American Fly Fisher

The American Fly Fisher Yd. 2, No. 4 Ed1 1915 CELEBRATING THE BICENTENNIAL A Bicentennial Offer Impossible to Resist FREE.. An AU'TOGRAPIIED copy of Arnold Gingrich's THR FISIIING IN PIIINT. A Iiantlsomc Muscr~~nTIE TAC. A ycar of the Muscum Mac~zinc Tllli, AMEIIICAN I;I,Y IiISIIEK. FREE. A IIistory of American Fly Fishing in thc MUSllUM CATALOG. All this is yours for becoming a new Sustaining Member Destined to become ($25.00), a Patron ($100.00 and over) or a Life Member a classic. ($250.00). Why are we celebrating the Bicentennial in thi~ way? Recause we believe every American takes pride in the historic past and as a participating member sustains the Museum's educational obiectives which are concerned with the preservation of the memorabilia of fly fishing, promot- Members may purchase autographed copies of THE ing llistorical research and providing a cultural enrichment FISHING IN PRINT at the regular price of $12.95, from through exhibits and publications. Your membership helps the Museum only. Profit and royalties are for the Museum's benefit. keep a precious heritage for all time. -- Send checks to: All contributions to the Museum of American JTly Fish- THE TREASURER ing are tax deductible within the regulations established by THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FLY FISHING the U. S. Internal Rcvenl~eService. MANCHESTER, V14:KMONT 05254 America's Finest Lyric Writer DANA S. LAMB'S WHERE THE POOLS ARE BRIGHTAND DEEP A limited Offering for The Museum's Benefit $ 8.95 Send Check to: THE TREASURER The Museum of American Fly Fishing Illustrations by Eldridge Nardie Manchester, Vermont 05254 . The American Fly Fisher Published by The Museum of American Fly Fishing for the pleasure of the membership. FALL 1975 Vol. 2., No. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ADVISORY BOARD ARTICLE Henry Parkhurst Wells Arnold Gingrich by A. I. "Pal" Alexander Pa 2 New York, N. Y. THE AMERICAN ABROAD Dr. Alvin Grove Salmon Fishing in Sweden P. 6 State College, Pa. Fishing in Alaska P. 7 Baird Hall ARTICLE Hyde Park, Vt. Fly Fishing by Ira Wood P. 9 Dr. David B. Ledlie Death of Ira Wood p. 10 Middlebury, Vt. ARTICLE The Fly Fisher as a Natural Man John T. Orrelle by Samuel H. Hammond p. 11 Sherwood, Oregon TACKLE DEALERS Leigh H. Perkins A. G. Spalding & Bros. p. 15 Manchester, Vt. RESEARCH Dean Sage Steve Raymond by David B. Ledlie p. 16 Seattle, Washington ARTICLE Mrs. Anne Secor The Diary of a Wet Fly Fisher p. 18 Arlington, Vt. FLY DRESSING Donald Zahner Trout Flies p. 19 Dorset, Vt. ARTICLE Camp Life in the Adirondacks by W. H. H. Murray p. 21 Austin S. Hogan Cambridge, Mass. ANNUAL MEETING p. 23 Research & Liaison MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION p. 24 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER, the magazine of THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FLY FISHING, is published quarterly by the MUSEUM at Manchester, Vermont 05254. Subscription is free with payment of membership dues. All correspondence, letters, manuscripts, photographs and materials should be forwarded care of the Curator. The MUSEUM and MAGAZINE are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, drawings, photographs, materials or memorabilia. The Museum cannot accept responsibility for statements and interpretations which are wholly the author's. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returned unless postage is provided. Contributions to THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER are to be considered gratuitous and become the property of the Museum unless otherwise requested by the contributor. Publication dates are January, April, July and October. Entered as Second Class matter at the U. S. Post Office, Manchester, Vermont. @ Copyright 1975, THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Original material ap- pearing may not be reprinted without prior permission. CREDITS: Museum photos by David B. Ledlie. Drawings by Austin S. Hogan, Curator. Printing by Thompson, Inc., Manchester Center, Vermont Henry Parkhurst Wells by A. I. "Pal" Alexander Photos by the Author It is now over seventy years since example, he says, "My belief that salm- Henry Wells went "'round the bend" as on take the fly a$ and for food, and for angling writers are prone to say. Wells, no other purpose, has been elsewhere of course, was one of the great fisher- stated, together with the reasons upon men of the Victorian Era and indelibly which that belief is based." Then, he in- established his mark among the enthus- dicates his selection of salmon flies, the iastic trout and salmon fishermen of his Jock Scott, Silver Doctor, Black Dose, day. Rrown Fairy, Durham Ranger, Fiery Harold Smedley gives us the basic Rrown, Butcher or Popham, and the particulars about Wells in Fly Patterns Black Fairy. An admirable choice, to be and Their Origins (1950). Born in 1842, sure; but none of which has a countcr- in Providence, Rhode Island, WeHs part in nature. graduated from Amherst College in The year 1889 saw a juvenile work 1863, and served in the army as a first entitled City Boys in the Woods which lieutenant from 1863 to 1865, the time contained no fishing and is best remem- of the Civil War. In 1869, he was admit- bered for its excellent illustrations by A. ted to the bar in New York where he es- B. Frost rather than Wells' text. tablished a successful law practice. Wells In 1890, Henry Wells, along with was a lifelong bachelor. other sportsmen who fished Parma- Most of what we know about Wells is chenee Lake and the surrounding waters from his own writings. In I:ishing with bought the fishing camps built by John the Fly (1883), edited by Charles F. Or- Danforth, a guide and lifelong friend of vis, the tackle maker from Manchester, An orkina1 Moise Grub donated by Wells, located on an island at Parma- Vermont, and A. Nelson Cheney, noted George Lester Bishop. chenee Lake. This became the Parma- conservationist of Glens Falls, New chenee Club and Henry Wells was in- York, we hear about Wells' most famous The Parmachenee Belle was used by stalled as its first president. creation - the Parmachenee Belle, a Wells in the headwaters of the Andro- When the daughter of Charles F. Or- gaudy, non-imitative, wet fly about scoggin watershed primarily in Parma- vis, Mary Orvis Marbury, wrote her cele- which Wells said, "Before all others in chenee Lake and the Magdloway River. brated I:avorite E'lies and Their History, my esteem ranks the Parmachenee He helieved the fly resembled the belly she wrote to Henry Wells and he re- Belle." fin on a trout. sponded with the well-known Parma- Several years later, Wells published While the Parmachenee Belle was chenee Belle and a salmon fly called the his first book, 1:ly-Rods and Fly-Iackle first and foremost, Wells did arm his fly Moisie Grub. (1885) and the material given earlier on book with other flies including the The Moisie Grub was a "grub" in the the Parmachenee Belle was repeated a- Rrown Hackle, Montreal, Silver Doctor, technical sense, or as Wells puts it, "As long with a colored illustration of the Katoodle Bug, Yellow Professor, and to dl wingless flies provided with two or fly. the Grizzly King, all classic flies of a by- more hackles, each placed at a different The fly-tying directions given by gone era. part of the body, 1 follow the English Wells were as follows: "The body is lem- In addition to being a highly skillful nomenclature and call them 'Grubs.' on-yellow mohair, wrapped with silver and ardent trout fisherman, Henry Wells The fly you speak of I therefore call tinsel; tail two to four strands of white was a salmon fisher of note. In 1886, he 'the Moisie Grub,' using the generic and scarlet; hackle white and scarlet (I wrote The American Salmon Fisherman term 'grub' since it has one hackle plac- have sometimes wound both hackles on which, similar to his earlier work, was ed in the middle of the body, and an- at the same time, and sometimes the an exposition upon the equipment and other at the head." white first and scarlet afterwards, and techniques necessary to catch a particu- The Moisie Grub which Wells first over the white, capping it as it were; the lar fish, in this case, the salmon. tied in 1887 was intended to be used as latter is better); wings white, striped Most of Wells' thinking on salmon was a "change fly" for the Jock Scott but it with scarlet, the white decidedly pre- practical and orthodox although, there dominating." are a few apparent contradictions. For (continued on page 5) HENRY PARKHURST WELLS A persistent trout and salmon fisherman for many years, one of his most significant contributions was in per- fecting the cast, allowing the fly to sink slightly beneath the surface and then retrieve by the slow stripping in of the line. The technique is now almost standard for lake and pond fishing in Maine. The books of Henry P. 8Wellsenjoyed great popularity and now, nearly a hundred years later, are eagerly sought for their good common sense and enjoyable reading. As early as 1886, Henry P. Wells was recommending a rod much exceeding 16 feet, (as opposed to the usual 18 - 20 shorter rod than normally in use, and to carry the thought feet). further, urged, for the sake of sport, to experiment with a rod "Indeed, where the fishing is open and fortune smiles, after equivalent in length to those in use today: "I therefore re- the wire edge of the appetite has been taken off by the capture commend the purchase of an American rod, or at least one of a reasonable number of salmon with the double handed rod, made upon the principles accepted and acted upon by Ameri- so that the loss of a fish is not too harrowing, 1 question can rod makers; and unless the purchaser be one the muscles whether strict angling morality does not require thereafter a on whose brawny arms are firm as iron bands, I would re- resorting to a single handed rod of ten feet six inches to eleven commend fifteen feet or that and a few inches as a quite suf- feet in length, and of from nine to ten ounces in weight - - -" ficient length.

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