Flv Fisher The Center
1- 1- As reported later in this issue, the assume that someone else will take care of lished. Museum members can help build building fund campaign for the things. It's up to us to get involved. the Center simply by alerting friends to International Fly Fishing Center We know that only a small percentage its existence. One of the benefits we expect in West Yellowstone is progressing of the fly fishers in this country aie from the high visibility of the Interna- quickly, as are the actual construc- members of the Federation of Fly Fishers tional Fly Fishing Center is an increase in tion plans. Construction is sched- or the Museum, and so we are trying to membership in both cooperating organi- uled for this spring and summer. alert non-members to this project in any zations. such an increasecould take place As also reported, we need your help now way we can, through articles in various right now, with your help. If you have any m magazines, through direct mailings, and friends who might more than ever. One of the dangers faced by a campaign such as this one is that many by word of mouth. It could be that many like to know more people, seeing it go well, will assume that people who for one reason or another have about the Center, they don't need to get involved. The fly never joined the F.F.F. or the Museum let us know. 0 fishing community is not so large that we would be interested in joining now that can afford that kind of thinking-we can't the International center is being estab-
TKUSTEES John Mrwin Carl Nararrr Art Agnew Charlr. Nclu)~~ Kt~lw.rtllarr~*tt Jowy~hSpcr~ Rcxk Paul Il~~lingrr Sti~nlr.yHngclan Kay Rn~clnry Kolwrt 13urkrnart~r I)an CslI.tgh;ll~ ttwrgy (:arrntrharl Errol Champion Kov (:hill)il~ (:hristophrr (: TABLE OF CONTENTS Great and Gentle Man Howard Walden 2nd by Richard Salmon The Angler's Polka The Trude Ranch International Fly Fishing Center Progress Report by Paul Schullery Fascination and Art by Preston Jennings Dead Pool by John D. Engels Recent Library Acquisitions Chiploquorgan Volume 9 Number 1 by Captain Richard Dashwood WINTER 1982 Notes and Comments Museum Notes Auction Report by David Ottiger Editor 7%~..l,,,cnra,z Hr Fixlrer, tlic* Magarinr of l'hr Mnsrum or Arnrricari Fly Fishing. i\ ~~ul~lishrdquartrrly by the hlusrr~mat Mancl~r\trr.Vrrmnnl O5251. Subsrriptirrn i\ lrer with Ivaymvnt of nicrnbrrahip durs. All Paul Schullery v~~~-tc\lx~~i(lrnc(~.Irttrr-.;, n~anuscr-ipts. ~)hot~gral>lis ;!rid rnillerii~l\rh~~111cl hr lnrwal-ded care of thr Editor. Thc Assistant Editor MIIS~~IIIII;tnd Mt~gi~zineilrr not rry,nn\iblr lor unsr,licitr~lmanuscril~ts, drawings. photc>gral)l~r.niatr~riuls or mr~r11o1-al1ilia.Tlir Musrtrm rannot acrq,t rr~sl)nnsibility lor ststrn~c~ntsand intrrprrtetiorls which arr ~~~hnlly David B. Ledlie tlic ;~r~thrrr'\.Ilnurlicitr(l man~r\rl-il~trc;lnriot II~rr~turncrl 1rn1c.s~ posl;igr is prnvi(led. Contributions to TIrc. ..l,~zc"c Production and Printing (:r~l~yriglit1982, The. M%~rrumrll Anirrir;~n1:ly Fi-hing. Manchcst~~r.\'rrn~rrnl 05Zr,4. 01-igin;rl m;~torial Journal Press, Inc. al~lx.a~-ingnx~y not Or rrlwintrd without prror 1x.rniissinn. Poultney, Vermo~lt Great and Gentle Man Howard Walden 2nd by Richard Salmon Hou-nrd Waltler! 2nrl ulns the author At the snnte tirrte that he u1asshepherdir~~q chill Ettinger, superb artist who was adept of several art~lit~,?hooks, the best Walden i final stor11 into print, Nick persuaded in rvrry medium from etching, dry point, rerrrerrrhered heirra Ul,strc.am ant1 IlirhardSalrrrort to write the~ollou~in,qre~r~e~rr- through oils ant1 water color to fly fishing. Down and Big Stony. His other hooks hrartce. Richard Saltno?r :F oulir hooks i~lclude Thc three of us fished the local waters. ir~clucled n con1preher1sirle guide to Fly Fishing for Trout ancl the benut~ful Church and I tied the flies, wet and dry freshuwterfishes and art arlthologv ?f lirnited edition Trout Flies.-and he krreul patterns now almost forgotten -Cow I)ungs, - arlglirlg stories. U'l1e11 he died last and fished uith Houfardfi~rover half o centur?!. I'rofessors, Queens of the Waters, Grizzly IiIl! IiIl! March, his friend Nick 1,vons sent the Innnu- Our tllan ks lo Richard and hick for theirgood Kings-and rtc all took brookies with them. script of a last stocv, uvittetl only a feu1 uleeks ejforts to honor the ~nen~or~~ofn superh (~n,cli~i)lg IIoward hat1 a tiny rod -a \Vinchcster earlier, to Fly Fisherman rtla,yazine. The stoc~l, ulriter. from William Mills, six and a half feet "Young Blood and Old," u-aspublished in Fly long weighing about two ounces-with a Fisherman's Sutrtrner Issue; it ulas the portrayal During thc Dawn of Civilization -about little reel that held level silk linc. I had of an a,.i,lgangler Page 3 Portrait of Houv~rdM'alde11 -"He rfood about five feet sezleli ntld he ulns thin3'-photo,graph C~III.~ESIIof Elizabeth Walrleii Hvde. how big his trout was. I gave my finished Uslan to Howard on his birthday. The others went to Walt Taradash, Ken Boocock and one to me. When once Howard came back from fishing to the clubhouse, he'd sit a while and gab to Sparse or to me or to anyone who happened to be on the porch. Sparse would say, "Try this Garrison out on the pond". "Harv", as we called him, would reluctantly take the fine bamboo and cast r~nbelievableparabolas of line. Wciler would put a 1,eonard in his hands, and to watch Waldcn cast was the greatest show since "Gone with the Wind." One weekend, four of 11s ventured into Vermont. It took most of the day to get to Arlington, where we signed up at the Inn. Norm Rockwell once lived in the under- skirts of Arlington and the walls of thc Inn were hung with a lot of his originals. Cal Coolidge stayed there after his father swore him in as President of the United States. So did a lot of news-folk, and Cal, so it is said, being an early riser, went the next morning to the newspaper dispenser to get the latest dope on what went on yesterday. He was followed by a Titiies man wh;) couldn't slecp. They arrived before the newspapers were delivered, both teetertottering from one foot to thr other without utterance. Cal broke the silence and suggested that maybe the newsman would like a drink. The reporter said, "Yes". Cal ordered two moxies and each pitcher of fresh-pulled milk, warm home- Church Ettinger slammed the car door paid for each. made bread, various jellies and jams and, on my Winchester, busted the mid-section, The beds in the Arlington Inn were after we had as much as could be galluped and I gave the remains to Howard. They brass, and they squeaked. There were down, dessert came on-a sweet lemon fitted his old rod perfectly, but I thought elephantine bathtubs in porcelain that custard. he should use a bigger stick to fish the big seldom if ever held a drop of hot water; Howard wasn't a big man. He stood Beaverkill and the Willowemoc. we bathed and shaved in these Baffin Bay about five feet seven and he was thin. The I went over to see Nat Uslan in Nanuet, conditions, had breakfast-buckwhrwt cakes sinews of his arms stood out like banjo about ten miles from Snedens 1.anding. and baco~i-and started up the Battenkill. strings. His legs were scrawny but long The big guy had a rod-making shop there About ten in the morning, someone and his stride could wear down an Olympic and made a five-sided job-any size or said "John Atherton lives somewhere up runner. weight you wished. Nat got into the engi- here, and so does Rockwell; let's stop in." He seemed to be indefatigable and it neering dynamics of a five-sided rod, So, we fount1 Atherton's house and was hard for big men to keep up with him pointing out thc ridigity of a triangle knocked on the door. His wife, Maxine, on street or stream. opposite a flat-side-a circle of bamboo, came to ask who we were and what we On a stream or a pond he coi~ldcast a against that of flat sided 6-strands that wanted. I said, "We are trout fislicrmen". fly and hit a dime in a gale of wind. were nimble but not stiff enough for She said-"Anyone who's a trout fish- I have watched and have entered vari- accurate dry-fly casting. Nat's rods were erman niay come in." We did, and spent ous tournament-casting events where en- light and stiff. He baked the sticks, coated the rest of the morning looking at salmon thusiasts spent their energies trying to drop with some kind of goozilum, and turned flies, paintings and the Audubon print of a fly into a non-windswept dimension of a out a fine piece of fishing equipment. the Mallard over the fircplacc while we bushel basket at fifty, sixty, seventy, even I brought the sticks back to my work- talked and talked. up to ninety feet. Howard, with no osten- shop and wound them with red and black Atherton, of course, knew Upstrean1 and tation nor triumphant goals, could out- silk. Seven inches from the cork handles I Doultt and R@ Sto?i~i,Howard's two Derry- cast them with his little rod. He was so set a 3-strand red band, and every inch dale books. We chewed the fat about where beautiful to watch, so natural in rhythms; above it a black three-strand winding, to fish the Rattenkill. "Fish the most his arms and his hands, married to the marking them in numerals up to 20 inches, difficult lies", said Atherton. "No one ever rod with never a divorce in mind. How and dotting the measurements with Val- takes big fish in easy waters. Up below the that Little Winchester loved him! span. The idea was to tell the fish-catcher bridge at Norm Rockwell's is a good place. Page 4 He won't mind; he doesn't fish. Cast over English fly box, and catch fish with them against the bank if you can rcach it." when we couldn't. Howard said, "I ncvcr car~ghta decent Howard was a stream-reader, like fish under a britlgc." Schwiebert or Flick. One would go with So, we, left the Athertons. Howard him, stream-side and sr~ddenlyhr'd stop. rcached the r~ndrr-the,-bankhot-spot and "There's a fish behind that rock." hr'd took a good I~rownie.The rest of 11s wcrc say, and sure cnor~ghthere was. Hc'd work skunked. it out slowly and beach it, pat its belly, Howartl was one of the, most stul~born holtl it upright, and 11ut it back wlirrc it men I havr known. T1ic.r~was always a I)eIongetl. chopped-off drcision that was final. Trout, put back like that, swim slowly "I won't go fishing with you, got to put away. turn on their sides and give a snide "1' the scrccws." And this srlf-tlisciplinc~ glancr and even a fish-smile, as if to say "I occl~rredtime, and again. The rrst of us fought you and I won, didn't I? See you would hire a fellow to put 1111 thc screens, next year at Junction I'ool, and I'll 1)e even if it rrducetl the bank account to twenty inches long. Gct out your 2-X below freezing-and we'tl go fishing. lenders and, if vor~~)lcnse, a Hendrickson Wa1dr.n didn't fish much in Nova Scotia. 1)y Roy Stcenrod or a Montana by Elsie "Got to fix the, roof." "Got to caulk the Ilarbce-they're scarce now for Elsic, isn't rowboat." "Got to Inow the* lawn." "Got to with 11s any more." rebuild the rickct that holds thr oil tank." I-Ioward adored Bourbon whiskry, the "Got to pr~twire mesh ;~ror~ndtlic pea- kintl wcx distilled in our kitchens in Sncdens ~~atch.""<;ot to pump out the>wc-11." "Got Landing. It came off at 168 proof and we to stack the winter wood." aged it in small kegs in the rumble scatsof When wc were s~~ccessfrilin luring him I'ords. Solme of it. The rest we housed in a from his chores, hr'd join us 1)clly-laughing drep cellar. We built an adzed-out cradle trout fishcrs. Howard sc,ldom really with a rope to an oak tree and when the laughed. He chr~ckled.Thr rhinoceros hidr wind blew the cradle would rock. face on that l~hysiognomywol~ltl open a I don't think I ever saw Howard drunk. trifle ant1 a remark would comcBfrom him Ilr'd get a littlc tiddly occasionally when that remindccl 11s of Yorik-"a fc*llow of Walt and I wor~ldbring him some Jack infinite wit." Iluring the rxplosion of his 1)aniels to Nova Scotia. witticism, he'd newer crack a wide smile. "Smuggled?" he'd ask. ITc had sr~btlchrimor that woultl set thc "Of course," we'd say, and he'd bclicwe rest of us in guffaws and, still, Walden us ant1 savor the tang of Honest-to-God would remain as coml~lacrntand, except 13or1rbon.The whiskey of Nova Scotia is a for a chuckle, as silent as a crypt in the titration of alcohol, weak as a new gosling Valley of the Kings. and not fit to drink. It costs a pretty penny, Try as wc would, those of 11s who tied too. flies couldn't get him to makr n drcent Once I-Iarv had sipped, he'd look at one. Yet. in his basement workshol~,he some vague object in the sky and recite, co~rldput togcather a Dunk I'hyfc cabinet word-for-word. Paul Revere's Kidr or with dovr tails :und mortises that wotild sonnets from Shakespeare- 14 lines, not defy any accomplishments of a modern 15-and he'd be letter-perfect. cabinet maker. He took his timc. Every- I think Narv learned many things from thing had to be as perfect as his prose- his rc~spcctedmother. She was no Whistler's poetry. There wcre no split infinitives in St~~dyin grey, a lady sitting with hands his joints, joists, jalousies, no clangling foldecl in her lap, in profile. She'd look imperfections in his parquet floors. But you in the eye and hcr hands wcre so br~sy Howard just wasn't up to tying and he they looked fuzzy.. . and she spoke slowly, knew it, so lie would not allow himself to tho~~ghtfully. attempt-any more than hr'tl try to make One day, I came home fro111 Lee Wulffs :I concert grand piano. camp on Portland Creek in Newfoundland We'd take him up to Kay Bergman's carrying no salmon but a large reel with on Cedar Avenr~cin Nyack and watch the gad-dangest bird's nest of braided Kay batting out wets and drys. Howard backing you ever saw. It was like ovcr- respected Kay's accomplishments and I done, long spaghetti, well-stirred. gather that thc two of thein fishecl together -same as Sparse-on the littlc Rockland Streams. But, far as I recall, Waldcn just couldn't get his spatulate fingers to work silk, fur, feathers, tinsel, and Ray's Sinfata hooks from Reddich. To/>:Hourard Walde~rfishi~~,g the Medula~ He was frrlstratcd and perhaps cmbar- Killer, Nova Scotia. pl~oto~graphcourtesv of rassed by this inability; when we struck Elizabeth M'alde~~Hwle. Mirldle: pitchi~r~ out for parts of streams, he'd remember canr/> it! 1919. pholo~ra]~/rcourtesv of Marv how long it took us to tic a Qr~illGordon Elle~tKidd. Botto~~~:at his u~ritirrgdesk. and where came the materials. He'd accept photo%~ra/>hcourtesv ?fElizaheth M'alder~ one or two, put them in his snap-cachet Hvde. I'age 5 I had worked on it for a long time and, I gave it to Howard on his birthday with a chimneys, ant1 outhor~sesand would start finally, was about to give up and tackle card saying that with this contribution he to discuss kumilv affairs, Ii;~vcarguments the project with scissors. when Howard could finish his work. IIc thanked me and and so on. came in. went back to his "tripewriter" as he called IVillets don't go "peet-weet" or "chcr- "See you have trouble," he said. "Come it. chrcn-siniplc stuff like that. up to my house. My mother will r~nmesh The novel is still unfinished, for he One of them, just out of Quebec will that tangle in no time." died before the box of words was half- yell to another just out of Ontario, "Why So, I did. I handed the reel and the emptied. When it is published, you might don't vou shriek in French?" The other ravel to the lady. find "gallipot" in it somewhere, or even will reply in English, "Pipe down you "Where is the end of this string? she "eupepsia". S.O.R.," and the battle is drawn. This is at asked. When he'd cast a line he wouldn't grunt four o'clock in the morning, you recall, "Don't know." like some tennis players. He'd throw a and Howard is awakener1 from his dreams "Well, I shall find it." she said, and slow line about thirty feet and woulrl of Miss Scheherazade. He's disturbed. He did, with a crochet hook. probably mutter, "you pepsia, you old gets out of becl. Hc loads his twc%lve-gauge, First thing you know, little neat whorls pepsia, you!" double-barrcllled: goes clownstairs, opens of braided backing began falling on the I haven't the foggiest idea what a the front door, points his gun at the great floor. With utmost patience, Howard's rupepsia. . is and I'm not about to look it up nebula, Andl-onieda, ant1 lets fly. There is mother got the bird's nest unswiveled and because I'm busy writing al~outHoward silence after the blast and Mr. Waldcn held each coil while I reeled in. Walden. with gun, gocs back to bed. He's just about That's the kind of mother a fisherman The last time I saw Howard in his asleep, catching up to the "Still IVatcrs" at should have. Jordan Bay house in Nova Scotia, quite a scven o'clock, when one willet bawls at Howard wrote slowly and often conl- few years ago, it was springtime and he another about states rights, labor unions, plained that he'd run out of sustenance for was in great trouble. or his wife's lover, and all paridemoniunl his novel. He'd been working on it for Seems that on a certain day, every breaks loose. months, if not years. spring, a consternation of Willets arrive, There's one way to cure the IYillet "I've iust run out of words". he said. just as the swallows do in that town in problem, Howard has said. "They love I came home and, on a Sunday, went California. sardines. You get a bunch of sardines in through the Tiines with manicure scissors. Willets, in case you don't know, are cans. Open them, pour out the oil, and I had a shoe box on my table and when I long.-necked birds. They look like a Rail. substitute laudanum. The*birds gobble up came upon a good word, I'd crop it out If you want to know Inore about Willets, the stuff and soon maybr a dozen will be neatly and drop it in the box. Words like ask R. T. Peterson, but I can vouchsafe dozing on your lawn. degamatord, fly-boat, furze, gallipot, cla- that Willets are noisy and they didn't arrive "The larynx, or voice box, of a IYillet mant, eupepsia, percipience, endrogynous, at Howard's house at a decent hour-say is located about halfway down its long doquet, caput, algalogy and so on. I had 9:30 A.M. No! They came at four in the neck. Place the bird on a chopping block just finished a book on Trout Fishing and morning when Howard was sleeping and and chop off the portion that makes the had a lot of words left over. Some editors dreaming of Scheherazade or the part in noise. deleted them, so I put these words in the the twenty-third Psalm about still waters. "Hand the rest of the bird to your wife box, too. Finally I filled the box. There These Willets perched on Howard's with instructions to pluck it, roast it with must have been three, four thousand words. barn roof top, various acoustical posts, the proper seasoning, and, surrounding it with wild rice, serve it with n little currant ronment until, surl)riscb, they gulpccl his werr and arca,but they wcrc. hard to conle jelly ." ny~iiph. by. Harry was busy taking care of custoniers This is tough on Willcts, which are For some years. Howard had been who came in to get a neck of blrle dun or a getting scarce. convinced that Edward Hewitt's nymph jungle cock and he'd yell for Elsie. "Where's "MThatthis country nrrds is an extinct was for him. The bug was black on top, the Junglr Cock? and Elsie'd run upstairs \lTillet,"said Howard. crcaln underneath and had a few wisps and find thc stuff. MTalden was about thr last nymph of black hackle. I-Iewitt squeezed the body, I don't know how many flies I tied for fisherman, outside of Ray Bc.rgman, with ~)erhapswith pliers, so that it was horizon- Howard Walden. Certainly not many whom I fished. Howard stuck to Ray's tally oval. Hewitt designed another nymph patterns ant1 few of each because he had methods: the cast, in still waters, was not a -pc.rhaps many others-with different bi- faith in Art Flick's system of a sparse fly long one. The nymph ancl leader would colored bodies, all of which were scg- box. Matching the hatch was not Howard's sink immediately beca~tsc. Mr. \Valden nicnted with black silk. and all werr hard cnp of tea. soaked them ant1 tied them with an under- and small. Sonic wcrc dotted on the untler- Bergman wrote in Trout that artificial body of lead wire. If a fish didn't strike I)otly with brush strokes of black. flies do not necessarily take trout because while the fly was sinking, Howard would I-Ioward fell for these and I tied a lot they imitate a natural; "It merely means wait until his line went slack. Then he'd for him. He had succcss, in a moderate that we have created something they like wait for a minute or so ancl, with Bergman's way, on the Beaverkill. Willowenioc. and because it excites their al)petite, even hand twist retrieve, he'd pull the nymph Sundown. though it doesn't exactly simulate nature." slowly -oh so slowly-across the I~ottom, Then, I found that the late and la- Walden fell for this theory, hook, linc. watching for thc least indication of line mented Elsic 1)arbc.e had perfected a and sinker. I3i1t he caught trout. stoppage or nnnatural interruptions in linc Montana nymph with a scarlet tail. She After his wife Jo died, Howard lived a flow. At these almost iml~ercel)til)leindi- gave me a couple and I tried to duplicatca lonely life in Nova Scotia. He thought it a cations, IHoward would lift his little rod them. I tied a bunch for Howard. He quit good idea to leave his rather big house in and strike and, time and again, I've seen the Hewitt nymph and doubled his catch Winter and to come back to Palisades where him reel in a fish when I was skr~nkcd.He with the Montana in Nova Scotia. It is a he'd be among friends and have a warm had Job-patiencca, most of us hacl not; and big fly, weighted and tied on an 8 or 10 bed to sleep in and a sheaf of foolscap and that's the rcason he could out-fish us. He hook, 2 x long, fine wire. Somehow, Elsie his "tripe-writer" to peg out the rest of his also had fixed concentration. If an earth- improved on the original Martinez. Elsie, novel. quake shook the earth, Howarcl wouldn't it seems to me, could improve on most That's the way it was until he tripped bat an eye. Hc'd just go on casting his lazy anything. She even improved on her own on the top of his sister's cellar stairs, fell line and he'd always fish it out, bringing husband, Harry, who couldn't write. He and cracked a skull that held more fishing the nyniph almost up to the toes of his was left-handed and had been scourged lore than could be packed into ten other waders before lifting out of the water. by schoolteachers to use his right hand in would-be fisherman's sconces. No slap dash for him; nor for the trout. trying to do script. He failed, they failed, He never knew what struck him. He Putting tiout down was "an abomination ancl so Elsie did all the writing in the little died that day and we, you and I, lost him. before the I.ordWand he eschewed it. He house down the road from Roscoe. Harry Oh, yes. But we did not lose his inspired liked a happy trout which had no fears of did tie flies, right-handed, on the vise scribblings. unsuspected predators such as Mr. Walden. attached to the roll-top desk in the living- Let the fish glory in their aqueous envi- working room downstairs. Lovely flies they Illustrations on pages six and serlen are by Milton Weiler, and appeared in the orip'~ial neyvdale edition of Upstream and Down, h-v Houlard Walder~.reprinted courtesv of Mrs. Lihhv Weikr. Page 7 COMPOSED BY J,/ ii> j , ' / -/-/ J [/) [ $7).E f/- , / e The Angler's Polka Onr of tlic otltlcr angling raritirs in him sr.contl ill al~ilityamong the thrc~ gt-oltllt~s. American IIistory is tlic shrrt music for Iris11 coml~osrrs"(1,111 it tlocsn't tell 11s some cast tlic fly "The Angler's I'olka," a finrly printctl who the other two wrrr). otllt~t-stroll nrrmbc~rpul)lisIirtl in 1854. Wr print its Most significant is \Yallacr's detlication rcarling out morr lint cover sheet Iicrr. TIiecom1,oscr was William of this creation "to his friend Wm. T. :I I'cw ni1)blr.s from thr "small Fry" Vincent Wallacc. Wallace was I~ornat I'ortrr, I.:sq." 1'ortc.r was thc forrndct- ant1 a big fish takes holtl \Yatrrford, Ireland, on June 1, 1814, antl ctlitot- of 7'11~Spirif ~f the 7'iriles (first 11rr1)- at-I-owy rrrsli of a twcblvc* 1)orrntlrr he tourrd Sor~tliAmerica as a violin ant1 lislied in 1831). our most inflrlcntial early It nppc;trs to cis that Mr. \Yallaccb's pianoforte virtuoso in the late 1830s. From sporting periodical. I Ie was by all accorrnts orclicstt-ation wasn't thc olily thing that 1843 to 1851 he livctl in Nrw York City the leading force in Arnol-ican sl~ot-ting was thin ant1 iml~ct-fcct.\Yv considcretl and began to pul~lishmusic. I Ic also wrotc, journalism I)rfore thr Civil \Val-. IYallace sugg(.stirig that thc~Mrrsc~um o1)c.n its nrxt srveral operas. Ilr dird in France on lwobably mrt him tlnring his years in Nrw businc~ssmcarting ~ritli;I roctsitlg cliorus of 0ctol)c.r 12, 1865. According to the Natiorrcil York. "Tlir Anglc,~-'sI'olka" (steins aloft), but it Cvclopedia, his orclicstt-ation was "thin antl I lvre at-c the lyrics: al)l)cb;rrstioliccof thc officers ploy thr nccor- imperfect" and "poprllar jcltlgmcnt l,lacc.s Anglers rowing grntly to thr. fishitig (lion. The Trude Ranch In Volrlmc Fivc. Numl~crOne, of 7.11~Attlcrrccitl I.'[\> I.'i.~lrer,Kcn LYrigIit told th(>stol-y of thr lamorls T~-rlcIc Ranch, cstal)lislictl in Itlalio I)y (:liicago :~ttol-ncyA.S. ,;;.aa *?a -- Trutlcs. A.S. Trutlr is now I~cbstrc~rncmbc~~-ctl for thr. fly ~tamcdin his lionor, still a vrry ~)ol)lllal-~x~ttc'r~~ in thr west, but lie was I)cttc,~-known locally fol- tlic truly extraordinary fishing to Ilc fount1 in thr. Iakcs on his I)ropcrty. Mr. \YI-ight, n grrat grandson o1'A.S. Trcldo, has slial-r,d with us somc adtlitional photogra1,Iis of tlir* lirytlay of this fishing. which first :ittrac.tcd tlic TI-utlc family west in the csarly 1880s. lJndcl- 111-ivatr managclnrnt a11tl control, this quality of fislling was mnintninrd lor many years; mrlch of thr original fishing watcl- was lost I)c~liinda clam in tlir latch , A selectiolr ~/catchesfi-olli the Trlctlc ra~rclr~c~trtcnr rerlccils the fertilitv (!/'the resource. Sez~emlof the a~r,yl~rsctrlt he i~lc~rt~fietl. It1 the iif>/)erleft, this /jcl,ye, is theja~irousorator M'illicri~r ,Jetr~ritr,y.s~~vtin. Ilirectlv crhotlc nrrtl hclotc,, cr11tl il/?f)o. r International Fly Fishing Center Progress Report by Paul Schullery In early December, and again in mid- support of fly fishers now, as well as in considerations, so that the working draw- January, I met with Museum I'resident two or three years." ings are now being prepared. Contractor Gardner Grant and the other members of The irony of the sitnation, as Gardner bidding should occur soon. the Fund Raising Committee ant1 received has explained it, is that we do not suffer Not long ago, 1)cnnis Bitton, Editor of the latest word on the building funcl from a shortage of support or- from a the Federation's Tabloid Rulletir~,asked mr campaign. The report was both promising reluctance of donors to make a long-term to prepare a little report on the planning and tro;bling. commitment; what we need is a greater of the exhibits. Thr report appeared The campaign has covered a lot of immediate commitment that will carry us recently in the Rulleti~l,and becausc ~t' was territory, and the outlook is promising in until the longer term pledges are fulfilled. so well received and sccmrd to serve its the long run; as reported in the last issuc Now that the overall fund-raising campaign lxlrpose, it is reprintetl below. We're all of The Antencan I;lv Fisher, pledges are is showing such promise of long-term quite excited about these plans, and we coming in at a good rate. On thc surface, success, the Campaign Committee intend believe they will make the International the amount of money we've reported to concentrate on cash gifts, so that the Fly Fishing Center a home. we can all be receiving seems simply wonderful; we're actual construction plans can be kept on proud of. still on schedule to start construction this schedule. year. However, the situation is complicated Now is the time for all those who have because a large percentage of the money been trying to decide whether they will PLANNING THE NEW MUSEUM that has been raised is in deferred gifts- make a gift to realize that their gift is of pledges that will be paid gradually over critical value. The decision is not one that In many recent conversations with several years. As Gardner Grant explained shortld be put off any longer. members and officers of both the Federa- it. "We run the risk of a cash shortfall. In December I spent some time in tion of Fly Fishers and The Museum of because our short term cash flow may not Bozeman, Montana, with the architectural American Fly Fishing, I've noticed that be adequate to pay for construction this firm of Mattson, Prugh, and Lenon, who quite a few people don't completely un- spring. This is a serious problem because are designing the Center. Our talks con- derstand the purposes of the Museum, or we do not want to wait an additional year centrated mainly on the exhibit and collec- what we try to do with our exhibits. Now to start building. Construction costs are tion storage areas, and included such topics that we're moving along quickly in the escalating so rapidly that a building built as temperature and humidity controls, plans for the new building, it's a good in 1983 would cost much more than one energy needs, special engineering consid- time to give everyone a preview of what built in 1982. Of course we have the erations in exhibit areas (for such things we hope to accon~plishwith the exhibits alternative of taking loans against the as aquariums, security, and fire suppression in the new International Center. pledges we have received, but this would systems, for example), and other topics Most people seem to think that the also be costly because of high interest rates. important in planning a professional Museum is concerned only with the history Our best option, and one I think we can museum facility. On January 15, the Build- of the sport. Actr~ally,our real goal is to achieve, is to encourage more cash contri- ing Committee met with architect Dick cover the whole world of the fly fisher. butions this winter and spring, before Prugh in Denver and made final decisions We are, by legal definition, an educational construction begins. It is vital we have the on floor plans and related structural institution, and the goal of our educational Page 12 efforts is not all that different from the goal of the Federation's efforts; we want to share with the public the delight and fascination that is found in all aspects of fly fishing, including the history and traditions, of course, but also including all of the crafts and arts now associated with the sport, the natural world fly fishing brings its practitioners so close to, and the essential message of conversation of (and reverence for) the resources we value so highly. Thosc who have visited the Museum in its present location in Vermont will know that up to now we have devoted the majority of our space to historical subjects; we've had to do so because our space has been quite limited and because the histor- ical items we had were the simplest and most efficient way of getting our message across. We have managed to have exhibits concerned with conservation (including a recent exhibit devoted to the Whitlock- Vibert Box Program, and general member- ship appeals for various conservation organizations), but in our limited space we had to present the public with the most outstanding items we could, so we devoted much space to the extraordinarily rare and valuable tackle we have-tackle they couldn't see in any other public museum anywhere in the world. Now, or soon, in the new facility, that will all change. We're going to have several times as much floor space, and we can do justice to all aspects of the sport. We will even be able to exhibit more of the great assortment of historical items we have. Though it's a little early in our planning to show you any drawings of actual exhibits, we are far enough along to tell you gener- ally what we are aiming to do. It's worth mentioning that the whole exhibit planning process is a team effort. The leadership of both the Federation and the Museum are advising and being con- sulted as the exhibit plans firm up. Ob- viously, the Federation is the expert source of information on conservation, just as the Museum is the source for historical infor- mation. What we intend to end up with is a blend of such expertise, to present our message and our cause in the best light possible. What the Museum will become is a showcase, not just of the objects but of the The architect k preliminary n~odelof the on the street directly adjacent to the-boundary of Yellowstone Park. Note barbecue area and casting pond. The building is essentially three large areas, containing exhibits, adntinistratiue area. and auditorium. Lee and./oan U'zrlfl; Hoilorarv Co-Chair~~te?~ offhe bzcilding firlld cat,~pn&m;/he Wes! Ycllouls!one Conz~el~!iol~Ceillcr is n near ne ~ . ideals of the sport. As important as the historical rarities and natural world of fly fishing are, they have a special use to us in the exhibits. We will use these things to promote the message, so that people will be made to realize. that this many faceted sport offers deeper rewards than arc re- ceived by any one of its parts. Wca figure we have at least two audirnces. The obvious one is the grorlp of 1)rol)le who already know about fly fishing and who will come to the Mr~sc,r~nlfor some very specific purposes. Thry know who the great names are, and they recognize the fine tackle and art as a vrry important part of their life. The other audiencc. is the gcsncral I p~~blic-pcol)lcwho are not it~volvc>tlin r v 8.I the sport but who are interested enough CENTER to come in and look arountl. In a srnse they might br the most important part of the audience. At least they arc the oncs we must work hardest to rcach with our message. The International Ctxntc.r gives us a great opportunity to rrach orit to the general public in ways we never could before, to spread the word al)orit fly fishing to people who might otherwisc~never rncor~nterit. And so we plan that a major portion of the exhibit space (our total plannctl space for exhibits is about 3.000 square fret) will be devoted to an introdr~ctionto the sport-a spacious room called "Thc Fly- fisher's World." This room can br rnjoyed by angler ant1 lion-anglrr alike. Vrteran fly fishers will recognize in it a tribute to the many dimensions of their sport, while newcomers will be introtluced to what all fly fishing offers them. Some of the things we plan for this room arc. live-fish exhibits, live-insect exhibits. fly fishing watrr craft (Adirondack guideboats to modern l>elly boats), fly casting technique exhibits (most people don't know that fly fishers are casting the weight of the line rather than hower, Hoover, Webstcr, Carnrgie, and modrrn precision machines of exotic alloys, the weight of a lure), and a variety of others). In fact, an important function of and from pre-Civil War flies to the Intrst other exhibits that will give the non-angler this room will be to suggest to non-anglers creations for saltwater fishing. Never brforr a broad overview of the sport and its plea- that some very respectetl and famor~s has the public had the chancr to ser so sures. citizens loved fly fishing. Though the much fine fishing craftsma~nshipassembled A smaller room will be devoted to an general public will not recognize the names in one place,. Thr Museum's collection of informal gallery of anglers. Not a "hall of of famous anglers, they will certainly be rods and reels is one of the best in the fame" in any formal sense, this room will impressed by the sight of tackle used by world, and we will be exhibiti~lgthe best simply present the tackle and related Zane Grey or Bing Crosby. representative items we have. memorabilia of famous fishermen and A second smaller room will appeal most That's just the briefest sort of preview. famous people who also happened to fish. to the serious angler. It will be devoted to Wc'vc very excited about how our plans The room will therefore appeal to the the crafts of the sport, especially rod and are shaping up, and we have lots of work serious angler (who can see the tackle of reel building, and flies. Here will be the to do. Some of you we have already Joe Brooks, Arnold Gingrich, and so on) real treasure-trove of great tackle, from consulted with, and others will be hearing and to the non-angler (who can see the the earliest Murphy and Leonard master- from us. This is your museum, ant1 we tackle of people whose names are generally pieces to the latest in graphite and boron, will share its creation as well as the joy of recognizable, such as Hemingway, Eisen- from the primitive brass reels of IROO to its completion. Page 14 Fascination and Art Two brief meditations on the nature of our sport and the sport in our nature By Preston Jennings One of the nlost c.~citirl,ggifis the Working under Nick 's ulatchful long-dis- uv-itings i11 a ulaJ I hnagined to he inost appro- tcrnce eJw, I re~ieuledthe entire tnanuscrif,t, priate to his thenre. rc~hicll appears to constitute uwN over half of It would appear tftat most of this uiork uras h~ Mrs. Preston ,Jell- the intenrled book. Etwn at this earl,! sta,@e of done it1 the 1,050s; the retnark about President the ulork ofpreparin,~this tnaterial, I nlust sav Eisenhouler is in the present tense. ,Jennittgs Preston i considerable correspondence it has heen afasci~~ati~~gprocess,rocess, an opportut1it.v had published a series of articles on trout vision, ulith nlosl qf the nlaior an,ylingfiyures not on(v to ulatch an inlportant anglin~ulriter insect translucency, and related subiects in the o/ 11i.s tinle, nlal(v of his streunl notcs and at u~orkOut to cotnpare notes on the actual 1940s, and it seenls probable that some of that diaries, and a11 assortn~ertt of other unique u~rititl,qprocessulith a fellou~author. nlaterial rnav also have been intended for itetns. Possihlv nlost excitin,y ?fall, hou~er~er,is The u~ritin,yof a book is an o~yatlic process. inclusion in this book. As I continue to sort the ultfinished nlanuscript of a hook. An author nlqv begin with a jun~bGofitnportant and define this collection of uiritings I inza Rased on that one book, Jennin~earned a bundles of pages entitled "Introduction, " and of a skill or dexterity, acquired by experi- secure place in the his tor,^ offishing literature; a sixth entitled "Preface. " Sonle of these are ence, practice, and observation; in other though the book has been replaced and im- three-page fra,ptnents and others are more words, a knack or technique. He goes on proved upon bv nunlerous later books it will extended, hut all cover the same territory, and to say, however, that art goes further than alu1a.v~stand a; the prototypical angler's ento- shoul that sloul, even halting creative process mere knack or skill. It encompasses the tnolo~vfor An~ericans. by which a series of ideas beconle an essay. study of the laws of nature, and the adap- It ulas ulith sonle excitenlent, then, that ule Mat~videas, episodes, or stories are told turice; tation of those laws to the needs and usages learned that Jenninys had been ulorkin,y on a one that tnust have been particularly iirtportant of man. second hook. Museunl Trustee Nick Lvons. to ,Jennings appears in four diflerent versio11s. Apart from skill and dexterity, then, ulho senred as our representatirle in arrangin,~ He was obz~iouslvprett~l far alon,q in "art" has other in~plications.At one time the g,ft of the ,/en ninys 111at1uscripts, alerted us prepariltg the introduction. Usual1,v such it implied the mere copying of nature, or to the existence of this tnaterial, and Mrs. repetition doesn 'l be,@tl to occur until tnost of the things of nature. Artists, especially .Jennings ~qetterouslv donated not on!v the the itnportant notions have been sorted out painters, copied nature as they saw it. nlanuscriptr thenlseltles but the cop.vr(qht to and written douln at least once. As I read then1 Gradually, though, they not only copied any of the unpublished nlaterial u~etntj$tt see orjer, and over, it becattle clear that he was but rearranged what they saw to imp;ove fit to shepherd into print. And so, with Nick heading in certain directions with some idea or the composition; they changed arrange- acting as our editorial adoisor, ule present here theme. What I have done, then, is to idetttqv ment of the natural subject so that the a first sanlpling of Preston ,Jen11 irl,ys 's second those recurring themes that ujere obvious(v of overall picture would be more pleasing to hook, u~hichhe planned to call The Fish and ,qeatest itnportance to hint, and then arran,ye the eye. the Fly. hi.7 writin,qs inlo a cohesive presentation of his Fly fishers, and amateur fly tiers, are As Editor of The American Fly Fisher I thou,yhts. Though all editing involves ceitain basically artists in that they must be an1 accustomed to ernplo~ving the "editorial presunlptions, I have kept intrusions to a students of nature. The food upon which ule" in introductorv rentarks of this sort, but I rnitlhnum. Virtually every word here is his; their quarry feeds is the model to be nlust depart fronl that practice in this case in after a prelinrinary editing for syntax and followed in their work of art. Theirs is an order to explain the process h.v ujhich this qanlntar, ntv onlv additions are a few "bn?yesU inexact art, to be sure, but an art never- nlaterial ulas prepared. -introductory clauses that connect his own theless (Dickens used the term "artful" to Page 15 I describe the method of a clever pickpocket is the less contrast you can see between An assortment ofwell-dressed wetflies by in Oliver Twist; had the artful dodger been light and shade (a building in the far Preston Jennings, part of the Jennings Fly a fly fisherman he would have had in his distance shows little or no difference in Collection donated to the Museum recently fly box a few well-scoured worms and some color between the side that is brilliantly by George Stagg. The letter, from Paul tiny hooks, so that he could pick those lighted and the side that is in shadow). Needham, one of the leadingaguatic stream pockets that are not ordinarily The latter of these two laws is less well biologists of the time, is part ofthe Preston accessible to the fly fisher). known, and Van Gogh concentrated his Jennings Manusm$t Collection, recently If you study that great painting called deceit-his illusion-in his treatment of donated by Mrs. Preston Jennings. the "Fields of Arles," by Van Gogh, you light and shadow in this great painting. photographs on pages 15and 16 by Don will find that the painter has taken certain Look closely and you will see that the Gray. liberties with nature, thereby creating an series of buildings depicted, as they recede illusion that is agreeable and pleasing even into the far background, follow the natural though it is a deception. The layman knows laws of linear perspective; they get smaller certain facts about natural laws: that the as they get farther away. But in dealing farther away an object is the smaller it with the other law, Van Gogh reversed seems to be (this is called linear perspec- the normal visual process. The building tive), and that the farther away an object nearest the viewer shows the least contrast Page 16 I An assortment of Jennings's own dyflies, between light and shade, while the most therefore looks for and tries to interpret some donated several years ago by Arnold remote building shows the greatest contrast. those things that seem to him to be the Gingrich and some more recently by This bit of art, a simply created illusion, essential parts-the verities that live on George Stagg. The letter is from Justin resulted in a great masterpiece. The prob- generation after generation. On the other Leonard of Michigan, another prominent lem facing both artist and fly fisher is one hand, the beginner may see only what is biologist of the time, Jennings's, of determining which illusions are accep- immediately before him and try to copy correspondence with leadingfisheries and table. The invention of the camera, and nature without seeking out and empha- entomolopy authorities of his day was especially the great improvements in sizing that which is good and enduring. voluminous, making him an exception photography in recent years, has freed I once studied painting under the among popular fishing writers. the artist from merely copying the external guidance of an artist whose work I had appearance of nature. The artist now may long admired. Having secured duplicates study and observe the broad fundamentals of his paints, brushes, medium, canvas, which are part and parcel of all art-the and so on, I was disappointed that after a eternal verities of nature itself. few days work I could not turn out a picture A theatre near my home has on its wall as good as his. Not wanting to admit defeat, the inscription "Ars longis, vita brevitas." I decided that it must be my glasses that Art is long and life is short. The artist kept me from seeing the delicate shades Page 17 and details with which his paintings glowc,tl. important mattrrs. Herbert 1Ioovc.r said Anothrr c~lrmc~ntof the fascination of Aftcr consulting not on(' I~uttwo eye that a president is allowed privacy only fly fishing is mystery. Thc human mint1 specialists I realized my glassrs wcrr whcn hc is praying or fishing. anti onr has always 1)rc.n intr-igr~cdIly thr 11ivstr1-i- without dcfcct, so I rathcr shamefacedly cannot [way all of the time. 011s ant1 thcs unknown. King Solonlorr talked thc matter over with the master Viscount Grey. Foreign Srcretary for atlmittc.tl that there wcrc a f(l\v things tll;~t painter. "\2'~*11,"he said, "the troul~lcwith Great Britain during the First \Vorld \Val-, hc. dcsl)itc all his wistlom, ditl not r~ntler- you is not lack of eqr~ipmrntor eyesight; often journeyed to his I'avoritc, trout strca;nm stand. One of thosc I~n~,~w~ictlto I)r thc it is the lack of knowlcdgr of what to look for a short periotl of rclaxation. I have way ol' n mall with a maid. And, whilc for. You only comprehcntl and utilize what been told that tluring thosr fishing trips modern scientists arc, now investigating you alreatly know. I havc, stored in my the German espionagcs agents covering his hormonrs, genes, and othcr biological brain many years of seeing. ant1 tluring movements hapl>ily rc1)orted to their I ligh influrnces which detrrmine thc actions mitl thosr years I havc inquiretl as to why things Commantl "Takc it easy and get some reactions of Inc,n ant1 women, anothrr wise have certain shades of color. and how thosr sleep; Grey has gone fishing." man, a notrtl I%ritishI)arristc~r, has tlcvotrd colors are formed. I havc. lear~~cdthose President Eiscnhowcr, likc l3oovr.1- and his too short lift- to ~>rotlucinga book abor~t combinations of ~)ig~nc.ntand light that Clrvelantl before him, appears to enjoy another mystery. "the, way of a trout with give me the desired effect and c.nablo mcs fly fishing for its value in 1)ringing him Ll fly." to pick up traces of colol- and exaggcratc closer to naturc3 rathrr th~unas a means of Mr~chof thc mystery of fish rcksl~lts them so that the finished ~~icturris not a avoiding political pressure. In fact lic is I)rcat~sr.fish ant1 mrn live in such differrnt copy of nature but an improved c.xaggcxra- not only a fly fisher I~utconfines himself atmos1,heres; the man, a later evolution tion that is more pleasing to your clye than to the usc of thc floating fly. from the sea, is I>roncato intc-rprrt thc fish nature its'lf would be." At first glancc, thr catching of a simple in terms of his own advancctl state of being The late Frank Dumond, a friend of creatures-the fish-sccms to I)e a fairly rathrr than trying to think and see, as thc. mine, was an instructor in art at one of the rasy undertaking. Thr process of fly fishing fish tlocs. oldest and best known American schools. appears so simple, merely the clever Years ago a t'anlor~s1)roadwny comc- Shortly before his death, he told me that imitation of fish food, that the, qr~rstion diennc told a story al~outher nc,xt door the great trouble with students of art was naturally arises of why docs it intrigue the neighbor. It seems that thr neighbor hat1 thcir inclination to try to copy the things minds of men, and not only the simple 1)11rcliasecla tlonkey for thr amr~semcntof of nature rather than to study the nature I)ut the great? his chilclrc~n.The t1onkc.y wandcrrd away of things. Fly fishing should be a~~l~roachecl Perhaps it is the appearance of sim- one day ant1 1)ecarnc~lost, and thc. comr- in the latter manner. Sooner or later we plicity that first lures us into fly fishing, dicnnc was asked to hell, find it, which havc to get down to the naturr of things. l~utas we prlrsue the sport we are led she did vcry qr~ickly.\\'hen askctl how shc deeper and deeper into matters of greater knew where to look for the donkey, \he complication, and we becomc~absorbed in explained that shc immc.diatcly placcd The Fascination of this inexact art beyond our power to escape. herself in the position of the donkey so Fly Fishing I3ut I think there is something else that that she would bc able to see wlierc s11c causes us to fish besides the joy of a wrould go if she wc,rr a real donkry. Aftrr There is a fascination about fishing complex sport. I think there is something a short walk as a donkey she camc ul>on that is difficr~ltto pin down in any specific embedded within the soul of man that the real donkey and rrturnetl it to-the terms. Perhaps it stems in part from the tlemancls expression. The curly Hebrews waiting children. Fishermen, in their Garden of Eden, whcre food grew in were aware of this and took thc pains to f.asc~nation . ' with their qr~al-ry,arc com- abundance and was to be had for the taking. attribute it to their particular deity: antl pelled to Icarn more about it in order to Of course this was long 1)eforr the "Ncw God gave man dominion over the fish of cash in whcn the going is good \Yhrn thr Ileal," when the government told us "1)on't the sea and the birds of the air . . . It is my going is bad, nothing will help. bother with getting off your behinds to belief that it is our desire to establish our During the past thirty-odd years of Iny pick your daily bread, just sit there and dominion over other living things that own involvement with thc fascination and we will bring it to you . . ." In any case, creates much of the interest in fishing. The mysteries of fly fishing, I would have becn one great impetrls that causes eighteen fly fishernman has an added advantage here a coml>lete idiot if I had not picked rip a million Americans to buy fishing licenses because the fish taken on an artificial fly little information, which, when pa\scd may be the often-hidden dcsirr to get can be released unharmed after capture; along to others nlny be a handy addition something for nothing, or to real, whcre we can have our satisfaction of dominion, to their own storr of knowledge; it may they have not sown. and the fish can havc its lifc. point the way to scvc.ral phases of fly fishing Fishermen, like those who till the soil, It is only the beginner who wishes to that have not yet been c.xplored. What I are in large measure dependent on nature kill a lot of fish. It would appear that hc can offer, thcreforc. is not the last wort1 in for success in their vrntures, antl have has to have actual proof of his exl~crtiscin either knowledgr or tccliniql~c;it is rather often been thought of as students of nature order to im~~resshis friends. Older and my imp-c~ssions,after a good many years and therefore 1)ettcr able to cope with more experienced fishermen also likc to of trial, error, throry, spccr~lation,and vexatious problems in a complex civilized catch a lot of fish, but they kill vcry few. 111-acticr. I hope it may insl~irrsome fellow world. Many political fi~q~reshave resorted A moment ago I said that the fish is a anrrler to strivc h;~rdcrfor that statc of to fishing to impress thcir wavering ad- very simplr creature. It is so simple that perfection that we know will never be qr~itca herents that they could be inclr~dedamong we often overlook the simplicity of its needs attained but that will always remain a the gentle in spirit and be given political and attribute to it many characteristics goal-the will to know, to explore thc. support. In other cases, howcwer, fishing that are more nearly in accord with human fascination, is itself thc beginning of wis- has been a genuine means of escape from lifv than with fish life. The fish lives and dom. troubles and trials for thosc in positions of dies with such basic problems as feeding, And for myself, if in trying to I~rcak great political importance. reproducing, and escape from its enemies. through thr barrier that divides the known Fly fishing has intrigued many great And so it may be that fishing satisfied not from the unknown I Icave any sign of the political figures, both here and abroad. only man's dcsirc for dominion but also struggle, I hope that it \*rill signify to the For some of them, at least, it is a mysterious his need to get closer to those fundamental friendly eye that sees it that "Jennings and intriguing sport; for others it is a things of nature from which modern fished hcrc-he didn't catch much, 1)11t he means of temporary escape from more civilization has removed 11s. tried-God how he tried." Dead Pool Never in all my days on this stream have I taken a trout from this pool under the black willow, a good place for big fish, the current undercutting the bank, a cover of foam on the eddy; caddis, always; shifting schools of dace. Still, once a year, I wade the riffle at its head, move into the shade of the high bank and fish the run: a nymph to the expected mayfly hatch, though nothing conies of it, nor of a dun cocked in the driftline. Today it is the same. I lie in the sand by the oxbow, and watch, imagining one day my fly might ride true in the feeding lane, and in a shimmer of spray the river will burst and I'll stare into the ravenous power of light I know is holding in its lie. There is no more to it, though it is true I know of other holding places like this one, where in the fluid congress of the general darks something huge and heavy takes its secret breath, by reason of its sheer bulk wary and at pains to conceal the breaking of surfaces. Seeing there is the double order to this thing, I know this pool cannot be dead. Things work both ways; here lies the monstrous fish that feeds by night, and only then. John D. Engels --- Page 19 I I 3 A major part of the Preston Jennings collection is his personal photograph collection, containing several hundred color transparencies. The pictures document his travels, especially hisfishing trips to Canada and the Catskills. Preston Jennings's work with salmon and salmon flies is not as well known now as his work with trout stream insects; he was the author of major articles on the vision and feeding habits of salmon, and experimented with salmon fly patterns, the most famous of which were the Iris series of streamers. The color scenes shown here are representative of the Jennings collection, and show both salmon and troutfishing. Page 20 Recent Library Acquisitions Reporting a Bibliographical Bounv . . I hc ,llu.selr~rrlihrcrr~~ i.s ,qrolrli~r,qc3rlc~1r /it.stor Harry Darbee ancl Mac Francis, Catskill Ki11er Hulls throu,qh It, 1!)7(i; H.G. McClel- //1(111 //It' rest o/ 1/11' coll~'cli01l. 111 /I!(' /I(ISI Flv Tiel; autographeel by the I>arbees;Sir land, Tlte Trout Flv Ilresseri Cabirlet o/ colr/>lcllccrn r13c'r'c rcccit~cclsc~r~orcrl 1tr1;qc Humphrey Ilavy, Sal~i~o~lia,1970; Jean- Detrice.s. 1927; I.c,antlcr McCormick, Fishi~lg collcc1iort.s. i11c11rtli11,qthc Itrlc ,/oh~ril thc~rtor~:s Par11 Iltlbe, Let's S~rrle Our SU~III~II,copy Kour~dt/le World, 1937; John McDonald, /~c>~so~rcrl~IIIR-~~IIR- lihrarl~. ,qit'c~r h re ,lltrsircc, #51 of 850, inscri11r.d to Mrs. Athcrton by Tile Or Page 22 Fly Fishing, 1932; G. Brown Goode, Anler- Go A-Fishing, 1873; Louis Rhead, The Book camping tent; Trout, Vol. 18 #2; W.F. ican Fishes, 1903; H. Greene, Where the of Fish and Fishing, 1908; Charles Ritz, A Witcher, Nepigoi~Trout. Rnght Waters Meet, 1972; Grits Gresham, Fly Fisher's Life, 1959; Charles Ritz, A Flv Duncan Campbell-George Ferris, F!y Corilplete Book of Bass Fishing, 1966; Vis- Fisher's Life, 1972; William Schaldach, Fishing in Neu~Zealand, 1976. count Grey, F[v Fishing, 1939; Alvin Grove, Coverts and Casts, 1946; Ernest Schwiebert, William Cass-A Fisherntan's Library, cata- The Lure and Lore of F[v Fishing, 1951; Matching the Hatch, 1972; George Scotcher, log of the Charles Withey angling collec- Roderick Haig-Brown, Fishern~an's Fall, The Fly Fisher's Legacy, Honey Dun Press tion at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Fisherman 's Winter, Fisherman 's Spring, reprint; G.E.M. Skues, Chalk Streanz An- Scotty Chapman-Fishing journal kept by Fisherman's Winter, Return to the River, all gler, 1976; Nynzph Fishingfor Chalk Stream Mr. Chapman from 1941 to 1965 in Yel- recent reprints; Frederic Halford, Dry Trout, 1974; Minor Tactics of the Chalk lowstone Park area. Fly Fishing, 1973 edition; S.H. Hammond, Stream, 1914; Charles Southard, Trout Flv- Dudley C. Corkran-Orvis and Cheney, Wild Northern Scenes, 1857; Col. Harding, Fishing in America, 1914; B. Spiller, Grouse Fishing with the Fly, 1885. The Flyfisher and the Trout's Poit~rof View, Feathers, 1972; More Grouse Feathers, 1972; Clarence Crauer-Fishing diary of A.P. 1931; Cecil Heacox, The Contpleat Brown Frank Steel, Fly Fishing, 1946; W.C. Stew- Van Giesen, 1869-1871. Trout, 1974; Edward Hewitt, Secrets ofthe art, The Practical Angler, 1907; The Practical Charles B. Cumings-Bailey, Grandfather Salnzon, 1925; Telling on the Trout, 1926; Angler, 1919; Eric Taverner, Fly-tyingfor ulas a Trout, 1961; Thomas Barker, Barker's Gene Hill, Mostly Tailfeathers, 1975; T.C. Trout; Robert Traver, Ar1atonz.y ofa Fisher- Delight, 1887 reprint, #14 of 100; Ray Berg- Hofland, The British An The frontisfronz The Fly Fisher's Text Book, 1841, bv Theophilus South; South's book contains nunlerous excellent ettgravings, a ,tun1 ber of which have been reproduced in The American Fly Fisher ' in the past year (the angler on the znstde I front cover ofthzs tssue I IS alsofronl South's i book). Page 23 A Htstorv of Flv Flrhn~,~for Trout; George Holden, ~trea,)~~fi,1920; IIubbs, Greelcy, and Tarzwell, hlethodsfor the I~n/)ro~le~nent of MicAi,ycin 7'rout st re at it.^. 1932; John Alden Knight. Tlie llodertr An,yler, 1936; Kobert Lincoln, Gtride to Best F~shhl,+1948; H.G. McClelland. Tllc Tr~utF!v I)resser:s Cahinet ofDrticcs. 39.71; Gcrvasc Markham. T11e Pleasurrs o/ I'rinces, and Robcart Vrn- ables, The Es/~eriencedAn~ler, 1927; Ko- land l'ertwec, Fi.sll are Slrch I,iars, 1928; IVilliam I'lowmztn. Econo~tiv it1 Ilreulitr~; 1797; I - Tlr ouglr /!\I fish irtg /or .scrlrrrort ulct.s ctlitiort , tie.scrihet1 I)uslr zrlood :s (rtiverrtrtrous irr the dlilicitc~larr,i.rrra,ye, for the stick or1 rc*hich occusiorrall\~/)ructiceti hv 1800 irt .Vorth u~tzrrclerirr,ys(1,s ')t,erho/)sthe 1e11,ytlriesiMriti.slr tlrt.*. kettle is .su.sperrrled otPerthe ccrrr~/)/ire . . . !A rrrrrica, it dicl rtot hecorrrc (I corrrrrrort /3r111-\1frrrlorr~h (!/all tirrre." Lire rrprirrt here I he Irrdiarrs crltrch cr certaitr tlc,yrec (~/su/~ersti- cz)rc/ u~ell-krrou'rr/)a.siirrrc rcrrtil crhout the errtire clrczpter 011 strlrrrorr f2shit1,q. tiort to /Ire Cl~i/)loyuor;yctrr.urrtl it is corr.sic/ereti the tirrte o/' !Ire Cit'il M'ur. We 'ile Atrglirrg. hisioriarrs Irazle poirrtetf out tlrul rrrost rtrrluck\' lo 1)rcrrr or rerrrotre it or1 1ecrz~ir1,y /~uhiislretletrrlrt accourris urrti illustrtr- sorrre of tlrc /i~st,arrtl hcrt. ,fir /Y.s/terrrrerr irt tr car?r/)." tiorrs qfscrlrrrorrfi.shirr,y ht~forc~,hut 1hi.s North Arrri~riccr toere Nriti.sI1 citi:errs, t~isitirr,y Borrc. IIUS trrr UII~rsual fcctttcre of ,yrecrt irr terest; the "i'cut Llhrlti 011 sorrre scierrti/ic or rrriiiior:~~ leu7 ecrrlrl accourrts tliscuss the threats to /Ire rrrissiorl. These u~elletiucatctl trut~elecsofterr resource urrci the fislrirr~irr trs rrrrrclr tietctil trs ke/~tjotrrrrcrls, prhrrarilr~ /or the errtertuitrrrrerrt tloes this orre. o/j;rrrilv cr)rd frie11c1.s hut occcrsiotrctllr~for THERE are many excellent salmon rivers Clh arc9 rrrotlc~tito ref~rirrtthis cha/)tcrfro111 /)uhlicutiorr. T11i.sseerrrr to Irczrlc heerr e.spcciall\' in Nova Scotia. but thry arcamuch da~nagetl tlre hook Chiploquorgan I),\, its rcpuhlicuiiorr. /Ire cuse uliilr eccr!v Atlatrtic salrrror~fishirrg irr by netting ant1 spearing, and in some in- Irr I'IN S(rirrt A rrrres I'oirrt 1're.s.s. Fretlcrictorr. Currat/u, uqherc Ilritislr 11 rrr? (![firers arcti otlrcr s1ancc.s altogct11c.r blocked 1111by imlxssabl(b KB., reptarteci tire hook irr cr lirrrited c~tlitiorr, repre,sertttttit~e.sO/ the nritish ,yoz~crrrrrrerrtIrtrtl ~iiill-dams. ccrrc.se to rrrcrke estetttled zisiis of a sort rrot Thr salmon fishing in this ~~rovinccs the .Y/~ori.srrrczrri Cnhirr ci, Ilos $!I. 0,yticrrrhury. corrr)rrorr to the lrrritcti Stales apcr our retlolrr- commrncc,s much earlier than in other Xeub l'ork, 1;lfj~i.O. tiorr. 11crslru~ootl:rhook, /~uhlir/retirr 1x71 irr parts of North America, csl)ccially in thc, Chiploquorgan. uv-itterr hv Capiairr Rich- 1)uhlirc. i.s orrc o/ thc rrrost rctletrlirrg o/ t/lt~.s~ rivers lyi~igto the westwartl of Halifax. ard I)ashu~ood o/ the British Arrr~v,u~rr a (ICCOI~11 Is. wherc, fresh fish can 11r takm with a fly in 7'11~ulord "Chiployuor;yc~rr," irrcitic~rrtallv. March. ir eps/~lai~~eciirr the book ior(yirru1 preface (I.\ The Intlian and Gold rivers, within /i)llou~.s:" 'Chi/)loyuor;yct)r'is the Irrdicrrt rrarrrc. for-ty miles of Halifax, afford fnir spol-t at ti~ncs,and are thr earliest streams. In the used in this river. There are many othe~ hills covered with forest. "Interval" is the spring large flies take in these waters. smaller streams, where, occasionally, after word used to denote meadow land on the Greys, fiery, I~rowns,and thc Nicholson. a freshet, fish may be killed. banks of rivers, which are covered by the all of them tied with rather gaudv wings, I paid a visit one summer with a brother spring floods. This alluvial soil is very kill well. officer of the name of Farquharson, to the valuable, and produces large crops of hay. The LC Havre is a splcnditl stream Margaree, a river of Cape Breton. We The settlers here were a peculiar set of emptying into the sea at Liverpool: forty travelled from Pictov by steamer, to Port people, almost all Highland Scotch and miles further to the westwartl. Thc bottom Hawksbury; from thence by land to the Roman Catholics, speaking Gallic in ad- of this river is dark, :untl I foutld that flic,s, Bras d'or Lake, an imme~iscinland sea dition to English, some even not knowing as gaudy as those used at Ballyshnnnon, connected with the salt water by verv the latter language. I met a Scotch woman did good execution. Ycllow I~ody,yellow narrow straits. We crossed this lake by nearly a hundred years old, who had been hackle, jay shoulder, with a gaudy mixed steamer to Bedeque, and drove from that all through the Peninsular war with her wing, and a couple of topl~ingsover all, place to the valley of the Margaree, distant husband, a soldier in a Highland re&'wnent. proved an cxccllcnt fly in high water. Sincc twenty-seven miles. These people were most kind and hospit- I visited this stream it has been totally We brought a canoe with us iron1 Hali- able, but some of them very ignorant, and destroyed by the erection of an iml~assablc fax, together with an Indian, who proved rather lawless. As an instance of their mill-dam at the mouth. but a bad hand at poling, and was alto- ignorance, we were actually asked by a Twenty miles to the west of the LC gether a poor specimen of his race. Our well-to-do settler, if it was true the Duke Havre is Mill river, a capital stream. The driver, who started from Bedeque elated, of Wellington was dead, and if he was not fish here are bothered by sawdust, and the got more drink on the road, and ended by a great general! :ungler by lumber driving; however, not- nearly capsizing us down a precipice. After The poaching on the Margaree is far withstanding these drawbacks, fair fishing we reached our destination. this man worse than in any other river in North is sometimes to be had. The same flies as having only rested his horses an hour, America, the settlers spearing and netting for 1.e Havrr suit this river, also the and still exceedingly intoxicated, set out the 11001s nightly, in open defiance of the "Admiral," a fly of repute in many parts to drive home, on a pitch-dark night. They law. We were much annoyed by their of the country, but with which I nevcr yet get their worth out of horses in North spearing the pool opposite our camp, and succeeded in raising a fish, although I America, though the animals are rarely reported it to the chief warden, who was tried it in various 1)laces. To the cast of sound from being overworked when young. afraid to do anything, and as the settlers Halifax the salmon run later. The best Cape Breton boasts of some very pretty came in gangs of over twenty, with black- river on that coast is the St. Mary's, but it scenery, the valley of the Margaree, in ened faces, we could not identify them, is so horribly poached and speared, that particular. The river, for the first twenty and so were powerless. any sport is a great uncertainty. The same miles from its mouth, runs through broad I was informed that the late chief fish- class of flies as those mentioned abovr arc "interval" land, backed by high and steep warden was a plucky fellow, who did his Page 27 Nltrstra!io~rsfor !hi,s crrticlc nrc fro111The Ristigo~~c.llc.ant1 its S;~lrno~~Fislii~~g, I!\, I)NIII.S(t,yr, /~IIIII~.TII~~~I III l~~lttt1~1t1~~11 III 1A1 duty and prevented poaching to a great wood duck in th~wing. Broad silver tinsel in Connemara and ot11c.1-parts of Irc~lantl. extent, but his 1)olitics not suiting thc 11011. or twist suits this water best. As to flics they takr almost anything, ant1 Member for the District, he was tr~rnrd There is a gootl ~narhlcquarry near are excellent eating. out to make way for thcs present useless the bank of the rivcr, but it is not worked. In most of thc rive-I-s thrrr is an cbtlor- individual. <;old is now found in one of thc tributaries molls run of Kaslwreav, a sl)rcics of herring; The river is naturally n~ostprolific, of' the Margarcr. ant1 an American com- thcy ascent1 th~fresh watcr in May, ant1 the fish run over twenty por~ndsin wcight. pany have commencetl working it. I fount1 arc* caught in thorlsands I)y weirs madr of and rise well. Therc. are no rocks in thr some good specimens of quartz in somo I)rush, nnd constructrtl in thr shal~rof thc lower part of the stream, and tl~rpools arc high I~arrensscvc~ral miles back from the letter V with a kind of trap at the to],. smooth, compared to no st American waters. river, where I spent a couplc of days They arc also captr~rc.tlat thr foot of liravy The botton~ is gravel and sand, so the looking for cariboo. but only saw n tcw falls Ily clip riots; n man stands on a platform salmon "stands" vary more or less with tracks. Thc sand flies were herr in swarms. or rock, and kcc.1)~ dipping his net into the spring freshets, ncw pools I~einglormc,tl whilr down in the open intc,rvals thc,rc tl~rfoam. and old ones silted up or changcd. Among were hardly any flics at all, which was a These fish arca then salted ant1 packed the best fishing stations arcbthe Forks, ant1 great comfort. in barrels; thcy are soft, without much the Island pool, half a milc lower down. Witlior~tdoubt thr best salmon fishing flavour, ant1 very infcrior to the rrg~~lar I cared less for the Margaree than any in North America is in the rivcm flowing hrrring. which also is taken in largct river I had ever visitc~din North America. into the St. Lawrence; runong the small l~r~mbrrsin the Bay of Fundy. Thc herrings It was too civilised, and yo11 were apt to celebrated of which are the Jacqnes Cartier tlo not appear until after they havr drol~ped have your camp surrounded, especially ncar Qucbcc, several tril~l~tariesof thr their roe, and arca 11ot to I)r, comparctl to on Sundays, by a crowd of loafers and Sagucnay, the Mingan, Moisic and many the same spc,cics that frrqurnt the English gaping natives. One afternoon, whilst others. coasts. making flics in camp and resting the river The fish commence to run in the St. Thr shad, an excrllcnt fish, likewisr for the evening cast, I was horrified at thc Lawrence about the middle of June. The brlonging to thr herring tribe, and wrigh- sight of two tourists in Rob Roy canoes, same flies as used in the New 13rtunswick ing from onc to four ~)ounds,ascends thr splashing about in the middlr of our best rivers answer for these waters; in the Moisic fresh watcr, but not until June. They arcb pool. They had come down the stream, to a fly entirely green kills at times. The chiefly killrd by nets ant1 spears. the head of which they portaged their Nicholson is also good, ant1 orange l~odies S~nr~ltsare very ~,lrntiful,csl~eciallv in cockney crafts in carts, after crossing the with claret hackles; wings shonld not bc the St. John rivcr, thong11 thcy arc nevcr Brad d'or Lake, which they had rc.ached very gaudy. Most of these rivers arc rented sold in the market. being sniall, and by steamer from Halifax. It is a consolation I)y Canadians and others. There is a good quantity not quality is the first desideratum to know that there are still plenty of wild rivcr near (;asl)ia at the c.ntratlcca of' thc in this country. At Frcdrricto~lour men rivers, inaccessible to the town loafer and bay of Chaleurs, which is hired by a Cn- used to catch hundreds of them with a rot1 cock-tail sportsman in a Rob Roy, as nadian. and line. The smelts are quite equal in provided he cannot get above you, there Sea trout frequent more or less all thc flavour and sul)crior in size to those caught is no fear of his coming up stream, which rivers in North America. In some streams in England. it would be impossible to do in such a they are so numerous at the commcncc- I ncvcr saw a shriml) in the, country. craft. As a matter of course, we asked these ment of thc run as to be a positive nr~siancr They wor~ldbe consiclerctl much too small unwelcome spoilers of our best cast to to the salmon fisher. fry. though a reginlrnt formerly stationetl partake of the usual camp hospitality. They These fish are not the same s1)ccics as at St. John had a shrimp net, ancl some of proved very harmless men, and only the sea (commonly calletl white) trout of the officers ~~scdto go out shrim1)ing in damaged our fishing through ignorance. the English and Irish coasts; they arc a the harbour and catch pl(3nty of them. Of The flics I found most killing in the shorter and thicker fish, morc, spotted on lobsters, as I have I~cforcmentioned, their Margaree were, the old "Nicholson," and the back, and with a yellowish tinge on name is legion. a yellow fly, and when the water was low a the belly. Nor do they jr~n~l)out of thr Many Irnglish fish, such as soles, whit- fly perfectly black, with the exception of water when hooked, like the fish met with ing, red mullet and others do not frequent Page 28 Tlte 19/h Ce?ttuyv .sulrrror~nrt~1c.r:~ equi/~rr~ertluas es/rerrteIv Itenr~v;thefi'~s/ few fee! of /11e rod, (is piclurrtl oft //te n:yItl, ulns oftert its tltick (1s (1 shotvl hctrttlle. The reels these coasts. There are numbers of white to the nature of the country where the once and took the fly. I am speaking now bass and sturgeon in many of the large lakes are situated. Some fish are exceed- of waters that had rarely ever had a fly rivers. The St. John river, New Rrunswick, ingly well fed, and of a deep orange colour cast into them. contains fish of either kind. We used to when cut open, of others the flesh is white The trout flies used in lakes are not have a good sport near Fredericton, spear- and tasteless. The trout very in size from a large, and of almost any shade and pattern. ing bass when they made their appearance quarter to three or four pounds, but It is an immense advantage in this coun- in the early spring. At that time of year generally do not exceed two pounds, and try to be able to tie your own flies; good they come to the top of the water in shoals, in some waters one pound. ones are hardly to be got, except a few and play about for a few minutes at a time. I have generally observed that rocky imported from home. As a rule you pay Two men in a canoe station the~nselves bottomed lakes contain small and poor enormously for a very inferior article, both near where the bass are playing, and on a fish, whilst those situated in rich and loamy as regards worknianship, material and shoal coming to thc surface, they immedi- soil the reverse. The trout in lakes which pattern. Most of the feathers are dyed, ately paddle as quickly as possible up to have not been much fished rise greedily. and the hooks weak and bad. the spot and throw a spear, the head of In the neighbourhood of Halifax and other Fortunately for myself I mastered the which on striking a fish comes out of the large towns they are much more shy. art of fly-tying years ago, and was therefore socket, and is held to the pole only by a I remember when camped on the Nep- independent of the scamped rubbish sold cord. This is to enable the fish to play, as isiguit lakes the trout rose to every cast, by the tackle makers, more especially those they would otherwise very likely break and on bringing a fish into the side of the of Halifax. In St. John, New Brunswick, the hold. canoe, he was frequently followed by others there was a very respectable man of the Most of the inland lakes of North eager to take the fly from him. Many times name of Willis-a saw-filer-who could America contain brown trout, which vary the original fish having wriggled off close put a decent fly togc,thrr il hr had the in size, appearance and flavour according to the canoe, the one "in waiting" rose at materials. Page 29 Notes and Comment - - . ------hlORt ON TIlE Ili\l,I' I.IMIT CI.IIR ' I I -'- I Volumr Eight, Nr~ml)czrTwo, ol The AMERICAN FISIIING, SIJMMAKIZEI) Ar~lerica~lI.'!\# Fisher cotltaitlrd a 111-icl'not<. from Ed Zrt-11,al)pealing for morv informa- \V(b fount1 this sumniary of fishing in the, Illiitvtl Statrs it] an old tion on the Ilalf Limit Clul), fountlrtl in Ogtlvn Smith's (Lot~tloti)1;ishing Iacklc Catalog. \\'(~~\~c,rc~ irnprc~ssc~tl I)!? 1948 by John t2ldcn Knight. \Yc, I-ccc,ivrd the author's al~ilityto covc~what wc, hat1 licrc~toforrcor~sitl(~rc~tl a 1)rcBtty a letter from Mrs. Richartl Altlctn Knight, big subjcct in a \,cry fr\v words: provitling 11s with somc c,scrllcnt acldi- "I1.S.A. Thr Wester11 1)istt-icts nl~or~ntlin Stc~rllicntl.<:r~ttliroat ant1 the tional backgror~ndon this carly kill-limit- Rainl~ow.Thc Yellowstonc~Park Kt~sc~vc.has some gootl strc,nms. 7'hc3 ing organization. Mrs. Knight sent 11s an Eastc,rn States mostly contain I'ontinalis (Char)ant1 somcs gootl 131-own article about the Clc111 tliat al)pearctl in Trortt \Vatc>t-s.Thoso in hlainc, arc rather likv 1Iarnl)shirc~\v;itcrs atitl arc Westen1 0uttfoor.s in Jr~tlc,I!)/H. Thc 21-ticlc fislird drv." reported that John Altlcn Knight was Count on a fishing wt-itet- to give, away all those sect-cbthot spots. President of thc Clul, and Arthur Emery Low, of Santa 13arbat-a. California, was a Charter Mc-mbcr. It seems tliat hlr. I.ow provided Westerti 0utdoor.r with the infor- was rrccntly startrd a nrw movrmcnt called tlir sport to I)(- found in fishit~g.\\'c brlir\~c mation about the Clul). A few qrtotcs from the Iialf-Limit Club . . . In thc itltrrrsts of in catching as many fisli as wc, wish, kc,cy)itig Mr. Low, c,xtractcd from his many com- I~ctterfishing, web, tlic undct-signrtl, haves a I'r\v, ant1 I-elrasing thr rc,st to I)(* caught ments, give the mootl of thcz Clrtb: I)anded togc,thrr into an informal, non- again anothcr ctny . . . i\ccordingly wc, "Kealizilig the utter impossibility of profit gl-ou11 . . . \Ve 1)rlievc~that an angler plc~lgeoursc-lvcs to kill no marc. than hall' ever keeping our fishing rtp to thc prrscnt shoultl be cotitcnt with a fc>wgood fish in ;I legal limit of fisli each time we go fishi~~g, standards, let alonc improving them ~wel'crencc~to a limit catch of lrssrr fry . . . srtbsct-ibing to the. principle, that mot-c through hatcheries or other means, there It is not our IXK~OSCto curtail in any way plrasurc can I)(, t1c.1-ivctl from catching We recentlv found this ad~lertise,r~erlt/or art earl\! Sarl Frar~ciscodealer; the (id is circa 1890. Do ary of our readers krtoul urn~thittgahoutthisfirrr1It u~ouldhe especiallv irrterestirig to krloul uihere TELEPHONE 1013 the?) "irrtported Yshirlg tackle frorrl. Page 30 It all sot~~~tlstl11itc1 lamiliar tli(~scatla\,s. ! IIrlt back in the !!)-I05 only a Ir\v anglrl-s ant1 I'islit~ric~sI~iologisth \vc~r(~ I)oltl c~~lor~gli to srlggcsst such things as fish-lor-l'r~n.IIcarr / tvas a small grot11) 01' sl)ortsmc,n \\fillingto j ~)articil)atc~in \vli;~tthe)\, c.allt*d"sell' rcel~ln- : tion" in ortlcr to l)t'ottsct tlicit. sl)ort. 7Tlia~~ks! . , P ~. - to All-s. Knight 1'01.sharing lh(5 inlormation .,.-.*I ,- - - with u\. 110 ally ol our rc*atltbl.\ kno\v marc, ;111ot1t tlits 1I:rIl 1.11iiit (~IIII)! It \vo111tI 1)~ i~~tt,rt,sti~~gto lits:~~. it :III~1xscko11i11g \v;ts cv(.r matlc, 01' mc~ml)c~-sliil).01. to lhc I mootl 01 li~iiiti~~gOIIC,'~ kill l'~.omthest, first c~ffc)rlsto 1atc.1.. rno1.c- srrc~c.c~ssl'~~lmovcsnicsllts. i ;\lIor~t fi\rc, ycaal.sago, in Volrlmc. For~r, N~~rnl~c~l.T\\.o01 'f'lrc ..lr~rcric.cr~rI.'/\' Fi.s/rcr, tli(~r(-;11)1)t~:w(~tl ;III ;trticlt%al~or~t Kutlyarrl Ki1)ling's ;\~iic.t-ica~~l'ly I'ishing cxl)c.l.ic~~~cc~s I)!. or~rI-dito~. I~c~lorc~ IIC I)c~camc,Ktlitor. pI'lic~articlr concllttlt~tlthat little \vas known al~outKil'linp's lishing ncti\ritir-s in North Amcbrica from 1892 to IHSfi,w1it.n hc resitlrd l'rc(~uc*~~tIyin \'cbrn~ont. \Vt. rc~cc~~tlycame ;~cros\a I)~.ictl'~.clt~rc~nec~ in tht, /\r~grtst 1. I X!Ki hrc,.st o~rtl.SIrc~cr~~r. \vliich strc~~~gtli(~ns or~vco~~victio~~ that Kil)ling was an occo- sio~~alangler tlr~ringthose, ycIa1.s. I\ corrc~s- ~)ontlrntto Forc~slcr~rtl Slrccr~~~ on that tlatc, rt~1)ortwIthat hts rcsc.cwtly "hntl tlic~~~lc~osurc 01 1ra\rc31ing:I grcaatcll. 1)art 01' t\vo (lays \vitli Rutlvartl Kipling. who hat1 IICY~IIclown around Gaspi,, ant1 was chock full of cnthr~siasma~~tl joy I)ccnr~sclit, hatl taktsn a 15111. salmon. thc. first ;uitl only onc*, I br~lic~vr~." I\'<, rtLgwtKipling \vrotczso littlt~abor~t liis fishing; 1)c~sitlcsliis tlrliglitf~ll rssny The above photographs are part of the Ralph Orthof collection of tackle, recentlv "On Dry-Cow Fishing ;IS a Finr /\rt" (in acquirerl b! Musetc~~l~~ren~hcr and collector Ed Kra~n.Ed has do~~atcdpart qf this which he snags a cow on his back-cast and collection to tcs, anrl both he and ule are Irving to learn Inore about Mr. Orthol; who was chases it around the neighborhood) and a a skilled and creoli~~eflvtier. Mr. Orthof apparentl~l,fished with both Pitrh Gillun~and few brief accounts of fishing in Oregon Charles Defio. and ,?la! harle heeft ir!/luential in their circles. His tackle ulas of the and other western waters, wc have only ht~hestqualit!, and ule rclould like to learn no re about hi111 so that ule could docun~ent indirect hints of his angling. But now we this in~l~ortantcollection better. Do all! c!f our readers knout of Ralph Orthof? He seenls can at least add Atlantic salmon to his to have beell fishing in the 1930s and 1940s; ule are not certain which ph~to~yraphis him. American catches. Museum News TOIN TIIE MIJSEIJM of the American Association of Museums Volume Six, Numbcrs 1, 2, 3, and 4 and the American Association for Statc Volume Seven, Numbers 2, 3, and 4 Mcml~rrshil~Rates and 1,ocal History. We arc a non-profit Volume Eight, Nr~mbcrs1, 2, and 3 Associate S 20 educational institution chartered under thr Sustaining % 30 laws of the state ol Vermont. Place your order with the Registrar, Patron $ I00 The Museum of American Fly Fishing, Spo11sor $250 Manchester, Vermont. 05254. Enclose 54.00 BACK ISSUES AVAILABLE lor each copy desired. The $4.00 covers postage. Send your membership application and We have thc following back issues of full addrrw to the Secretary, The Mr~renm the magazine available now: of American Fly Fishing, Manchester, Vermont, 05254. Thr Museum i\ a member Volume Five, Numbers 3 and 4 Page 31 Auction Report by David Ottiger, Director of Development The second annual West Coast auction and entertaining job as auctioneer, coaxing Bill Kardr~ck was held I)eccmber 3rd at the San Francisco and cajoling attentlees to higher levels of 1)Oll 1.aI)l)c~ University Club. It was quite a sttccess, generosity. The auction raiscd nearly 1)ana IAarnh thanks to hard and able work by our $12,000, but just as important was thc full - I Spring Dinners -Attend One in Your Area The Museum is now expanding its Ilin- it will allow thosc of us who currcwtly arc. catalogs will br scxnt to the c>ntirrmember- ncr/Auction program by organizing in involvc~tlto get to know oncBanother ant1 ship. ,\nnor~ncc-rnc.titsof auctions will br several locations around the country. These, share a good cvrning's company. I'or thc sent to local mc~l~il)rrsin the area of thc areas include: Milwaukrc., Chicago, Ile- Musc~umto bccomc, all it can as a national auction. Any 11icml)erswho want atinounce- troit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New Jrrsey, educational institution, we, must greatly ments ofc~llu~~comingauctions shor~ltlwritc 1.0s Angeles and others. If any member increase, prtblic. awarenrss of our work. the Mrlsc~r~m. would like to havc a dinner in their I)inncr/auctions 1)rrmit rts to tlo j~stthat. hometown, or would likr to help the ant1 hove* the adtlcd I,c,ncfit of caarning Museum in one of the above areas, they Irltitls for out- ongoing ol~rt-ationof thc should contact Dave Otrigcr at (91.1) 564- Musrt~m. 2061. Wc'rc very cxcitcd about this pro- Bccarlse the tlitiner program is c.xpand- gram of dinners. Not only will it allow us ing, the San Francisco Auction last 1)rcem- to make many new friends for the Museun~, 1x.r is the last onr where. invitations anti Support the Museum With a Prize With the expansion of the dinner pro- other items are useful, and a tax dcduction thc Ilcbrmancntcollection for thcbsc, cwents. gram comes a more acute need for auction can be rralized by the Donor. Any mrmber On rare occasions, with thc exprrss per- prizes. Many of our members have skills at who has either a donation or an itlra about mission of thr tlonor, we3 will auction fly-tying, rodbuilding, and other crafts. We a donation should contact thc Mr~scartm. duplicate items. 1)ut this is rare, ant1 only ho~ethat all members will ~ivcsome Olicc again we'd likr to remind our occurs wI1c.n wc, arc, ccartain the wishes of thought to ways of helping the auctions. members and friends that our auction the tlonor arc sntisfictl. Classic rods, reels, or flic~s.books, prints, program is supl~ortedby gifts from our or autographs, original artwork, and many friends. We do trot remove objects from Page 32 Visitors Lately we here at the Museum have fishing permits; that sounds like a lot, but really can't compare it to our past. We've spent some time trying to estimate only about ten percent of those are serious never made an accurate count of visitors what visitation will be like for the fishermen. The permit is free; it's given here in Manchester, because the exhibits new International Fly Fishing Cen- out with little inconvenience. Many people are unmanned and the visitors could not ter, in West Yellowstone. It's tricky pick one up (and five for the kids) without be easily counted. Estimates of annual business; we've explored every any real intention of using it, "just in case." visitation here have run as high as 25,000. avenue short of hiring a wizard to So now we're down to maybe twenty-thou- One big difference we know we will see read the future in chicken entrails, and we sand serious fishermen in the park each in West Yellowstone is in who the visitors still don't think we can predict how many summer, quite a few of whom don't travel are. West Yellowstone is certainly the people will visit the new Center. through West Yellowstone. foremost national crossroads of fly fishers, Part of the problem lies in a character- Some optimists among us are expecting from both coasts, and we will instantly be istic phenomenon that all new museums a hundred thousand or more visitors. A receiving a much more evenly balanced experience; for the first couple years neighboring museum in West Yellowstone, group of anglers, with western states far visitation exceeds all expectations and a very nice small museum whose exhibits better represented than they are now. That everybody feels great. Then, as the "regu- cover wildlife, Indians, geology, and local is very important to us. lars" all are accounted for, visitation drops history, gets about 30,000 visitors a year, Even more important to us is that from off rapidly and Museum Officers have to appealing to a wide variety of visitor that location, with its many attractions, we go to work to lure the people back with interests to do so. Our appeal is much will find it easier to make the public aware new exhibits, programs, and other expen- more narrow, but on the other hand it's a of us- anglers and non-anglers alike - sive attractions. lot more intense as well. Again, it's hard because we will be so much more visible Another part of the problem lies in to compare. than we could be here. In the long run, some statistics that are easily misinter- There are other variables that will affect visitation will be only as good as we-make preted. Every summer two and a half visitation, including admission fee, region- it, through our own efforts at let tin^ million Americans travel to Yellowstone al and national publicity, and the price of people kiow the Park (the rest come to Vermont and fish gasoline during any given summer. International Fly in the Editor's favorite spots on the Batten- Trouble is, once we know-once we've Fishing Center is kill). About 200,000 of them are issued counted that first summer's visitors-we worth a visit.