wherever there is a contraction in
the width of t h e stream, however, especially around a bend, its velocity may be
three, four, or even five miles, b u t o n account of t h e absence of rocks in t h e bottom, it almost invariably flows smoothly.
The strength of t h e current can only be
seen where the ends of half-sunken logs
or "sweepers" project above the surface,
or when t h e canoeman turns his prow
upstream.
The grayling region o n t h e Lake
Huron water-shed has a t o p stratum of
coarse white sand. On the streams flowing toward Lake Michigan, t h e sand is
yellow, with more or less admixture of
vegetable loam. The rains falling o n these
sandy plains and percolating through
meet with a lower stratum of impervious
clay, and thus form under-ground courses
which crop o u t a t the margin o r in the
beds of the streams and keep them a t
the temperature of spring water.
The eighth longitudinal line west
Page 10
from Washington may be considered
the apex of t h e water-sheds, declining
East and West, although t h e head-waters
of streams occasionally interlock. By a
short "carry," o n e can pass from the
head-waters of t h e Manistee t o those of
t h e Au Sable. I have seen marks o n both
of these streams that gave evidence t h a t
surveyors did s o forty years ago, and
have n o d o u b t t h a t it was a route used
by t h e Indians in crossing from Lake
Michigan t o Lake Huron.
The country, except o n t h e barrens,
furnishes a fine growth of white and
yellow pine, as well as oak, beech, maple,
and other hard woods. White cedarsthe arbor vitae of t h e East-invariably
fringe t h e banks of rivers a few miles
below their sources, which are generally
in ponds o r lakes. These trees appear t o
love spring water, and d o n o t appear until t h e stream has acquired t h a t temperature. Growing o n the banks of the
streams, t h e current washes away t h e
loose soil from their roots, which causes
them t o incline over and a t last t o fall
into the water; and these are called
"sweepers." These rivers, from t h e constant influx of spring water, never freeze,
and owing t o t h e slight water-shed and
sandy top-soil are not subject t o freshets,
a spring rise of t w o feet being considered
excessive. Such streams, here and in Europe, are t h e home of the grayling, for it
loves water of a low, even temperature
and a smooth, steady current.
The game laws o f Michigan recently
enacted forbid t h e spearing and netting
of grayling a t all times, a n d d o n o t admit
of them being taken even with hook and
line from January until June. These fish
acquire condition soon after spawning,
b u t are better in a u t u m n and in season
nearly all winter. So after t h e first of
September t h e sportsman can unite
shooting with fishing. Several summers
ago, in August, while running the Au
Sable, we counted twelve deer and t w o
bears. As they were out of season, and
my friend Fitzhugh was a stickler for
the observance of the game-laws in every
instance, we resisted the temptation t o
shoot them.
against t h a t of another, as they are swayed t o and fro by the wind, and in the
distance one can almost fancy that it is
a human voice. Otherwise, all is as silent
as death.
My first raid upon t h e grayling was in
August, 1874, with Mr. Fitzhugh, of Bay
City, o n the Au Sable. We ran this river
from Grayling, o n t h e northern branch
of the Jackson, Saginaw, and Lansing
Railroad, t o Thompson's, a distance o f
a hundred and sixty miles. From Thompson's, after loading our t w o boats o n a
stout two-horse wagon and occupying
another with springs, we drove twentyfive miles t o Tawas City, and then, after
a few hours o n a steamer, back t o Bay
City. There is n o grayling-fishing a t the
station called Grayling, nor until one
gets four or five miles down t h e stream
where t h e cedars appear. From this as
far as we ran it,-and there was yet sixty
miles of it below Thompson's,-it is a
beautiful stream, much prettier, I think,
more rapid, and less obstructed with
sweepers, than the Manistee. The distance b y land is a b o u t seventy miles. On
our second day, we killed and salted
down-heads and tails off-a hundred
a n d twenty pounds of fish, besides eating all we wanted. In one hanging rift
close by the bank, as Len Iswel, my
pusher, held o n t o t h e cedar boughs, I
t o o k a t five casts fifteen fish, averaging
three-quarters of a pound each. The following day, we fished along leisurely until we had our live-boxes, containing each
sixty pounds, so full t h a t t h e fish began
t o die. Then we passed over splendid
pools in which we cokld see large schools
of grayling o n the b o t t o m without casting a fly; for we would n o t destroy them
in mere wantonness. In a few clays, however, we came across occasional timber
camps, when we commenced fishing again, and supplied all hands with fresh
fish. One can leave Hay City by railroad
in the morning a n d arrive a t Grayling
early enough in the afternoon t o embark
and drop down-stream seven or eight
miles the same night. He should, however, engage boats and pushers beforehand.
The country I have described has, o f
course, none of t h a t awe-inspiring scenery we find o n the shores of Lake Superior; b u t with its clear, ever-flowing, everwinding rivers over white and yellow
sands, with graceful cedars projecting a t
a sharp angle from the banks, and every
bend of the stream opening a new view,
it is novel and pleasing t o one who has
been shut u p all winter in a crowded city.
In running a grayling stream, t h e feeling
is one of peace and quietude. There are
n o song-birds in those deep woods. One
only hears the far-off falling of some old
forest tree, o r that weird sound caused
by the rubbing of t h e branch of one tree
There are t w o large branches, flowing almost as much as the main stream,
that enter the Au Sable. The south-west
comes in about forty-five miles below
Grayling and t h e north branch sixty
miles below. On this last stream there is
a sluice dam, and when it is let off t o
float logs during the summer and autumn, the water is discolored somewhat,
and the fish d o n o t rise as well. One can
get all the fishing he wants by running
as far down as t h e south-west branch,
which, as already stated, is forty-five
miles by water, and is only twelve miles
back t o Grayling by land. He can engage a wagon a t Grayling t o come with
ice o n a stated day and haul back his
boats, his luggage, and his fish, thus saving the labor of pushing back up-stream,
which would occupy t w o days of incessant toil.
When I fished t h e Manistee several
years ago, I went from Grayling with
Mr. Fitzhugh and another friend, accompanied b y our pushers, over "the
barrens," a distance of eight miles, t o a
camp established b y I. F. Habbit, t o fish
with hook a n d line for t h e Hay City and
Detroit markets. We made a permanent
camp four miles below Babbit's, and
fished five days, giving him three-fourths
of our fish, which he came f o r every day,
and which (keeping none under a half
pound) amounted t o over five hundred
pounds.
One of my most pleasant trips, however, was t h a t of t h e latter part of August and early in September of t h e following year, when, in company with t w o
young friends, I spent t w o weeks o n t h e
Manistee. We went b y t h e Grand Rapids
and Indiana Railroad t o Mancelona, well
up toward t h e Straits of Mackinaw. Here
we loaded boats, stores, and c a m p equipage o n a wagon drawn b y a pair of stout
horses, and journeyed eleven miles east
t o the head-waters of t h e main branch.
Our trip was dashed with a spice of adventure and a good deal of hard work.
We had struck the stream higher u p than
we expected. I t was small, scarcely sufficient t o float our boats, and still had the
temperature i t had acquired in the little
lake which was its source. There were n o
cedars, which only appear when the
streams have flowed far enough from t h e
ponds t o feel t h e influence of spring water. O n the morning of the second day,
we came t o t h e cedars and cold water,
and with them t h e sweepers, which are
cedars, as already described, which have
been undermined by t h e current and
have fallen into t h e water and always
across t h e stream. We had three days and
a half of hard chopping and hauling our
boats over huge cedar logs, some of
which had probably lain there for a century-for a cedar log, if i t remains in the
water, never rots, O n coming t o some of
these logs, we had t o make a "carry,"
placing our luggage o n their mossy covered trunks and pulling o u r e m p t y boats
over. We would then load u p and go o n
t o c u t more sweepers and make more
carries. At last, the stream widened and
was free of sweepers, and we had magnificent fishing. The grayling were perfectly reckless and would take one's flies
within ten feet of t h e boats. I t was virgin
water; n o fly had heretofore been cast
o n it. After a day's sport, we came t o
t h e sweepers again, and had a day a n d a
half more with them and half-sunken
logs a n d a few carries. At t w o or three
of these carries, t h e logs were over t w o
feet through. Mosses had grown and
spread o n them until, as we saw b y certain signs, bears used them as a highway.
On one we found thrifty cedars growing
a t regular intervals from t h e parent trunk
t h a t were more than half a century old.
Soon t h e stream increased so much in
volume, and was so wide, that a tree falling across could not obstruct the passage
o f our boats; and finally we came t o
open water again. And so we ran the
stream down t o Walton Junction, a hundred and fifty miles by water, while it
was scarce fifty o n a bee-line.
The boat used o n my f i s t trip is
worth description. I t was built of white
pine; bottom, 1 inch thick; sides, 518;
16 feet long; 2.10 wide o n top, 2.4 a t
bottom, and with a sheer of three inches o n each side. The b o t t o m was nearly level f o r eight feet in the center, with
a sheer o f five inches t o t h e bow and
seven inches t o stern. The live-box was
six feet from bow, extending back two
feet. The sides were nailed t o the bottom. Its weight was eighty pounds, and
it carried t w o men-the angler and the
pusher-with 200 pounds of luggage.
With t w o coats o f paint, it cost about
fifteen dollars. The angler sits o n the
movable cover o f the live-box, which is
water-tight from other portions of the
boat, and has holes bored in sides and
b o t t o m t o admit of the circulation of
the water t o keep the fish alive, and as
he captures his fish he slips them into
holes o n the right and left sides. An axe
was always taken along t o clear t h e river
of fallen logs and sweepers.
My customary tackle o n these excursions is a twelve-foot rod of about eight
and a half ounces; leaders eight feet long,
and flies o n hooks ranging from No. 7 t o
No. 10 (OIShaughnessy). I have found
most of the flies used o n Pennsylvania
streams effective, and one can scarcely
go amiss in his selection. One summer, I
used for t w o weeks the same whip, viz.:
"Professor" f o r t h e stretcher, "Silver
Widow" for f i s t , and "White-winged
Coachman" for second dropper. The
first is tied with guinea-fowl feather for
wings, an amber o r yellow-dyed hackle
for legs, a yellow floss body wound with
gold tinsel, and three sprigs of scarlet
ibis for tail. The second has black wings,
black hackle, a n d black b o d y wound
with silver tinsel. The third has white
wings, red hackle, undyed, a n d body of
peacock hurl.
As t o stores. We found t h a t for five
men, including pushers, t h e following
were about t h e right quantities for a two
weeks' supply: 50 lbs. flour, 1 bushel
potatoes, 25 Ibs. of breakfast bacon, 12
Ibs. butter, 112 peck of onions, with
corn meal, tea, coffee, sugar, condensed
milk, a jar of pickles, and a few cans of
corn and tomatoes. Bread is a difficult
thing t o take or t o keep in good condition. I would advise, therefore, the taking of a portable sheet-iron stove, which,
with a baker and all other appliances and
conveniences, does n o t weigh over thirtyfive pounds. With a box of yeast powder,
h o t rolls can be had a t every meal.
Page 11
Michigan Originals
Since those first fly fishers ventured
into the forests of Michigan more than a
century ago, the streams of t h a t state
have inspired some great fly patterns. We
present a few here, from t h e Museum
Collection.
One of Michigan's most successful
fly-pattern creators was Art Winnie, a
professional tier from Traverse City.
Among his creations was t h e Michigan
Hopper, pictured a t the t o p , left. The
pattern may have been t h e first hopper
t o use the popular turkey feather wing;
the body was yellow chenille. As near as
we know, the pattern was developed in
the 1930's. Does anybody have more
information a b o u t ~ r ~ ti n n i e ?
Below the Hopper is the fly t h a t unquestionably reigns as Michigan's most
famous: the Adams. The pattern was
developed by Leonard Halladay, of Mayfield, Michigan, and named in honor of
~
F. Adams. Mr.
Ohio ~ t t o r n eCharles
Adams was, according t o Halladay, the
first angler t o use the fly (on the Boardman River, as it happened), and so when
Adams reported back t h a t t h e fly was an
excellent one, Halladay named it after
Adams. The pattern was named in a b o u t
1922, making the Adams one of the
older major American dry flies of national reputation. Modern fly tiers may
be surprised t h a t the original was such a
scruffy thing, b u t it was apparently just
that ragged profile t h a t Halladay was
seeking t o cultivate.
Another of Art Winnie's creations was
an early successful pattern f o r use during
the great Hexagenia hatches that occur
o n many Michigan streams. The large
Hexagenia adults, though mayflies, have
for many years been known as the
"Michigan Caddis," even b y anglers who
know the flies aren't caddis a t all.
Winnie's Michigan Caddis pattern was an
effort t o tie a-fly o n the-scale of these
enormous insects, and for many years i t
was one of t h e most popular artificials
for t h a t hatch.
Today most people associate the name
of Paul Young with the many superb
rods he built; Arnold Cingrich did much
t o promote the fame of this excellent
Michigan rod builder. Young was also a
skilled fly tier, author of a small book,
Making a n d Using the Fly a ~ t dLeader
(1933). Among the patterns he developed and offered for sale was another attempt t o imitate the "Michigan Caddis"
hatch, called the "Flying Caddis." As
can be seen, the fly featured a sparsely
wrapped, clipped deer hair body, and
spent wings.
At t h e t o p o n the right is another
Young-tied fly, this time a Badger Bivisible. Edward Hewitt gets the credit
f o r popularizing t h e Bivisible series, and
Young sold several different styles.
Young experimented with deer hair
in m a n y patterns, including many bugs,
mice, and muddlers. Perhaps his most
famous f l v - a t least the one whose name
is most recognizable today - was the
Strawman, directly below t h e Bivisible.
The Strawman, like his Caddis pattern,
featured a lightly-dressed, clipped hair
body. I n his book he explained that the
pattern was originated in t h e "interior
of Canada" (apparently by an Indian)
and brought t o his attention b y W. 0.
Stoddard. Young tied the pattern in several colors, and eventually popularized
its use, n o t only as a caterpillar imitation, b u t also as a nymph. Sid Gordon,
in H o w t o Fish f r o m Top t o B o t t o m ,
swore by the pattern b u t refused t o reveal how it was tied. The Gordon variation looks rather unlike Young's original.
In t h e inset we offer a second, enlarged, view of t h e Adams, which shows
body proportions more clearly than the
other angle.
The Adams and t h e Michigan Caddis
were donated t o the Museum by Joseph
Beck. All the other flies are part of a
large donation made recently b y Alvan
Macauley.
-
A view on the Manistee.
Page 1 2
~
---
Page 13
A Colonial Fly Fisher
A Distinguished English Naturalist Becomes the First
Known Fly Caster in the New World
by David Ledlie
Documented instances of fly fishing i n North America prior t o
1 8 0 0 are scarce indeed. T o date
our earliest record is found in t h e
journals of Lt. J o h n Enys who
cast his flies for Salmo salar o n
t h e waters of t h e Saranac (NY)
in 1786.
However, a new name has recently
come t o light; t h a t of Joseph Banks who
arrived in North America (St. Johns,
Newfoundland) o n May 1 3 , 1 7 6 6 , aboard
the Niger. The Niger (renamed t h e Negro
in 1812) was a 6 7 9 ton, 3 2 gun British
naval vessel whose purpose was t o protect the British, Newfoundland fisheries.
I t carried t w o hundred a n d twenty men
and was built in 1759.
Banks' purpose was t o catalog and
obtain specimens of t h e flora and fauna
of Newfoundland and Labrador. An acc o u n t of Banks' North American investigations may be found in A. M. Lysaght's,
Joseph Banks in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1766 (His Diary, Manuscripts and
Collections) first published in 1 9 7 1 b y
Faber and Faber LTD (London) and
again in 1 9 7 1 by t h e University of California. I t is within Banks' Diary of the
Newfoundland expedition t h a t one finds
references t o trout and fly fishing in
North American waters. I have included
entries below which detail Banks' piscatorial adventures.
Page 14
linus fontinalis (brook t r o u t ) o r Salve"Walked o u t Fishing this Morn
linus alpinus (artic char). However, o n
Took great Plenty of small (1) Trouts, his return t o England Banks commissionSalmo [Salvelinus fontinalis Mitch- ed Sydney Parkinson t o execute paintill] 2 8 saw a small Fish in t h e Brooks ings of the specimens obtained during the
Very like English (2) Sticklebacks. ." Newfoundland expedition. Two paintings of "Salmo species" appear in the
2) An undated entry, sometime in Lysaght t e x t ; one has been identified as
alpinus. The species of the other has not
August 1 7 6 6
"So much for Salt water fish t h e been designated by Lysaght b u t is probFresh are in great Plenty t h o b u t of ably fontinalis.
Banks was born of wealthy parents
2 sorts ~ r o u t l l 8and ~ e l s l l gt h e
first of which offered good Diversion o n February 1 3 , 1 7 4 3 in London. He
t o a n angler biting Very well a t t h e was schooled a t Harrow and Eton before
artificial Particularly if it has gold attending Oxford where he studied botabout it [my emphasis] with this any and other allied fields of natural
Peculiaritv in the rivers t h a t thev are history. His father died in 1 7 6 1 leaving
t o be caught in abundance n o where Banks a n ample fortune with which he
b u t in the tide a n d a t n o time b u t was able t o travel world-wide in his purfrom a b o u t t w o hours before high- suit o f rare flora a n d fauna. His travels
water till Ebb in Pools indeed they t o o k him t o Newfoundland (1766), Icealways bite b u t best in sunshining land (1772) and around the world aboard
weather I have seen n o large ones the Endeavor with Cook (1769). Banks
none I believe a b o u t half a Pound in was elected t o Great Britian's oldest sciweight b u t am told that in some Parts entific organization, The Royal Society,
of Nfland they are Very Large."
in May of 1766. He became president of
this august group in 1 7 7 8 and served
The second entry certainly establishes until his death o n June 19, 1820. Banks
Banks as a fly fisherman and strongly was also associated for many years with
suggests t h a t his "Plenty of small ( 1 )
the famous Kew Botanical Gardens.
Trouts" were taken o n an artificial fly.l
Banks collected a plethora of specimens many of which were preserved in 1 ) These passages are q u o t e d directly
from the Lysaght text.
"spirits" and according t o Lysaght included a "Salmo species"2 which has 2) Lysaght refers t o these specimens
incorrectly as Salmo species.
subsequently been identified as Salve-
1) Mav 13. 1 7 6 6
.
Joseph Banks assigned Sydney Park~ T Z S Oan
T ~ ,English illustrator w h o
would later travel with him o n the
Endeavor, t o paint some o f the animals he brought back t o England
with him. This Arctic Char was one
of those. The portrait of Banks was
painted in about 1779 b y J o h n
Russell. B o t h illustrations are provided courtesy of the University of
California Press and Faber and Faber
Limited.
The Charles Murphy Rod
Page 16
We have talked about Charles Murphy
several times in past issues of this magazine, and the basic details of his career
are dlso covered in other books. What
hasn't been done before is publication
of good pictures of his work, so we'll
limit our discussion here primarily to the
rods we have on exhibit in the Museum.
Murphy lived from 1825 t o 1887, and
was a resident of New Jersey when he
gained some fame as a pioneer builder of
split bamboo rods. Though accounts differ, it is agreed that he was among the
very f i s t t o produce a split bamboo rod
in this country (the others including E.
A. Green and Samuel Phillippe), and was
probably the first to build such rods
commercially. It is also widely suspected
that Murphy's work sewed as inspiration,
for the first efforts of Hiram Leonard.
But let's look at the rods.
The upper rod is a three-piece (two
tips) light trout rod, eleven feet, three
inches in length. William Wright 111, who
donated the rod to the Museum, explained that it belonged t o his great
grandfather, Col. Edward H. Wright,
who was an aide to General George B.
McClellan during the Civil War. The rod
has been dated to the period 1868-1875.
The Colonel's name is engraved on the
handle. Mr. Wright suspected that the
rod was never used, and it is in extraordinarily good condition.
The lower rod, of similar length
(twelve feet, three piece), was donated
to the Museum by John Kauffman. It is
inscribed with the name of its original
owner, L. H. Kauffman, and is also in
excellent condition. It was probably
built before 1870. There are three tips,
two mid-sections, and one butt section,
and the weight of the assembled rod is
about seven and a half ounces.
The Murphy rods are at the same
time primitive and sophisticated. They
were built with extremely fine tips, like
earlier buggy-whip action solid wood
rods, and their taper, to a very thick
swelled-butt handle grip, resembled earlier rods as well. In both rods in the
Museum, the tip sections are of fourstrip construction. In the Wright rod,
the mid and butt sections are also fourstrip, which suggests that perhaps this
is the older of the two or that Murphy
built both four- and six-strip rods simul-
taneously. Before 1900, many builders
experimented with numbers of strips (a
few still do today), using anywhere from
three to twelve. The butt and mid sections of the Kauffman rod are six-strip.
Murphy's efforts must have been
quite exciting for him and his few customers; here was a rod material of great
potential (most American anglers had
not even heard of Calcutta Cane before
1870), and here were a few people fortunate enough to try it first. It's easy to
see the similarities between Murphy's
first rods and the solid wood ones built
at that time, but it's just as easy to see
how much his successors, especially his
foremost successor Hiram Leonard, owed
to these prototype rods.
Page 17
Idaho Trout
by Wakeman Holberton
able confusion at t h e time.
A m o n g t h e names given this
fish were Yellowstone Trout,
Salmon Trout, R o c k y Mountain Brook Trout, and Lake
Trout.
Page 18
Reports sent back f r o m t h e high
west b y early sportsmen varied
greatly o n t h e fighting qualities
o f western trout. S o m e found t h e
cutthroat sluggish and unexciting
while others considered i t t h e
finest o f sport. A s w i t h any sportfish, environmental variables and t h e experience o f t h e angler involved probably
had a l o t t o d o with such disagreements.
There was rarely disagreement over the
beauty of t h e f i s h , though, and Wakeman
Holberton expressed t h e sportsman's admi ratio?^ for western trout very well in
this article that appeared in Harper's
Weekly a b o u t 1890.
1 first made the acquaintance of this
beautiful fish while o n a hunting trip in
the far \Vest during the early fall of 1887.
As soon as we reached the neighborhood
of the Yellowstone t h e natives brought
numbers of these trout t o our special car
for sale. A day or t w o later, o n our arrival a t Sand Point, o n magnificent Pend
Oreille Lake, we had our hunting-car
side-tracked t o await better weather. The
anglers in our party immediately made
arrangelnents t o try our skill o n these
beautiful strangers.
of which we had
u
heard so much. \Ye found upon inquiry
that the master-angler of Sand Point was
the telegraph operator, who willingly
aided us in obtaining a boat, and very
kindly guided us t o t h e fisl~ing-grounds
o n the opposite side of the lake. It was
not long before we fell in with a school
of these glistening beauties, and as soon
as we acquired the a r t of striking them
we had our hands full playing and landing these fierce-fighting, leaping fish.
They t o o k t h e fly very gently between
their lips o n the surface of the water,
and then turned t o go down after the
manner of our Atlantic salmon. If struck
t o o soon the fly was jerked from their
mouths, and always failed t o hook them.
I must have missed a dozen before I
hooked my first fish.
They were beauties, running from one
t o t w o pounds in weight. They fought
like tigers. We often hooked two a t a
time, b u t never saved more than one;
the second invariably tore off. There was
a marked difference in color between
the male and female fish. The latter were
much brighter and more silvery, resembling more our land-locked salmon, while
the male fish had dark olive-green backs,
shading into deep gold and vermilion o n
the belly. lloth were thickly sprinkled
with black spots, particularly near t h e
tail. The scenery was extremely wild and
picturesque. Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced Pend de Ray) is a most beautiful sheet of water, strongly resembling
an Italian lake. 'I'he dark green water, intensely clear, contrasted finely with t h e
deep blue sky and great purple mountains. \Ve returned a t sunset t o our car
with a fine lot of these beautiful trout,
which our efficient cook immediately
prepared for supper, and we found t h a t
they were as good as they looked, with
solid pink flesh, juicy, and of delicious
flavor.
The next day we started o n our long
hard ride t o Lake Kanusko, in the region
of "E-Soc-Quet" (Kulluspelm for "The
Perfume of the Pine"), where we went
into permanent camp.
This superb lake, thirty-five miles
long, had never been visited b y white
Inen before-excepting perhaps b y a few
stray surveyors and gold-hunters; it was
literally one immense trout preserve;
thousands of them could be seen, particularly toward evening, breaking and
playing o n the surface of the water. llut
notwithstanding the fact t h a t they probably had never had a fly cast over them
before, they seemed exceedingly shy and
hard t o please. As soon as we approached
within easy casting distance they would
disappear, only t o reappear just o u t o f
reach. I came t o t h e conclusion that their
extreme shyness was largely due t o the
great number of fish-hawks t h a t were
continually diving after them and feeding o n them, so that t h e slightest suspicious motion or shadow caused them t o
retire instantly t o deep water. I had not
been in camp an hour before I was anx-
ious t o try t h e trout. None of our guides,
white or Indian, seemed t o know much
about them. The Siwashes said that they
were "heap plenty, b u t n o take fly": b u t
this they always say. I soon rigged my
little rod, putting o n a "great dun" for a
tail-fly, and a n abbey for a dropper. Taking one of our canvas portable canoes, I
shoved off into the lake. Then came the
question, should I find them near shore,
or o u t in the deep waters of the lake? As
we rode into camp I noticed that we
forded a very likely-looking brook, so I
concluded that would be a good spot t o
begin m y campaign. I t was only a few
hundred yards south of our camp. I
quickly paddled t o this, and with some
difficulty pushed my canoe over the
shallows into the deep dark brook, overhung with bushes and big trees. Just as I
turned the first corner my eyes were
gladdened b y seeing a superb red-bellied
trout fling himself o u t of a dark pool,
scattering silver drops in every direction.
What a beautiful and encouraging
sight for a n angler! But though I cast
m y best, he would not notice my flies.
So, very much disappointed, I paddled
o n u p stream, hoping t o find a more
hungry or obliging victim; b u t n o t a rise
did I get, and I began t o fear that the
Siwashes were right. Presently I f o u n d
further progress stopped b y a fallen tree.
On my way back I stopped and tried my
red-bellied friend again, and, t o my intense delight, he t o o k my tail-fly with a
mad rush, and I struck him good and
solid. Then followed a series of fierce
plunges and ugly rushes that filled my
soul with joy, though I feared every moment he would tear loose; b u t happily
everything held, and once I saw the flash
of his mate below him. He jumped clear
of the water several times, making a most
beautiful picture, with his gold and vermilion sides gleaming in t h e bright sunlight against a background of dark green
water and thick foliage. At last he lay o n
his side, ~ a n t i n gand tired out. To my
horror, I found that I had forgotten my
landing-net, so I took a big fly from my
book, and using it as a gaff, landed my
beautiful stranger safely in the boat.
Proud and happy, I paddled back t o
camp t o show my comrades a sample of
our first Kanusko trout, which, by-theway, weighed a plump two pounds. He
was duly admired, and turned over to
the tender mercies of our cook, who
served him up in fine style a t dinner
shortly afterwards. My experience starte d all the anglers o u t fishing; b u t while
the trout were plenty, they were by no
means easily caught. Experience soon
taught us that it was only just a t sunrise and sunset that they could be easily
deceived.
We remained in this beautiful camp
for four weeks; during this time the anglers of our party kept our table well
supplied; and as there were twenty-five
men in camp, including Indians and
guides, this meant the killing of a goodly
number of fish, the five Siwashes alone
consuming as many as all t h e rest of the
party p u t together.
Every evening, with a dark, silent
Siwash a t the paddle, I used t o fish the
shores of the little islands that thickly
studded this magnificent sheet of water,
and particularly a t the mouth of Vermilion River, just opposite our camp;
here among t h e boiling pools and rapids
the sport was superb. At dusk we would
return home through the cool yellow
twilight, the bottom of our canoes well
covered with glistening specimens of
these black-spotted trout. We never
caught any weighing less than half a
pound or over t w o pounds; the average
weight was about one t o one and a half
pounds. Later, seated around the big
camp-fire, we would exchange our day's
experiences while we watched the dying
glories of the western sky.
On our return t o Sand Point we enjoyed another clelightful evening's fishing
in beautiful Pend Oreille, and then returned t o the land of our own darling
speckled beauties, after one of the most
delightful sporting trips ever enjoyed by
mortal man.
Page 19
New
Exhi bits
Page 20
Visitors to the Museum this summer
will get a first look a t some excellent
new additions to the Museum collection.
Above we picture two different views of
the newly-completed Federation of Fly
Fishermen Fly Collection exhibit. As announced in earlier issues, the Federation
collection is a permanent loan to the Museum. The free-standing panels, which
occupy the center of one exhibit room,
are arranged t o provide the equivalent of
twenty-six feet of wall space. Featured
are flies by many of America's outstanding fly fishers, including Art Flick, Lee
Wulff, John Alden Knight, Theodore
Gordon, G e o r g e LaBranche, Edward
Hewitt, Preston Jennings, and many
others.
Below on the left is the new John
Atherton exhibit, which highlights some
of his personal tackle as well as dry flies,
nymphs, and salmon flies he tied for his
own use. This is part of the John Atherton Collection, donated over the past
several years by Mrs. Atherton.
On the right below is the special new
case built for the Daniel Webster rod,
featured in this magazine a few issues
ago.
1)r. J. R. R o m e y n , a well-known Adirondack angler w h o participated in this stirring debate.
How Trout Take a Fly
A lot better than anglers take a joke
Angling has so many dimensions
that devoted fishermen will never
run short o f things t o disagree
about. In any age, t h e gravity o f
such discussions, whether t h e y
i?zvolve fly pattern, rod material,
or any n u m b e r o f other subjective
issues, seems t o the casual observer t o far
outweigh the real importance o f the issue
itself. Non-fishermen are o f t e n surprised
by h o w intensely anglers defend their
chosen position, as if far more were at
stake than whether or n o t a certain fly
should be used. We think that in t h e following exchange, which appeared in seuera1 issues o f Forest and Stream in December o f 1878, w e may have found t h e
champion o f all such crackerbarrel topics. The basic idea o f t h e discussion is
supremely silly, t h e m a n y contributors
are almost uniformly serious, and the result is an amusing debate that n o w seems
quite pointless. B u t keep in mind that
some o f the people w h o felt compelled
t o contribute t o this dialogue were t h e
leading fishing and fisheries professionals
o f the day: Seth Green, R e u b e n Wood,
Charles Oruis, and Theodore Garlick took
their work and their sport very seriously.
We can only wonder if someday our descendants will pick u p today's magazines
and shake their heads over t h e things we
quarrel about.
New York, Dec. 7, 1878.
Editor Forest And Stream:
In your last number (Dec. 5) y o u say
you never saw a trout knock a fly into
his mouth with his tail-never! Well,
now, I think I have. Until this statement
of yours I had n o d o u b t b u t t h a t I had
seen them take a fly in just that way.
The trout would turn over o n the t o p
of t h e water, slap the fly with his tail,
and I have instantly caught him with the
fly in his mouth. I have caught many
that way; and there comes back t o my
mind's eye and ear a pool, below a
twelve-foot dam o n the Dry Brook, in
Delaware County, N.Y., where late one
summer afternoon I laughed with glee
a t t h e constant recurrence of this acrobatic feat o n the part of t h e trout, and
a t t h e sound of their tails as they slapped
the water.
The trout did n o t use their tails "on
a straight or withdrawing line" so as t o
get the fly in their mouths. The trout
would strike the fly with his tail one
way, and curve his head around from
beneath, in the opposite direction t o
the tail, almost in a circle, and very like
a capital C or G.
In your amusing remarks you say:
"To us the accomplishment of the act
would appear like a n acrobatic feat, and
its apparent accomplishment a trick of
legerdemain." That's a nice bull for you
t o father! Slapping a fly with its tail
would be sleight-of-hand in a trout,
Page 21
would it? For it cannot b e t h a t you
mean it would be legerdemain o n your
part if you were t o apparently accomplish t h e act, etc.? You say, "Ordinary
trout, which are hungry, make straight
f o r the lure." True, they may; perhaps
they always do. But ordinary trout are
n o t always hungry, and ordinary t r o u t
usually act in a different way every time.
Sometimes they play baseball with the
fly with their tails, knocking it into centre field while they make a home run,
and sometimes they catch it o n t h e fly,
as it were, with their tails, or again with
their mouths; and then they'll b u m p
their noses against it and push it away;
or they'll take it and spit it o u t a t you,
notwithstanding all your "wrist-knack;"
or they will come u p and look a t it and
laugh a t y o u ; and I have known them t o
come u p like lightning, t w o feet o u t of
water, turn a full half circle, and come
down head first and pounce o n the fly
as it lay o n the surface of t h e water. I t
did not take any wrist-knack t o h o o k
them then (this was in Willewemoc Lake),
b u t it did take several trials for me t o
learn t o keep my hand still f o r a second
after that lightning flashed, until t h e
trout could turn and get d o w n o n t h e
fly. At first I jerked the latter away t o o
quickly, but, after I had watched a little,
I caught a good many in just t h a t way.
'Then, again, they will n o t bite a t all. I
have, in the clear pools of the Big Indian,
a t low water, seen twenty t r o u t together
a t a time, all lying motionless, head u p a
stream, and I have p u t fly and grasshopper and cricket and worm under t h e
nose of each one, a n d t h e y were n o t
"bold biters," and did n o t come head
on t o the bait. The most I could elicit
was a faint wag of the tail. I t seemed t o
me a sort of wag of recognition, as it
were. The fact is, t h a t the only thing
that you can count o n in a t r o u t is t h a t
you can't count o n him a t all. I d o n o t
say that as a rule t r o u t strike t h e fly
with their tails, but I agree with Mr. Prime
so far t h a t I have often seen them d o so,
and get caught in the mouth.
Geo. W. Van Siclen.
We calmly await the proof o f our
correspondent's assertion t h a t he has
seen a trout flop a fly into its mouth
with its tail. He must possess a n electric
quickness of vision; the t r o u t a gift o f
dexterity most amazing. With a fish-line
all in a heap or coil o n the surface of the
water, the feat is easy enough; b u t fishing as good anglers fish it doesn't come
natural t o the trout. It is only after years
of practice that Savclinus is able t o accomplish it, and most t r o u t die before
they have acquired t h e art. A t r o u t in
the act of making a somersault would
knock the fly away from, a n d not into,
his mouth. Let us illustrate:
Page 22
fine trout, and maybe a few will turn
somersaults for you. Yours truly,
Geo. W. Van Siclen.
New York, Dec. 16, 1878.
Editor Forest And Stream:
Dear Sir-Your diagram o n page 384
(last week's paper) is wrong; a t least,
that is not the way t r o u t come o u t and
strike t h e fly when they strike it with
their tails and catch it in their mouths.
If they struck from beneath with their
tails you would b e right, and undoubtedly they would knock t h e fly away. But
they don't. The trout comes o u t of the
water, turns his tail u p in the air, his
head apparently resting o n the water,
curves the tail over, like the upper right
hand part of a capital G, and slapping
the fly with his tail he knocks t h e fly
down t o t h e surface of the water. Having struck t h e fly as described, he seems
t o reverse t h e action of his muscles, and
with his head curved around from beneath (as I explicitly said in my former
letter), in the opposite direction t o t h e
tail, and very like a capital G (here t h e
head would be t h e lower right-hand corner of t h e letter), he shoots forward and
takes the fly in his mouth. I n this operation he is often caught by t h e tail. Trout
frequently strike natural flies t o the
water in the same way. I have seen them
d o so. I cannot prove it. I d o n o t possess
an electric quickness of vision; b u t I have
studied t r o u t carefully, in their own
haunts, with the lightest of tackle, and
have taken many a basketful, always o n
a fly, for t h e last twenty-two consecutive trout seasons, a n d t h e t r o u t does
possess a gift of dexterity most amazing,
as you correctly remark. I cannot tell
how it might be "with a fish-line all in a
heap or coil o n the surface of t h e water,"
as you suggest, because I don't throw my
fly in t h a t way. There are gentlemen
enough who will read this who can prove
that statement, I guess. And I think you
are mistaken a b o u t its "not coming natural t o t h e trout" t o slap the fly into
his mouth with his tail, because the t r o u t
that I have seen d o it were wild trout,
in their natural state, n o t domesticated
o n liver, etc.; and they were of various
ages, b u t generally from seven t o thirteen inches in length. And I can only
wish t h a t you would accept my oftrepeated invitation t o go u p with me t o
the Beaverhill and Willewemoc so you
might, like Izaak of old, show me "fishing as good anglers fish." I'll show you
Bromfield House, Boston, Dec. 21.If t h e question is n o t already decided,
and t h e tail and fly meeting adjourned,
I would like t o say how it looks from
my rock. A t r o u t may have been known
t o slap a fly with his tail a n d then dexterously turn a n d catch it in his mouth,
and t h e angler striking just in time holds
the fish. All this is possible, b u t I don't
think it necessary t o account for it as
being a premeditated action o n the part
of t h e trout. I prefer t o reason it o u t in
some other way. I could much easier believe the t r o u t had t h e fly i n his mouth
before he turned t h a t somersault, or in
the other instance of t h e o n e t h a t got
caught by the tail, he might have missed
the f l y with his mouth. I have n o t only
caught a few t r o u t o n the fly, b u t have
had some opportunity t o observe their
habits and style when breeding, and
please notice t h a t they always take f o o d
with a dash and never halt where they
take it, b u t go along; or, if rising from a
hiding-place, always return quickly t o
t h a t shelter before swallowing. How
common it is for t w o o r three trout t o
start simultaneously f o r t h e same fly and
go headlong for it; perhaps one secures
it, and all in their haste t o return slap
t h e surface with their tails as they double
back for t h e home run. If the fly was n o t
secured by either, and one happened t o
get caught by his tail, my brain is n o t
fertile enough t o have ever thought t h e
fish were intelligently trying t o "flop
t h e fly" into their mouth with the tail.
I t is simply a difficult and improbable
thing f o r a fish t o do. If proved t h a t they
d o such a thing in isolated instances, I
fail t o see in i t any result of intelligence
or reason in t h e fish, and if i t be t h e exception and n o t t h e rule it should n o t
be noted as a habit. Skeptically yours,
Canada-Newcastle, Ont., Dec. 18.Speaking of fly-fishing, the richest thing
I have read f o r some time was in your
last issue a b o u t the t r o u t knocking the
fly i n t o his mouth with his tail. The
author must have been thinking of the
old rhyme"A little nonsense now a n d then,
Is relished by t h e wisest men."
Your c u t shows where t h e nonsense
comes in.
Sam'l Wilmot, Supt. Hatcheries.
I see in your recent issues a discussion
a s t o whether trout take flies o n the surface by knocking them into their mouths
with their tail. I have never seen anything
of the kind done, but I have seen trout
having a frolic. They would jump o u t of
water and come down on t o p of the fly
and kill or disable it and let it float down
stream. I remember a few times in my
life to have taken good baskets when
they were in this mood. I will tell you
about it if you will n o t tell. I thought i t
pretty cunning when I did i t thirty years
ago, but now i t would be considered unsportsmanlike. I tied several small hooks
on my leader in close proximity t o my
flies, and made the cast in the usual way,
and when the trout jumped and came
down on my fly I would give them a little
of the wrist knack and hook them, but
not in the mouth.
Rochester, Dec. 14, 1878.
Seth Green.
Bedford, Ohio.-Dear Hallock: I think
it all nonsense t o talk about trout flopping the fly into his mouth with his tail.
I have repeatedly seen a trout take a fly
in still, clear water never using his tail for
that purpose except as a propellor t o
move his body.
T. Garlick.
New York - Keeseville, Dec. 20. - I
have read with great interest letters and
remarks indicating experiences of trout,
etc., especially in regard t o trout striking the fly or hook with their tail. Twenty-six years I have passed in the Adirondacks, in annual visits, and have studied
with great care trout and their habits;
and after that experience, I must indorse
what you yourself write in regard t o it.
Dr. J. R. Romeyn.
Vermont-Manchester, Dec. 23. -I did
think I knew a little something about fly
fishing; have been a t it over thirty-five
years; but I begin t o think perhaps I have
been working on the wrong plan all this
time. I suppose the next thing we shall
be told will be that the true gentleman
sportsman scorns t o hook his fish in the
mouth, that the really scientific and artistic way is t o hook them in the tail and
with a "needle point" hook, and that no
gentleman would take such an unfair advantage as t o take two chances (head and
tail) on the poor fish! I had always supposed trout took their "grub alive and
kicking," but according t o some of the
articles I have seen it appears they first
"kill the hare." Now please allow me t o
say "I don't see it," and never have. Have
looked a good many times, and I think
if any one who has fished much with a
fly will remember that when he has
hooked a trout anywhere but in the
mouth he has hooked him every where
in the belly and sides, very seldom in the
back, and not often in the tail. This
proves t o me that as the trout misses his
aim he always passes over or beyond the
fly (or where it was when he rose a t it)
for of course he can't stop instantly, and
as the fisherman strikes the hook is fastened in the belly or sides. Either the
hook the trout leaped a t or the next one
beyond has hooked him just where i t
happened t o hit. I have my doubts about
fish fooling away their time playing around in the open air. I think they feed
on very much smaller insects than we
suppose, and I don't believe they come
o u t of the water very often unless they
see or think they see something they
want t o eat. I had always supposed that
the story about trout slapping the fly
with their tails was "all in the bottle, sir."
C. F. Orvis.
Ronceverte, W. Va., Jan. 8, 1879.
Editor Forest And Stream:
In discussing the grave question as t o
whether a trout knocks a fly into his
mouth with his tail or simply seizes i t
with his mouth in the orthodox way, it
seems t o me that you will have trouble
in deciding so as t o please both sides.
The evidence must be merely of a negative character unless the witnesses should
be speaking of the same particular trout.
One man says he has seen trout play
cricket and catch themselves out; others
say they have not seen any such game
played. In considering the point, therefore, I conceived that the weight of evidence on either side must depend a good
deal on who gives it. The testimony of a
man who has been for twenty-five or
thirty years fishing for trout in all sorts
of places and under all kinds of circumstances, whose eye, naturally quick has
been trained by constant use in the
woods, on the cricket field or in the arduous duty of scouting in active service,
would be worth more than t h a t of a beginner in the art, but i t would take the
evidence of more fly-fishers than read
even the Forest And Stream t o convince
me that any trout ever knocks his food
about before putting i t in his mouth. I
caught many hundreds of trout the past
season, and caught quite a number by
hooking them in various parts of the
body. One day I caught several in one
pool, none hooked in the mouth, inside
of five minutes. They jumped freely, and
in swift water missed the fly, but were
hooked as they went over it. If I were
umpire t o decide for mouth or tail, I
think my reply t o the "how's that?"
would be, mouth! I have never seen the
tail-knocking performance in twenty-five
years successful fishing. Let them keep
on writing about it, though. One of the
great points in making camp life in the
woods is t o keep things lively, never lose
temper, be in a good humor and keep
everybody moving.
C. Clay.
Syracuse, Dec. 20, 1878.
Editor Forest And Stream:
I have taken a few trout a t different
times and places, and have seen them
strike a fly o n the water with their tail,
and hooked them in the caudal appendage by so doing. Now we all know this:
many flies breed and hatch under water.
The fly coming o u t of its larval state rises
t o the surface of the water, and, flying
about four feet, alights o n the water for
a moment's rest t o gain strength before
the next flight, which usually carries
them safely t o shore. Master trout understands this and takes a whack a t him
with his tail, which causes a whirlpool
that draws the fly down into the water
about four inches, and then turns and
takes the fly a t his pleasure, because he
knows that the fly being under water is
entirely in his power as is the insect in
the spider's web. Then he darts quickly
t o his hiding-place t o swallow the sweet
morsel, after which he is ready for the
next object which may come in sight.
Piscatorially yours,
R. Wood.
Putnam. Vt.. Dec. 30. 1878.
Editor Forest And Stream:
I have been very much amused and
entertained by the sketches pro and con
about the trout flopping the fly into its
mouth with its tail. Now I don't see anything very remarkable about that; but
suppose the fly had flopped the trout
into the fisherman's mouth, or the fisherman had flopped the trout into the
fly's mouth, or the tail had flopped the
fly into the fisherman's mouth, or the
fly had flopped the tail into the trout's
mouth, or the flop had flied the mouth
into the trout's tail, or the tail had flied
the flop into the trout's mouth, or the
fly had flopped its tail into its own
mouth, or if the flop had flipped its
head into the trout's mouth, or the
trout had flopped its head into the fly's
mouth, or, or-well, come up t o the
Middle Dam next summer and we will
explain more fully.
Page 23
Salmon Systematics
A Review o f T w o Editions o f George Kelson's Monumental
Book o n Salmon Flies and Salmon Fishing
by Alec Jackson
After 8 5 years, George Mortimer
Kelson's monumental work, The
Salmon Fly: H o w T o Dress It
and H o w T o Use It (1895), has
a second edition. Now, thanks t o
Colonel H. A. Siegel of The Angler's and Shooter's Press, students of the salmon fly and salmon anglers are able t o complete their libraries
a t a cost of $57.50. Currently the first
edition sells for as much as $600.00.
The Salmon Fly is one of the three
most important books which treat classic
salmon flies; many, myself included,consider it the most important. The other
t w o are H o w T o Tie Salmon Flies by
Captain (later Major) J. H. Hale (1892)
and H o w T o Dress Salmon Flies by
Dr. T. E. Pryce-Tannatt (1914). O f the
three, Kelson's book is the largest (over
5 0 0 pages), the broadest in scope (with
many pages devoted t o salmon fishing),
the best illustrated, and the most elegantly produced. When first published i t was
an expensive book, selling for a Guinea
or a b o u t t h e same price as a very good
salmon reel. The Salmon Fly enjoys a
unique position in the literature of fly
dressing since it brought order and system t o the classification of salmon flies
and t h e methodology of salmon fly
dressing.
Even though published in book form
three years later, Kelson's work predates
that of Hale since much of it appeared in
a series of articles in T h e Fishing Gazette
during the 1880's. In fact, evidence that
Hale drew o n Kelson's articles does exist.
For example, in 1885, in a letter t o The
Fishing Gazette, Kelson suggested that
the term furnace should be used for red
hackles with a black list and coch-abonddu for furnace hackles with black
tips. At t h a t time n o one agreed with
him; y e t in 1 8 9 2 when Hale published
his b o o k he followed Kelson's nomenclature (Hale used coch-y-bonddu). An
interesting discussion of this point can
be found in Frank Elder's T h e Book Of
The Hackle (1979).
T w o years ago, Colonel Siegel told me
t h a t he planned t o publish a facsimile
Page 24
edition of The Salmon Fly. Finally, I
have the long awaited b o o k i n hand and
the distinct pleasure a n d privilege of reviewing it. First, however, a few comments a b o u t Kelson himself.
KELSON THE MAN
Jock Scott (D. G. F. R u d d ) in Game
Fish Records (1936) introduces Kelson
to his readers so:
"The late Mr. George M. Kelson
must remain for all time one of
the great figures in the salmonangling world. True he had his
detractors; b u t cannot this b e said
of almost any leading exponent of
the sport?"
and closes with:
"I d o n o t think I should b e unjust
t o other anglers if I described Mr.
Kelson as t h e G. 0. M. of the
sport. His vast experience, technical ability as caster, fly-dresser, inventor and author surely entitle
him t o a very high place in angling
history."
In total, Jock Scott treats his readers
to 1 6 pages of information regarding
Kelson; just a few highlights here.
Kelson belonged t o t h a t celebrated
class of sportsmen which existed during
the late nineteenth century b u t n o longer
survives. Today their feats of endurance,
their practical jokes, their wagers, and
their zest for life sound incredible. As
Kelson's own son observed:
"If people behaved in t h a t way
nowadays they would be locked
11nl''
-r'
Besides being a tireless fisherman,
Kelson was an outstanding athlete, a
fine companion, and a n excellent raconteur. He played cricket for the Gentlemen of England a n d was for some years
the captain of the Kent XI. He won
medals as a steeplechaser and long distance swimmer, was a fine musician, a
good shot, and t h e angling editor of
Land A n d Water. His salmon flies t o o k
first prizes a t the Berlin Exhibition of
1880 and the Norwich Fisheries Exhibi-
tion of 1881. He was t h e winner of severa1 casting tournaments and a judge a t
t h e International Fisheries Exhibition
of 1883.
Always wearing a bowler hat, waterproofed with size and Acme black and
with his casts wound round it, he fished
f o r salmon in almost every part of t h e
British Isles. Unlike most other great
salmon anglers, he fished many different
rivers and t h e fly was t h e only method
he employed. During his life he caught
over 3,000 salmon. Kelson was a tough
and hardy individual: one cold spring
day, he hooked a n d practically killed a
salmon; when his line fouled a snag o n
the opposite bank he stripped, dove i n t o
the icy water, and retrieved the fish.
There is a four page foreword t o the
second edition b y Poul Jorgensen. Jorgensen, though an innovative and creative flytier, is n o t a salmon flytier in t h e
mold of Kelson. In his b o o k Salmon
Flies (1978), Jorgensen recommends substitutes for difficult t o obtain feathers.
Kelson abhorred substitution and even
castigated Tommy Brayshaw for using a
moulted feather. The selection of Jorgensen t o write a foreword t o Kelson's
b o o k is akin t o adding water t o scotch.
Kelson must have turned over in his
grave! In fairness t o Jorgensen, I am obligated t o acknowledge his contribution
t o the resurgence of interest in classic
salmon flies a n d the art of dressing them.
Without the present interest in full dressed salmon flies, largely stimulated by
writers such as Jorgensen, we would still
be waiting for the second edition of The
Salmon Flv.
As a flytier, Kelson ranked with the
best; as a judge of flies he was renowned.
Friends once attempted t o get a rise o u t
of him by carefully dressing a fly t o his
pattern, but substituting a feather in an
inconspicuous part of the fly. When
shown the fly, Kelson inquired who had
been tying while under t h e influence.
Kelson died in 1 9 2 0 a t t h e age of 84.
Few have had such wide a n d varied experiences; thus, his views are important.
However, Kelson a n d some of his ideas
are controversial.
KELSON'S FIRST AND SECOND
EDITIONS CONTRASTED
There are some differences between
the first and second editions of The
Salmon Fly which require note.
The first edition is b o u n d in heavy
maroon boards which are beautifully
embossed in gold. The boards of the
second edition are lighter and the embossing is poor, particularly the salmon
fly o n t h e front cover. The cloth used t o
bind the second edition is of a different
texture and color t o t h a t used for the
first edition. Gilt is n o t used o n the top
edge of t h e second edition. No d o u b t
these differences are due t o efforts by
The Angler's and Shooter's Press t o keep
the price of the second edition within
reason and reach of all.
An outstanding feature of the first
edition is the eight stone lithographs of
salmon flies. These have been faithfully
reproduced in t h e second edition. In
fact, the color plates of the second edition are more brilliant than those in my
copy of the first. The plates of the seco n d edition are available as a set for the
price o f $12.50, truly a bargain considering t h a t another company is asking
$100.00 per set for reproductions of
Kelson's plates.
The final section of the first edition
has n o t been included in t h e second edition. This is n o t a serious omission since
the missing pages contain little of relevance t o the modern salmon angler,
treating only such topics as "limits" and
"seasons" for various British rivers during t h e late 1800's.
Jorgensen's foreword is lacking in
several areas. Jorgensen goes only part
way down the path toward explaining
t h e place of Kelson's book in salmon
fly literature. His treatment of Kelson's
place in history is superficial and a t
times reveals Jorgensen's lack of familiarity with t h e original literature. A small
point b y way of example, Jorgensen
Page 25
...
. . . ."
writes, "In 1892.
. .Major D. H. Hale
I wonder if Jorwrote his book. .
gensen has ever seen a first edition of
Hale. The title page clearly states "By
Captain Hale." Jorgensen fails to mention Kelson the man, neglects to discuss
the controversies started by Kelson, and
does not provide a satisfactory bridge
between ICelson's time and the present
day. He completely abdicates his responsibility to guide the modern reader to
those portions of the book which are
still valid and conversely to identify
those portions which are outdated or
open to discussion.
All of the foregoing is not intended
to imply that the second edition of The
Salmon Fly is a book of little merit or
low quality. In fact, the opposite is true;
Colonel Siege1 has done an outstanding
job with a book of considerable historical
significance. The only purpose of the
foregoing is to contrast the second edition with the first. Now to the book in
hand and its content.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
The Salmon Fly is a book to be studied; it is a book which requires careful
reading and much contemplation. Eric
Taverner in Salmon Fishing ( 1 9 3 1 ) says:
"It is, indeed, a great pity that the
record of what was a s ~ l e n d i dachievement, upon which his fame
will always rest secure, was expressed in such obscure and verbose language. There are passages
that make Frank's Drose seem a
model of precision and simple
directness! "
Tony George, in a recent article titled
"Famous Salmon Anglers" (Trout and
Salmon, September 1979), states, "The
Salmon Fly is barely readable." Such
criticisms, though overstatements of fact,
are not without foundation. Unquestionably, the concentration required to read
Kelson is responsible, at least in part, for
much of the controversy which surrounds the man. Salmon literature contains many examples which demonstrate
how poorly some of his ideas and suggestions have been understood. Kelson
must accept some, but not all, of the
responsibility for this. Some well known
authors must share equally in the responsibility. A couple of examples will illustrate this point.
Besides its extraordinarily good color
plates, Kelson's book contained numerous other illustrations, including many
pies. Here are a few, from the t o p of the
page: a Black Ranger, Variegated Sun
Fly, Beaconsfield, a pattern included for
instructional purposes, and a Butcher.
Page 26
Many who read Kelson conclude that
he advocated the use of a large number
of fly patterns. However, Taverner, in
Salmon Fishing, informs us (and correctly so):
". . . . .that in practice, Kelson
used very few patterns and regarded the assembling of the great
mass of patterns he described in
his book as serving a historical
rather than a practical end."
Terry Thomas, writing in R. V.
Righyni's book Salmon Taking Times
(1965), says:
"Kelson, in the 'eighties, advocated bright gaudy flies because he
believed salmon fed on butterflies,
moths, caterpillars and the like."
Thomas is of the opinion that Kelson
thought he was imitating insects. This is
not the case. At certain times and under
particular conditions Kelson did imitate
insects that salmon had been observed
feeding on but, as a general rule, he did
not suggest salmon flies imitate insects.
Careful reading of The Salmon Fly makes
this evident. Early in his book, Kelson
writes:
"In classifying his flies the salmonangler stands at a disadvantage as
compared with the Trout-fisher.
The latter has a basis of classification ready made for him by Nature. His path is already trodden
smooth for him by the entomologist, so that in following his principle of imitation, he had but to
study the habits and habitants, the
times and seasons, that distinguish
the several natural classes represented by his 'duns' and 'spinners,'
his 'midges' and 'gnats,' his 'sedges'
and 'palmers'; ephemeridae, Phryganeidae, and so forth. The Salmon-angler, on the contrary, has,
as a rule (exceptions are duly recorded in this book), t o fall back
on artificial classification. He betakes himself t o nature only on
rare, but notable, occasions."
.
on salmon fly dressing. These notes were
loaned t o Taverner while he was working
on his book Salmon Fishing. At that time
they were in the possession of G. H. Nall
(author of The Life Of The Sea Trout ?).
I would like t o hear from any reader who
knows of their current whereabouts.
Kelson warns that his book may not
be entertaining and may even be dry. He
notes that his intention is t o please by
instructing and not instruct by pleasing.
Kelson was aware of the misunderstanding and controversy surrounding his
ideas; he notes that he will attempt to
correct this situation. In this task he
failed, even aggravating existing feuds.
His book Tips was published in 1901 in
a further attempt at reconciliation with
his critics. From this source, it is apparent that The Salmon Fly provided new
fuel for those who ridiculed him. Kelson's sparring with such notables as
Baden Powell are legend.
Chapter I of The Salmon Fly, the
Introduction, is largely devoted t o Kelson's plea for more system (science). He
details his reasons for wanting system
and the benefits t o be derived from system: system in fly dressing, system in
fly selection, system in fly presentation,
system in the selection and use of tackle.
He offers his own system and warns:
"In advocating 'system,' I must
guard against the supposition that
I am about t o offer a complete
scheme of Salmon-fishing. All I
can d o is t o point t o the need of
some further light, and offer my
modest contribution a t whatever
its worth may be. Dare I hope that
it may be the nucleus for the valuable experience of other Anglers
and the seedling of a great consistent 'system'.
A complete 'system' is probably beyond any man's power,
and is certainly beyond my own."
That Kelson was successful in pointing
the way, starting us down the path and
much more, cannot be denied when one
considers the modest achievements since
his day.
KELSON THE INTELLECTUAL GIANT
The early pages of The Salmon Fly
are packed with evidence showing the
intellectual genius of Kelson and just
how far in advance of his times he was.
His inquiring mind, his analytical approach, his drive for perfection, and his
creative ability still live, jumping from
the pages to infect the willing reader.
The Preface to his book is relatively
short. In it, he informs the reader that
the book was published as a response to
many requests for written instructions
on dressing salmon flies and acknowledges his debt t o A. H. Gribble, one of
his students. Gribble's notes were used to
formalize Kelson's written instructions
Kelson acknowledges that the route
to a complete system will be hard to
find since the guideposts will be few and
often misleading. He warns that mistakes
will be made and does not exclude himself from such mistakes. In his own oblique way he warns us that his book may
contain, as it does, some misleading
guideposts. He suggests that the tools
we must use t o arrive at a complete system include both known facts that can
only be developed by observation and
experimentation. He urges us to exercise our brains, t o collect, t o compare,
to classify, and t o generalize; he points
out that the more facts we have, the
better will be our inductions. With regard
to observation he cautions:
". . .that observation is of value
in proportion as it is accurate; and
that really accurate observations
are not so common as might be
, thought. Eminent scientists have
testified how difficult it is even
for a man of superior intelligence
t o keep distinct what he actually
sees from what he thinks he sees."
In Kelson's opinion:
"It is in the choice of flies that so
much yet remains t o be done in
the way of observation and experiment."
Little has changed since his day; still:
"The facts we must build on are
the habits and tastes of the Salmon, as affected by the variety of
his natural surroundings, the predisposition he evinces for certain
shades of colour and certain types
of flies, the variations of water and
weather, and above all by the mischief brought about by the preceding efforts of Fishermen destitute
of all practical knowledge."
So much of what Kelson offers is as
valid today as when it was first written.
Consider:
"Men call Salmon 'capricious'; but
is not the term a cover for their
own ignorance about the habits of
the fish and the flies they show
them, rather than the truthful representation of facts? No one has
proved wanton inconsistency on
the part of the fish. We may depend on it, that Salmon instinctively and undeviatingly act according t o certain predispositions
obey fixed natural laws, and are
never troubled with 'intellectual'
originality, even of a rudimentary
type."
...
That Kelson viewed the salmon fly
as an ever changing and evolving creation
is clear from such statements as:
"Blacker was, in his day, a champion 'dresser', but it would have
been a case of almost incredible
stagnation if the art he helped so
much t o promote had made no
progress since his time."
and:
"Let me not be misapprehended.
I wish especially t o attribute its
(Francis Francis's A Book On Angling) full value to this great collection of fly patterns. But what I
advocate most earnestly, is the logical step forward from all such
data, if only from the simple fact
that so many of the feathers we
employ now are far more suited
to the object in view."
Kelson's Sun flies, and the manner in
which they extended fishing times to
periods of bright sunshine, are introduced in Chapter I along with his now discarded idea that the salmon could be educated over a period of years t o take
specific flies. However, these topics must
be reserved for later consideration.
KELSON ON SALMON FLIES:
THE HEART O F THE ROOK
For me Chapters 11, 111, and IV are
the heart of The Salmon Fly and require
b u t little comment here. I t is in these
three chapters that Kelson is a t his best.
Chapter 11, "Salmon Flies: Their
Kinds, Qualities And Materials," is particularly valuable. Kelson's approach t o
the classification of salmon flies, or1 t h e
basis of wing type, is presented. This
system of classification is still used and
preferred by most salmon fly dressers.
Several pages deal with t h e necessary
qualities of salmon flies and are required
for all who would tie salmon flies of a n y
type. The balance of t h e chapter considers in depth t h e materials used in t h e
construction of salmon flies.
Chapter 111, "Salmon Flies: How T o
"Dress" Them," contains t h e finest instructions ever written o n t h e a r t of
dressing classic salmon flies. Kelson's instructions are both complete and clear:
they reflect t h e care and time devoted t o
their preparation. Even though Kelson
tied without a vise, holding t h e hook in
his left hand, his techniques are of value
t o t h e modern tier.
Chapter IV, "A List Of About 300
Standard Flies With Their Dressings," is
one of the longer chapters i n the book.
This list still remains t h e best and most
complete t h a t I am aware of. The specific dressings given are accepted as true
and are followed by many fly dressers.
Kelson's list is a valuable and important
reference for all who dress classic flies t o
fish with o r for show.
KELSON ON THE CHOICE O F FLIES
The weakest and most provoking part
of The Salmon Flv is Chapter V, "The
Choice Of Flies." ?.'his chapter contains
many of Kelson's controversial ideas and
also some of his more obscure and verbose language. For me, it is t h e most,difficult part of the book t o understand. I
am compelled t o ask if t h e a u t h o r might
have advanced some of his suggestions as
a practical joke o r o u t of sheer devilment
with the specific intent of provoking his
detractors. A detailed review of this
chapter is beyond t h e space available;
however. a few items must be considered.
Kelson was a strong advocate o f what
he termed contrasts. For example, he
suggested t h a t if you followed a n unsuccessful fisherman you should use a
fly which contrasted with his; if he used
Page 28
a dark fly t h e n you should use a bright
fly. He also recommendeil t h e use o f
contrasting flies when fishing a "catch"
over again from t h e opposite bank. For
inactive fish and bright days he develope d t w o special flies, the "Variegated Sun
Fly" a n d the "Black Fancy." He tells us
t h a t the "Variegated Sun Fly" must be
small, a size four or smaller being the
most useful. For stale fish, Kelson suggested rousing them b y t h e use of exaggerations, usually large and garish flies.
After rousing t h e fish, he changed t o a
smaller and more somber fly for the
hooking of t h e fish. The validity of these
ideas and suggestions has been accepted
by many outstanding salmon anglers,
one British angler evep going so far as
t o use a n artificial minnow t o rouse
stale fish.
Kelson also advanced in t h e strongest
of terms t h e opinion t h a t salmon in a
particular river could be "educated" over
a period of years t o take specific flies
foreign t o t h e river. Today, he is still
criticized for this opinion. Many have
pointed o u t t h a t over a period of several
years t h e angler presents his flies t o different generations of fish; thus, t h e opportunity for "education" (over a period
of years) does n o t exist.
One major topic addressed b y Kelson
in this chapter is: what d o salmon take
our flies t o be? He concludes t h a t they
mistake them for natural insects, his
principal reason f o r this being that he
had observed salmon taking natural insects a n d had, a t times, caught them o n
imitations of t h e natural when everything else failed. When reading this section, i t is easy t o understand how some
have concluded t h a t Kelson thought he
was imitating natural insects with all of
his flies; y e t careful reading shows that
this was not the case. Kelson makes his
position clear when he states:
"Have n o t our acknowledged unmistakable fancy flies a far greater
attraction at times for all rising
Trout than those dressed s o delicately and so truthfully as t o be
the facsimile of Nature herself?
. . . . . .Often a n d often will Trout
take the most fancy pattern ever
introduced, whilst in certain seasons (the May-fly season, for instance) they decline t o notice our
book flies unless they are dressed
true t o Nature. It is the very same
thing with Salinon. "
KELSON ON TACKLE
AND TECHNIQUES
Chapters VI, VII, and VIII, t h e last
three chapters, contain little of interest
for modern salmon anglers. However.
these chapters should be of interest t o
collectors of angling equipment and an-
gling historians.
Chapter VI, "The Rod And Special
Equipment," treats t h e tackle o f Kelson's day. Even though this chapter contains little of interest for today's anglers,
it would be a gross omission t o leave i t
vriithout noting our d e b t t o Kelson for
the contributions he made t o the development of our equipment; f o r example,
his contributions in such fields as rod
design, line design (finishes), and reel
design t o mention b u t a few.
c h a p t e r VII, "The R o d A t The Xiverside," is another long chapter. The first
half discusses t h e methods of casting
with t h e long a n d heavy rods s o popular
in Kelson's day and still seen o n some
rivers. The second half of t h e chapter
treats a variety of subjects ranging from
the many and various factors which influence t h e behavior of salmon through
the construction of such things as water
gauges and artificial lies (for fish) t o the
playing and landing of fish. It touches o n
such topics as angling clothes, wading,
and striking.
Chapter VIII, "Miscellaneous," considers a variety of subjects. F o r example,
several pages are devoted t o silkworm
gut. Fly boxes and other miscellaneous
items of equipment are discussed and
hints given for their care.
There remains b u t one task, and that
is t o compare The Salmon Fly with other
books published by The Angler's and
Shooter's Press, a press with a reputation for fine books. Fortunately, this
is a simple task since the press is both
small and relatively new, having previously published only three angling books.
These are:
Sage, Dean. The Ristigouche And
Its Salmon Fishing With A Chapter 0 7 1
Angling Literature (1973).
Woods, Shirley, E. Angling For
Atlantic Salmon (1976).
Hubert, Joseph P. Salmon-Salmon
With A Chapter On Iceland (1979).
Both the Sage and the Hubert are
superb limited editions, probably the
finest angling books ever produced in
North America, and as a consequence
expensive. The Woods is a well produced
limited edition, b u t much less elegant
than the Sage o r Hubert and consequently much less expensive, being comparable in price t o the Kelson. All factors
considered, the Kelson represents the
best value for money of the four books.
I'm confident that those who own a first
edition of Kelson will want t o acquire a
copy of t h e second edition t o "protect
their investment" and t h a t others will
want t o purchase a copy t o complete
their libraries. I have n o hesitation whatsoever in recommending t h e book t o all
with an interest in salmon flies and
salmon fishing.
Books
THE BIRCH BARK BOOKS
OF HENRY ABBOTT
by Henry Abbott, with a n introduction
by Vincent Engels, Harbor Hill Books,
P.O. Box 407, Harrison, New York,
10528, 1980, 2 5 4 pages, $1 9.95.
For the really hard-core collector of
American angling books, t h e absolute
zealot for whom t h e rarest books are t h e
most tantalizing challenges, there could
never be t o o many Henry Abbotts. Beginning in 1914, A b b o t t published privately a series of small books that told of
various episodes he enjoyed in the Adirondacks. These were printed, one a year,
usually for presentation t o his friends a t
Christmas, the nineteenth and last of
them appearing in 1932. A b b o t t was 8 2
when this last volume was published.
Though none of the books was much
more than 5 0 pages (small pages a t that),
together they constitute a most refreshing and lighthearted chronicle of one
man's sporting experiences i n the Adirondack wilderness. And, since they were
printed in extremely small numbers,
they are one of the last great challenges
for book collectors; only t w o complete
sets of the nineteen are known t o exist.
Harbor Hill Books, who have recently
reprinted other hard-to-obtain Adirondacks volumes (Wild Northern Scenes,
by Hammond, 1857, and Woods and
Waters, by Street, 1 8 6 1 ) , have a t last
made the A b b o t t books available for
those of us who can't devote the next
twenty years t o ferreting t h e m o u t one
by one. The books were small enough
that this new edition can get four of
Abbott's pages (numbers included) o n
one of the new pages. All of Abbott's
Caught by the rudder, an illustration from
one of the Abbott books.
surprisingly good photographs are included, as are some useful maps. An informative a n d respectful essay o n Abbott
is provided b y Vincent Engels, author of
Adirondack Fishing in the 1930's (reviewed n o t long ago in these pages).
Books of this type, t h a t is books
a b o u t personal outdoor experiences t h a t
are privately printed for limited distribution, are more often than n o t awful self-conscious, boring, a n d full of t h e
kind of social posturing only friends will
p u t u p with (and they d o so only because they get mentioned i n t h e book).
Abbott's writing is n o t like that. In fact,
it's actually pretty nice. The stories have
just the m o o d he apparently wanted
them t o have, a comfortable "old shoe"
warmth that makes this collection wonderful armchair reading. This makes them
of interest t o many readers, b u t they will
b e of special interest t o Adirondack enthusiasts, who will recognize many names
and places in Abbott's narrative. A b b o t t
is a n intriguing character, a n d we recommend this book. As way of additional
evidence of just how intriguing, we will
explain t h a t when he wasn't i n t h e
Adirondacks he was a jeweler and a n inventor of real achievement. According
t o Engels, A b b o t t invented, among other
things, the first practical mechanism t o
allow a watch t o be wound a n d its hands
t o be set from one stem, the hinge o n the
arms of eyeglasses, a n d a device called
the Calculagraph, which f i s t automated
the process b y which t h e telephone company measures the time of long-distance
calls. Too bad he didn't write a book
a b o u t all that, too.
P.S.
THE ADIRONDACK PARK:
A POLITICAL HISTORY
by Frank Graham, Jr. Alfred A. Knopf,
New York, 1978, 3 1 4 pages, $15.00.
Frank Graham, Jr., a field editor of
Audubon magazine, has written a responsible, well thought-out, and thoroughly
researched book o n evolving American
attitudes towards nature. His subject is
New York State's vast Adirondack Park,
a region containing t h e largest wilderness
area in t h e populous eastern United
States. The six-million acre park is a place
where sporting adventures can still be
had. In itself, t h a t is n o t surprising b u t
that so many a n d varied recreational opportunities remain available is. Put another way, how lucky we are t o still have
the confidence enjoyed o n e hundred
years ago b y the Reverend William
Murray (author of t h e 1 8 6 9 bestseller,
Adventures in the Wilderness) t h a t there
is enough space for all in the Adirondacks.
Verplanck Colvin, the man responsible for t h e nineteenth century topographical survey of northern New York
was one of the f i s t t o propose t h a t the
State preserve t h e region as a park. In
one of his reports he wrote:
Few fully understand what the
Adirondack wilderness really is.
I t is a mystery even t o those
who have crossed and recrossed
it b y boats along its avenues, t h e
lakes; a n d o n f o o t through its
vast and silent recesses .
. ..
T o a greater extent than many are willing t o admit, his sentiments are valid toPage 29
day. Graham's book, though obviously
no substitute for being there, is an excellent way to start learning about the
original "North Woods." It is a worthy
companion on any bookshelf to such
classics as Hans Huth's Nature and the
American (New York, 1957) and Roderick Nash's Wilderness and the American
Mind (New Haven, 1967). Do not let the
subtitle "A Political History" put you
off. Graham makes us aware of basic issues (To wit, how can the wilderness be
preserved while at the same time making
wilderness and its potential values accessible to a large public?), but keeps us entertained along the way.
This is an important book. Not only
is it a serious Adirondack history, but
also it is a timely chronicle of over a
century of struggle between exploitation
and conservation.
Sportsmen have played major roles
on both sides of the conflict. Witness
the blithe plundering of the Reverend
G. W. Bethune and his Lake Piseco Trout
Club in the 1840's or the sentiments of
w r i t e r a n d p i s c i c u l t u r i s t A. Nelson
Cheney who by 1883 maintained "it is
not all of fishing to fish." My one regret
is that Graham chose not to devote more
attention to the sporting life and its undeniable impact on the Adirondacks past
and present.
Edward Comstock, Jr.
Edward Comstock, Jr. is a former curator
at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, N. Y. and now runs Wildwood
Enterprises in Old Forge, N.Y., a store
specializing in old Adirondack and sporting books and prints.
AELIAN ON FLY FISHING
by Claudius Aelian, with foreword by
J. R. Adams. Poole Press, 1170 Keeler
Avenue, Berkeley, California, 94708,
1979, xiv & 20 pages, $17.50.
Among the most intriguing and regularly reinterpreted passages from angling
literature is Aelian's brief description of
fly fishing in Macedonia. The Poole Press
has chosen this short passage for a nicely
made miniature book (roughly two and
three quarters by two and one quarter
inches). The copy presented to the Museum is number sixteen of an edition
of 250.
Miniatures, which are by their very
nature novelty items in the minds of
most people, are hard to review. The
publisher takes grave risks with a text
so short that each word is a measurable
fraction of the whole. The miniature
proportions are probably the single most
important feature of the book, both as a
book and as a collector's item, and this
one looks just fine. It can be hoped that
Poole Press will find the response to this
first book good enough to continue with
other similar angling miniatures (John
Donne's "The Bait" comes t o mind as a
likely candidate).
When they do, they might be more
careful about textual details. Jim Adams'
introduction, which occupies about half
the book and reviews several previous interpretations of the Aelian text, contains
several glaring spelling errors ("Foreward" for foreword, "Schwiebelt" for
Schwiebert, "Roland" for Ronalds). In a
book this size even one sxch error is far
too many.
P.S.
COLLECTING OLD FISHING TACKLE
by Art and Scott Kimball. Aardvark
Publications, Box 252, Boulder Junction,
Wisconsin, 545 12, 1980, 200 pages,
$15.00.
JAMES HEDDON'S SONS
CATALOGUES
by Clyde A. Harbin, CAH Enterprises,
1105 Marlin Road, Memphis, Tennessee,
38116, 1977, $42.50.
Judging from the number of inquiries
we get at the Museum regarding non-fly
fishing history and tackle, we feel safe in
assuming that many of our members are
avid collectors of other kinds of tackle.
For that reason we figure we ought to
make sure you know about these two
books. The first is new, published as a
large-format paperback. The Kimballs
have provided us, mostly, with a photographic guide to all types of tackle, especially casting reels and lures, but with
sections on rods as well. They are planning a secondvolume, to expand on what
is already a formidable effort. The book
contains notes on many major manufacturers, and will serve as more than a starting point for any collector in need of information. Since the subject is largely
outside the scope of this Museum's normal functioning, we aren't prepared to
pass judgment on the information provided; there is more here on tackle collecting than we've seen in any other one
place, in any case.
Even more completely removed from
our normal scope, but probably of equal
interest to members who collect tackle,
is the phone-book sized, spiral-bound reprint of many past Heddon catalogs. It
amounts to an enormous guide to collectors of tackle, with additional notes
and specifications by its collator, Clyde
Harbin. That really sums up what the
book does, and to those who are collecting tackle it will be obvious how valuable
reprints of catalogs from many years
between 1903 to 1953 could be.
There is a huge gulf between fly fishermen and other fishermen. The fly fishing "fraternity," with its many selfrighteous airs and obsessions, speaks a
radically different language than that
spoken by the bass tournament crowd.
We spell words differently. We lean on
different catch-phrases. We seem almost
to have different reasons for fishing.
Books like these, whatever else they may
do, suggest that perhaps the gap isn't
that big after all; we're all fascinated by
our tackle and its history, and for some
of us the pursuit of tackle may even supplant the pursuit of fish as the first order
of business in the sport. If you are one
of this latter group, these two books will
certainly help you on your way.
"Making a carry" between two
lakes in the Adirondacks, in this
case Fifth and Sixth Lakes of
the Fulton Chain.
Page 30
Museum News
ANNUAL MEETING AND
AWARDS DINNER
This year's Annual Meeting was an
important one for many reasons. Several
significant issues were discussed at the
Business Meeting of Trustees and Members, issues that will greatly affect the
future of the Museum.
Foremost among these is the search
for a permanent home for the Museum.
Since its founding, there has been discussion of the need for a building to
house the Museum's collections and exhibits. The warm and comfortable relationship between the Museum and the
Owis Company, from whom we currently rent both our exhibit rooms and our
storage building, has made such discussions seem rather academic, and t o date
the investigations of possible homes have
not been pursued with any urgency. At
the Annual Meeting in May, however,
President Leon Martuch announced that
these investigations were now going to
move into a new phase, prompted in part
by the Museum's steady growth and general maturing as an institution. A Building Committee has been established
which will investigate in a formal manner
the options and opportunities of such
directions as endowment funds and
building drives. The committee is composed of Trustees whose experiences in
similar fund-raising work, as well as in
architecture and real estate, give them
the kind of background needed to prepare a solid report with recommendations on how the Museum should proceed. This one topic consumed a large
portion of the business meeting, as many
preliminary decisions will be necessary
before any planning can begin. Considering the state of the economy, the committee faces a formidable challenge, and
their progress will be reported on in this
magazine.
Among other topics covered at the
meeting was the need to increase membership rates, as discussed elsewhere in
this Museum News section.
The Trustees adopted a resolution of
sympathy and esteem regarding the late
Captain Raymond Kotrla, who served
for many years as Museum Trustee and
for two years as Museum President. The
Resolution was in the form of a letter
to Mrs. Kotrla.
A great many new Trustees were added to the Board, as listed on the inside
front cover of the magazine. New this
year were Art Agnew, Paul Bofinger,
Robert Buckmaster, Hoagy Carmichael,
Errol Champion, Will Godfrey, Alec
Jackson, Bud Lilly, Nick Lyons, John
Merwin, and Chuck Nelson.
The Avalanche Motel here in Manchester did its usual outstanding job with
all dinner arrangements. A last minute
illness forced Frank Woolner to cancel
his scheduled talk, but John Merwin,
Editor of Rod and Reel Magazine and of
the recent book Stillwater Trout, came
to the rescue on very short notice with
a fascinating slide presentation on outdoor photography.
With his customary flair and informality, President Leon Martuch presented the Museum's President Award
to three individuals whose services to the
Museum have been outstanding. Dick
Finlay, one of our original Trustees, was
given the award for his countless services
in many capacities, from Registrar to expert advisor. Arnie Abramson, Omis's
master craftsman, was recognized for the
many fine exhibit cases and other items
he has built for us. Mike Haller, whose
splendid color photographs and graphic
design have graced this magazine for the
past year and half, was honored for the
hundreds of hours of time and talent he
has donated to this work. The final award
presented was the most exciting, as Museum Trustee Martin Keane was given the
Arnold Gingrich Award for his many
contributions to the history and appreciation of classic fly rods and tackle.
Marty's book, Classic Rods and Rodmakers, has become the standard text
for collectors, and has been hailed both
for its celebration of the art of rod making and its exhaustive research. In some
ways, Classic Rods and Rodmakers has
been singularly influential in spreading
an appreciation for the worth of fine
rods and their history. The Gingrich
Award is in the form of a framed certificate, customarily accompanied by an
appropriate gift. In Marty's case, the
gift was six original John Atherton flies,
donated by Mrs. Atherton for such
purposes.
The presentation was followed by our
usual fund-raising auction, with Colonel
Henry Siege1 presiding as auctioneer.
Hank's performance as auctioneer has
become part of the tradition of the Museum meeting, and this year's total exceeded any previous meeting auction, as
over $4,500 was raised. There were many
exciting prizes, but as usual the most
Page 31
spirited bidding was for the hand-crafted
items, such as John Atherton flies and
one of Clint Byrnes' fine trout nets. We
can't list all of the prizes, but perhaps
the most hotly sought item was a set of
three exquisite salmon flies mounted in
a shadow box; the flies were tied and
brought to the dinner by Helen Shaw,
famed fly tier and author.
The Officers and staff of the Museum
wish t o thank all of you who participated
in this meeting for making it such a
memorable evening.
ABOUT AUCTIONS
In the past two years, auctions have
become a major part of the Museum's
operation; this year alone we've raised
close to $17,000, a substantial portion
of our operating budget, from fund-raising auctions. What's more, we have hopes
that we can rely even more on this kind
of fund-raising in the future. The fundraising auction is a respected and enjoyable way for many good causes to help
support themselves.
But the Museum is in a different position than an organization like the Federation of Fly Fishermen or Ducks Unlimited, since we have possessions of our
own, many of which are extraordinarily
valuable. There is the chance that some
people might get the impression that we
are selling these treasures in order to
support ourselves. We want t o assure all
our friends that this is not the case. All
items offered at the Museum's auctions
are either solicited by us specifically for
auction (like new fly rods, and recent
books).
,, or are donated to the Museum
for auction purposes. We don't sell anything from the permanent collection of
valuable rarities without prior approval
of the donor and the Officers of the
Museum.
The collection of the Museum is a
permanent trust we hold for the public.
It would be self-defeating, as well as unprofessional, for us to violate that trust.
3M GRANT TO MUSEUM
The Museum has received a generous
grant from the 3M Corporation. The
grant includes funds with which t o purchase the entire microfilms of two important early sporting periodicals, The
Spirit of the Times and Forest and
Stream. These two periodicals span almost a century of American angling history, and document in great detail the
developments of the sport. Their cost
will be approximately $1,500, and the
films will become part of the Museum's
permanent reference library. Even more
importantly, the same grant provides us
with one of 3M's excellent new microfilm readers, so that staff members can
Page 32
conduct research right in the office.
This is a magnificent addition to the
Museum's reference library. Combined
with our growing collection of other
periodicals, these microfilms will greatly
improve our research capability. We cannot thank 3M enough for their gift.
MUSEUM SLIDE PROGRAM
POPULAR
According to a recent report we received from Eric Pettine, national coordinator of the Federation of Fly Fishermen's Audio-Visual program, the Museum's slide program has proven to be one
of the most popular offerings in their
fine catalog. In the f i s t four months of
1980, the program was shown 23 times.
The Museum's slide program is about
sixteen minutes long and features taped
narration by the well-known actor and
angler William Conrad. Any group can
borrow the program from the F.F.F.
Audio-Visual Center in their area; if you
belong to a group that would like t o
know more about the Museum, the slide
program is an excellent way to learn.
rangements you work out are your concern, as are any difficulties encountered.
Any takers?
We have available the following back
issues of the Museum magazine: Vol. I,
Nos. 3 and 4; Vol. 11, Nos. 2, 3, and 4;
Vol. IV, No. 2; Vol. V, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and
4; Vol. VI, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4; Vol. VII,
No. 1. These are available for $3.00 each
from the Secretary, The Museum of
American Fly Fishing, Manchester, Vermont, 05254. Volume V, Number 1 is
an index of the first five years of the
magazine. Volumes I and 11, as well as
Volume 111 through Number 3, are 24
pages without color. All issues since
Volume 111, Number 4, are 32 pages
with color.
MEMBERSHIP RATE INCREASE
At the Annual Meeting of the Board
of Trustees in May it was resolved to
raise the two lowest rates of membership
in the Museum. Associate Membership
will now cost $20.00 and Sustaining
Membership will now cost $30.00. Treasurer Leigh Perkins pointed out that when
magazine printing costs, membership
processing (some of you wait for the
fourth notice before renewing your
membership; this is the thanks you get),
postage (this shouldn't surprise anybody), and assorted other expenses are
added up, the Museum was clearly losing
money on a $15.00 membership.
We hope that another increase won't
be necessary for a long time. It has been
more than three years since the Associate Membership went from $10.00 to
$15.00, and the Sustaining Membership
has been a t $25.00 ever since memberships were first established, back in the
Museum's infancy.
Even more, we hope you will all stick
with us. Non-profit institutions become
even more so in times of economic stress,
and we need your help more than ever.
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
OUT OF PRINT BACK ISSUES:
A MODEST PROPOSAL
We get quite a few letters from members who wish t o locate the first few issues of the magazine, as well as later ones
that can no longer be obtained. It has
occured to us that some of our readers
may not be collectors, and might be willing to give up their back issues for a
reasonable price. If you have back issues,
and wish t o sell them, let us know, and
we will pass your name along to those
who want them. Priority for buyers will
be based on date of inquiry; those whose
letters we received first will get first
chance. Moreover, we take no responsibility in the transaction. Whatever ar-
Members receive The American Fly
Fisher, but the magazine is only the
most visible of the membership benefits. Others include information and research services, appraisals for donors of
materials, and involvement in museum
activities. And, of course, the existence
of the Museum, and its continuing work
in preservation and education, is the
greatest benefit of all.
A tie tac is presented with each
membership of $25.00 or more.
Associate
Sustaining
Patron
Sponsor
$ 20.00
$ 30.00
$100.00 and over
$250.00
All membership dues, contributions
and donations are tax deductible.
Tarpon, Salmon, and Chubb
I
Fly fishing for tarpon began not
long after the Civil War; a few
adventurous anglers were catching small tarpon on flies by the
1880'9, and the sport continued
in relative obscurity for several
decades. In an upcoming issue
we'll take a look at the tackle and techniques of these first tarpon enthusiasts.
In our next issue we'll feature our splendid collection of George La Branche's
salmon dry flies; La Branche was one of
the leaders in developing dry fly fishing
for Atlantic Salmon.
Also in the next issue we'll highlight
our collection of Thomas Chubb tackle
with an article by angling historian Mary
Kefover Kelly. Thomas Chubb was one
of the first truly mass-producers of modern fly rods in America, with a huge
factbry in Vermont that also turned out
fittings used by countless other minor
rodbuilders. We've always wondered if
maybe his enterprise was doomed by
fate from the beginning; would you buy
a rod that said "Chubb" on it? Anyway,
Mary will tell us the whole story, and
we've got pictures to prove it.
A few of the more outstanding recent
acquisitions of the Museum have been
mentioned in the magazine, but we will
soon be giving you a full list of donations that have come to us in the past
year. It's a gratifying and formidable
list, and includes our third (possibly
fourth) Kosmic rod and a fascinating collection of photographs and tackle owned
by the famous angler-author George
Parker Holden. Holden's books included
The Idyl of the Split Bamboo and
Streamcraft. Among the photographs are
some wonderful
Neversink scenes,
which we hope to
.. -show you soon. I