Fly Fisher OFFICERS

The American Fly Fisher OFFICERS

President Museum Slide Program Leon Martuch Vice President Steve Raymond

Now Available Vice President Austin S. Hogan The Museum is pleased to announce the completion of its Treasurer traveling slide program. The program is designed to introduce the work of the Museum to organizations of anglers throughout Leigh H. Perkins the country by giving them a brief tour through the collections Secretary and Ass't Treasurer and an introduction to the history of angling in America. It features many of the Museum's most prized possessions, in excel- Mrs. Laura Towslee lent color slides taken by Lefty Kreh, Sid Latham and others. Executive Director Through a combination of photographs of Museum holdings and early angling art, the history of angling is briefly traced, from Paul Schullery the solid wood rods of the young republic to the graphite wonders of today. The 16%-minute program iq accompanied by a casette-tape sound track, so that the program requires no reading or narration by the borrower. The slides are shipped right in their carousel unit, ready for viewing. The Museum of American Fly Fishing is a national institution, with objects on display from all parts of the country. TRUSTEES Since the Museum can only be located in one part of the country, it is necessary to find ways to share our collection with those anglers who are too far away to visit. The slide program Robert Barrett David B. Ledlle will help in that. Not only will it encourage more people to join Richard Bauer Alvan Macauley, Jr. us in our work, but also it will take the Museum to them. Joseph Spear Beck Leon L. Martuch To arrange for a loan simply write to the Executive Dir- Stanley Bogdan Dudley Mills ector, The Museum of American Fly Fishing, Manchester, Kay Brodney Carl Navarre Vermont, 05254. Charlie Brooks Ed Oliver Dan Callaghan Leigh H. Perkins Roy Chapin Mrs. Romi Perkins Charles Eichel Steve Raymond G. Dick Finlay Kick Robbins William Glassford Willard Rockwell Gardner L. Grant Ben Schley George Griffith Ernest Schwiebert, Jr. Alvin R. Grove Col. Henry Siege1 Austin S. Hogan Prescott A. Tolman Susie Isaksen Ben Upson Sam Johnson Ralph Wahl Martin J. Keane Roger G. White Capt. R. A. Kotrla Dickson Whitney Peter Kriendler Donald D. Zahner --- Dana S. Lamb Ed Zern Tllc American Fly Fisher Published by The Museum of American Fly Fishing for the pleasure of the membership. SPRING 1978 Vo1. 5 No. 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Arte of Angling, 1577, Walton and Topsell by Professor Thomas Harrison P. 2 Daniel Webster as an Angler by Charles Lanman (1888) P. 5 Annual Meeting News P- 8 Sara McBrider Pioneer Angling Entomologist by Ken Cameron p. 10 Entomology For Flyfishers by Sara McBride (1876) edited by Ken Cameron p. 11 The Lye Brook Pool p. 13 Adirondaek Museum Historical Exhibit Collection Highlights: Historic Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Flies p. 15

Editor A Fight With A Trout Paul Schullery by Charles Dudley Warner (1878) p. 19 Collection Highlights: Our Oldest Fly Rod p. 21 Assistant Editor David B. Ledlie Fly Casting by H. P. Wells (1885) and James Henshall (1881) p. 22 Art Directors Fly Fishing for Shad (1882) p. 26 Anne K. Secor Tommy Brayshaw: The Ardent Angler-Artist Ann Pendleton Article and Book Review by Steve Raymond p. 28

Museum Membership Information p. 32

Books and Museum Publications IBC

THE AMERICAN FLY FISHEK, the maga~ineof 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 correspondcnce, letters, manuscripts, photographs and materials should be forwarded care of the Editor. 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. Contri- butions to THE AMEKICAN FLY FISHER are to be considered gratuitou5 and become the property of the Museum unless otherwise requested by the contributor. Publication dates are January, April, July and Oeto- ber. Entered as Second Class matter at the U. S. Post Office, Manchester, Vermont 05254.

@ Copyright 1978, THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FLY FISHING, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Original material appearing may not be reprinted without prior permission. Credits: The ornate capital letters used in this issue are from ANGLER'S EVENINGS (1880), by the Manchest- er Angler's Association, RECOLLECTIONS OF FLY FISHING by Edward Hamilton, and HALCYON, by Henry Wade. Museum photos by David B. Ledlie. Printing by Thompson, Ine., Manchester Center, Vermont. The Arte of Angling, 1577 Walton and Topsell

by Thomas P. Harrison

The following paper has been submitted to us by Thomas P. Harrison, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Texas, Austin. Professor Harrison's keen interest in the history of science, specifically in ornithology, led him to a perusal of Edward Topsell's "The History of Serpents" (London, 1608). In this lengthy tome, he found mention of William Samuel, Vicar of Godmanchester, and identified him as the probable author of the heretofore anonymous "The Arte of Angling," 1577 (see "Notes & Queries," October 1960, p. 373). For a full discussion of Professor Harrison's discovery md its relation to Walton's "The Complete Angler" (1653) please see "The American Fly Fisher," Vol. 2, No. 2, 1975. It has been our opinion for some time now that Professor Harrison has never received due credit for his remarkable detective work. In an effort to partially rectify this situation, we publish below Professor Harrison's recent paper which suggests that Samuel may have authored perhaps another (as yet undiscov- ered) volume dealing with fly fishing. Thomas P. Harrison was born on May 9, 1897 in Davidson, North Carolina. He received a B.A. degree in 1918 from the University of North Carolina. After a short stint in the infantry (World War I), he matriculated at Cornell University from which he received his PhD. degree in English in 1924. His teaching career spanned forty-eight years: two years at Cornell and the remaining years at the University of Texas. His areas of interest include Shakespeare, Milton, Spencer, and the history of science. He is the author of scores of literary articles for a number of learned journals and has published several books. Professor Harrison tells us that "As a boy, I did some fly fishing for trout in the mountain streams of North Carolina. Bait fishing was common only among disreputable persons."

HE relationship of the Arte to Walton's Masterpiece has been explored with considerable thoroughness by Professor Bentley, who thus sums up his conclusion: Clearly Walton took the general plan and structure of The Arte of Angling for his famous book; he took from it the names of the two principal characters in his first edition; and he also took, almost verbatim, his instructions for the cultivation of gentles and the preparation of malt bait.1 Professor Savage's notes in this edition include sixteen parallels from Walton, some of which are cited below as of possible signi- ficance. So completely traditional had the lore of angling become that Samuel's own modest admission of his authorities is stated by Piscator in his promise to Viator: "But what I do know by report, by reading, or by experience, by myself at home or abroad, I will, God willing, not hide it from you, . . ." (p. 32). He cites Gesner once (on the pike), and likely he knew also the Hoke of St. Albans, his only known English predecessor

on the art of angling--- in print. From this he seems to have drawn nothing. In addition to the two long passages referred to by Bentley, others from Walton which appear to trace to the Arte have to do with ruff, perch, pike, carp, and roach. To save space, only

The Arte of Angling, 1577, ed. Gerald E. Bentley, Introduction by Carl 0. V. Kienbusch, Explanatory Notes by Henry L. Savage, Prince- ton University Press, 1958; see also Marcus S. Goldman, "Isaac Walt- on and The Arte of Angling, 1577," (Studies in Honor of T. W. Bald- win, University of Illinois Press, 1958, pp. 185-204). Subsequent quotations herein are from Walton's first edition, 1653, and from the Professor Thomas P. Harrison modernized text of the Arte, ed. Bentley. Walton is now quoted with page reference to the Arte. Identical words and similar phrases are italicized. Perch: Walton, p. 181: But bite the perch will, and that very boldly, and, as one has wittily observed, if there be twenty or forty in a hole, they may be at one standing all catch'd one after another; they being like the wicked of the world, not afraid, though their fellows . . . perish in their sight.2 [Of the ruff, Arte, p. 39, and of the perch. pp. 40-411 Pike or pickerel: Walton, pp. 143-144, called the freshwater-wolf. " [Pp. 148-149,??His feeding is . . . sometime a weed of his own, called pikrel-weed3 . . . you may fish . . . either with a ledger or a walking bait." [Arte, pp. 41, 43.1 [Walton, p 143,] Gesner mentions a pike taken in Swedeland in the year 1449 with a ring about his neck, declaring he was put into the pond by Frederick the Second more than two hundred years before he was last taken, as the inscription of that ring, being Greek, was interpreted by the then Bishop of Worms. " [Arte pp. 46-47] .4 Carp: Walton, pp. 161-173, a fish that bath not been . . . long in ~ngland?Carps . . . breed . . . especially all the summer season; and . . . more naturally in ponds than in running water^.^ . . .you must put on a very large measure of patience . . . either early or late . . . bites either at wormes or at paste . . . and as for pastes there be . . . many sorts . . . which . . . should be thrown into the pond . . . some hours before . . . your tryal of skil . . . either grains, or bloud . . . but still as you are fishing, chaw a little white or brown bread in your mouth, and cast it into the pond about the place where your flote swims. [Arte, pp. 50-541 Roach and dace: Walton, p. 226, . . . a good bait is . . . the thick blood of sheep, being half Isaak Walton dryed on a trencher7 that you may cut it into such pieces as may best fit on the size of your hook, and a little salt keeps Walton adds a second bait "if you be nice to fowl your fingers," it from growing black, . . ." [Arte, pp. 60-62, dace not nam- pp. 224-226: ed] Get a handful of well-made malt, and put it into a dish of water, and then wash and rub it betwixt your hands till you Preceding this appear the two long passages almost verbatim make it clean, and as free from husksas you can; then put from the Arte. The first describes how to breed and "keep that water from it, and put a small quantity of fresh water to gentles all winter": Walton, p. 224: it, and set it in something that is fit for that purpose over the Take a piece of beasts's liver, and with a cross stick hang it in fire, where it is not to boil apace, but leisurely and very soft- some corner ova a pot or barrel, half full of dry clay; and as ly, until it become somewhat soft, which you may try by the gentles grow big, they will fall into the barrel, and scour feeling it betwixt your finger and thumb; and when it is soft, themselves, and be always ready for use whensoever you in- then put your water from it: then take a sharp knife, and cline to fish; and these gentles may be thus created till after turning the sprout-end upward, with the point of your knife Michaelmas. But if you desire to keep gentles to fish with all take the back part of the husk off from it, and yet leaving a the year, then get a dead cat or a kite, and let it be fly-blown; kind of inward husk on the corn, or else it is marred; and and when the gentles begin to be alive and to stir, then bury then cut off that sprouted end, I mean a little of it, that the it and them in soft, moist earth, but as free from frost as you white may appear, and so pull off the husk on the cloven side can, and these you may dig up at any time when you intend as I directed you; and then cutting off a very little of the to use them; these will last till March, and about that time other end, that so your hook may enter; and, if your hook be turn to be flies. [Arte, pp. 65-66] small and good, you will find this to be a very choice bait, Cited by Goldman, pp. 198-199. either for winter or summer, you sometimes casting a little of it into the place where your float swims.[Arte, pp. 62-64] ' Savage, pp. 41-42. See full account by Savage, pp. 46-47. Gesner names Swabia as the The foregoing passages afford ample evidence of Walton's re- site; only Walton and the Arte erroneously name Sweden ("Sweth- course to the Arte of Angling, extant only in the unique copy at land" in Arte). Princeton. The author of this manual, William Samuel, Vicar of "Introduced into England as early as the 14th century" (Savage, cit- Godmanchester in Huntingdonshire, has been identified through ing NED, p. 50). a casual reference in Topsell's Histoy of Serpents, 1608.9 Savage, p. 50. Examination of this in relation-to the ciosing pages of Savage, p. 60. Without quotation Goldman remarks that "baits such the Arte appears both to establish the author's purpose to con- as snails. congealed blood, and the caddis echo similar discussion in tinue the dialogue and to disclose in part the content of this the Arte" (p. 199, n. 39). supplement. At thiqcpoint Piscator abruptly concludes his role with the announce- ment, It is time I were gone." As Walton's Viator departs he invokes "the blessing of Saint Peter's Master" (p. 226) which echoes the earl- Present writer, "The Author of The Arte of Angling, 1577," Notes ier Viator, "St. Peter's Master be with you" (Arte, p. 24 - cited by and Queries, new series 7, no. 10, October, 1960, pp. 373-376. Re- John P. Cooper, The Art of "The Compleat Angler" Duke University view by Arnold Gingrich and David B. Ledlie (The American Fly Press, 1958, p. 148. Fisher, vol. 2, no. 2, Spring, 1975, pp. 46.

Page 3 Topsell's allusion appears on the last page of the long chapter a continuation following the present ending. "Of Caterpillers, or Palmer-Worms."l0 Walton spends three chapters on the trout "for which I love They are a very good meat to divers Birds and to angle above any fish" (p. 84); and in early spring for trout Fowls, . . . and to sundry fishes likewise, as to the "the best fishing is with the Palmerworm" (pp. 109-110). What- Tench, Pike or Pikerel, and . . . also to the Trout, and ever he may have derived elsewhere from Samuel's supposed ad- some others, who are easily deceived with a Caterpil- dendum, Walton's fascination with the caterpillar-butterfly lered hook. Which kind of fishing fraud, if you would transformation leads him to Topsell's flistory of' Serpents. ' better be instructed in. I must refer you . . . to a little From the chapter "Of Caterpillers, or Palmer-Worms called of Book dedicated to Robert Dudley, late Earl of Leicester, some Cankers" (pp. 665-671) some four pages are rifled by Wal- written by Master Samuel Vicar of Godmanchester in ton, who cites "our Topsel" with some regularity. ls Huntingtonshire. Considering the extent of this indebtedness Walton was prob- Either Topsell was ignorant of the contents of the Arte as re- ably not unaware of Topsell's direct reference to Master presented in the unique battered copy or he was familiar with Samuel's "little book." In view of Walton's acknowledgement certain passages not included in the extant book, for there of his use of preceding angling books and their authors-Dennys, neither caterpillar nor palmer worm appears on any page. The Markham, Barker, and Mascall--it is disappointing but not re- latter alternative seems probable. He names tench, pike, and markable that he nowhere names Samuel. Perhaps the very free- trout, absent except for the pike 11 from the extant Arte. His dom with which he adapted passage after passage from the Arte "some others" would doubtless include those other fish unmen- inclined him to silence regarding book and author. tioned in the present text but discussed by Walton, barbel and Until its discovery by Mr. Kienbusch in 1954, The Arte of salmon, 12 for example. The concluding pages of the Arte ap- Angling was completely unrecorded, and except for the colo- pear to confirm the existence of an addendum which may well phon the date of its issue and the name of the printer would be have been bound together with the preceding text. unknown. By the year 1577 Henry Middleton had become a Immediately before the two long passages copied by Walton, well known printer. Ten years before he was admitted to the Viator says: " . . . so a word or two of the ordering of your baits Company of Stationers, in whose Register he entered books by afore spoken of and promised; and then, an end for this time" such distinguished authors as Roger Ascham, Humphrey Gilbert, (italics mine). Then: ". . . you have not yet spoken of the killing and George Gascoigne. By 1583 he was working three presses, of the tench, barbel, and the trout," to which Piscator replies: and in the last year of his life, 1587, he served as a Warden of "It is true. Let these suffice you, friend, for I will speak of the Stationers' Company. 16 Yet Middleton chose not to enter those and other in my next addition" (pp. 62 and 64). He is re- Samuel's fishing book " to be sold at his shoppe in S. Dunstanes luctant to deal in the angling of the trout "for displeasing one of churchyarde." Thus The Arte of' Angling takes its place among our wardens," for whom he obviously entertains little respect; the estimated one third of the books published in England at but Piscator, vaguely mentioning one of this man's baits, prom- this time which were not entered in the Register. 17 As a ises further sessions with his pupil. These are anticipated in Via- respected vicar, perhaps Samuel would have agreed with the tor's final words, "Well, if you hie not apace, I will be at the Reverend G.W. Bethune, whose name nowhere appeared in his river before you." monumental edition of Walton (1847) "owing to the public Two of the fish named by Viator are tench and trout, which, feeling against the propriety of such a book by a clergyman" according to Topsell, are detailed by "Master Samuel." If this is (Dictionar.y of American Biography). But according to Topsell's not dismissed as coincidence, it seems to establish the existence report the names of both author and patron must have appeared of supplementary matter not only planned but possibly com- in the book. pleted and printed as an integral part of The Arte of Angling. In conclusion, the extent of Walton's dependence upon both The abruptness of Piscator's final words, "It is time 1 were the imperfect copy of The Arte of Angling and upon Topsell's gone," so out keeping with the grace with which the dialogue History of Serpents is clear-cut. On the other hand, conclusions has been conducted hitherto, is consistent with the promise of which have been advanced concerning what Samuel promises as further matter, concluding, one may surmise, more formally. "my next addition" must kemain tentative. The possibility of a second book has been suggested by Mr. D. E. Rhodes, of the British Museum, not in relation to the l4 First issued in 1608, citations below are from the reprint of 1658. author's promised "addition," but to "the stubs of at least three more leaves" preceding the present binding of the Arte. ". . . 15 Topsell, pp. 665-669; Walton, pp. 98-102. Information on frogs is these leaves must have belonged to another book" related to the similarly derived: Topsell, pp. 720-724;Walton, pp. 88, 151-152. Arte. "For present purposes, it is assumed that whether the 1577 volume represents the remains of one book or two, the 16 A Dictionary of Printers and Booksellers. . . 1577-1640, R. B. McKerrow, General Editor, London, 1910. whole was printed and bound together with the object of being sold together . . ."I However, the "addition" would appear as 17 C.J. Sisson, "The laws of Elizabethan Copyright," (Library, 15, 1960, pp. 8-20), p. 9. lo The History of Serpents, second edition, by John Rowland, 1658, pp. 665-671. In this passage only the designation of a "little book" etc. to the end of the sentence is original with Topsell; the rest is translated from the Theatrum Insectorum. bv Thomas Moffett (Charles E. Raven, English Naturalists from'~eikamto Ray, Cam- bridge, 1974, p. 225. l1 Although frogs or other fish are usual baits, the pike "will bite at a -.gentle . . . He will be killed with a great red worm" (Arte, p. 42). With Walton's comparison of perch with "the wicked of the world" (see above p. 2), clearly from the Arte, compare the similar manner of Walton's passage on the salmon: "(as one has wittily observed) he has (like some persons of honour and riches, which have both their winter artd summer houses) the fresh rivers for summer, and the salt water for winter. . ." (p. 134). l3 "A New Line for the Angler," Library, Fifth ser., X (1955), pp. 123- 124. As to the three stubs, more likely is Rentley's conclusion that they belong to the title page and dedication or address to the reader or commendatory statement (p. 72).

Page 4 Daniel Webster As An Angler

By Hon. Charles Lanman

Charles Lanman, described by angling historian Charles Goodspeed as "Travelling painter, writer and sportsman," produced several books of outdoor experiences, the most famous being ADVENTURES IN THE WILDS OF THE UNITED STATES AND BRITISH AMERICAN PROVINCES (1856). His writing was praised by such notables as Charles Dickens, Charles Hallock, and Washington Irving. The illustrations for this article were taken from his THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DANIEL WEBSTER (1852). The article itself appeared in the short-lived WILDWOOD'S MAGAZINE in May of 1888.

T was a fish that made Daniel Webster my friend, and It was at four o'clock on a bright June morning that Mr. hence, for me to write about him as an angler, is both a Webster called at my residence in his carriage, and we posted pleasure and a privilege. It was early in the summer of off for the Little Falls. The weather was delightful and the riv- 1851, when, after capturing a fine lot of rock-fish in the Poto- er in splendid condition. Joe Paine had everything in complete mac, I distributed my plunder among certain friends in Washing- order, and was in fine spirits. He decided, as a special honor to

ton.---- One- of those to whom I sent a ten pounder was William W. Mr. Webster that he would take us in his boat to a central rock Seaton, in whose noted journal I had printed many fish stories. in the river, at the head of the Big Eddy where he felt certain we About two hours after receiving my present, he called upon me should have sport. As we struggled to pass over the rushing and requested, as a favor to himself that I would let him send waters, Mr. Webster became excited, and actually clapped his the fish to Mr. Webster, with my compliments; and as I had no hands with glee. We fished both with bait and a big yellow fly, objection, the prize was duly delivered to the Secretary of State. and it was not long before Mr. Webster hooked a large fish, After the lapse of another two hours, a messenger came to me which was saved with much difficulty, and when in the bottom from Mr. Webster requesting me to call upon him at the State of the boat the captor uttered a regular yell of delight, and in Department, and I did so without delay. On making my appear- his excitement nearly lost his rod and reel overboard. The fish ance before the great man, he put on a very dignified air, and weighed sixteen pounds. We continued our sport until near nine thanking me for my kindness, said he wanted to consult me, on o'clock, when Mr. Webster told Joe Paine as he handed him ten very important business. He desired to know where I had caught dollars that as he was President Fillmore's clerk, it was time for that big rock-fish; and after telling him when and where, he him to return home, so that he could be at the Department be- added-"I would like to catch one of the same kind in your fore noon-and thus ended the morning's sport. company." After explaining the necessary points for a full un- Before the season closed Mr. Webster made a number of derstanding of affairs, I soon after proceeded to arrange with visits to the Little Falls, and though less successful than he had Joe Paine, the Fishing King of the Potomac, and a special day been before, he greatly enjoyed the early morning drives, the for sport was at once designated. wild scenery of the river, the singing of the birds and the companionship of the fisherman who looked after his comfort and When the summer of 1851 was half passed Mr. Webster began pleasure. to sigh for the cooling airs of New Hampshire. He wanted to get Not long afterwards while talking with Mr. Webster about there before the trout had left their favorite pools, and of Capon Springs, which I had recently visited, he proposed that course it was my official duty to get my tackle in order and I should join him on a trip to that place, where he counted on accompany him. I did so, and my sojourn at Elm's Farm was de- some good trout fishing. We went and had a grand time, but the lightful in the extreme. The trouting and other expeditions that Expounder did not have the privilege of wetting a line. The we ventured upon were not few nor far between, but they were brooks were too wild and his strength was not equal to a pro- chiefly of the imaginary sort, and the offspring of early mem- tracted tramp; and so he spent much of his time in talking with ories, on the part of mine host. When a boy, he was wont to the Virginia farmers who came to see him by the score. But that catch trout only with the worm. He remembered the time when he was not indifferent to the pleasures of fishing is proven by the Merrimack was crowded with salmon, but nobody ever the following paragraphs in letters to his son Fletcher: In one thought then of taking them with the hook; and in all his talk, of them he says-"there are trout in the mountain streams, or he seemed to look upon every kind of sporting as really only a some of them, and of pretty good size for such waters, but the sensible excuse for enjoying the companionship of the woods streams are too far off for me to visit them. There is a fish in and the streams. And hence if he spent a day without catching these waters called the 'Fall fish,' resembling the English dace, many fish or killing many squirrels or birds, he did not think or in some degree our chub. He rises to the fly. And it is curious that he had wasted his time. He talked most lovingly about the enough that the people hereabout are unwilling this year, to eat Merrimack, and said that when the fish from the sea, reached either the trout or fall fish. The reason is that the surface of all the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipisiogee the the streams, is covered by millions of locusts, upon which the salmon and shad parted company, the shad going onward to the fish gluttonously feed, and the popular idea is that by that lakes while the salmon continued up the Merrimack to the means they become unwholesome." And then again he wrote mountain torrents, until their back fins could be seen above the the following: surface of the water. "Mr. Lanman pushed off to the distant streams and has But I must confess that while listening to Mr. Webster talk brought home forty trout. Some of them decent in size and of about the old times and the beautiful scenery which surrounded good color,-two or three being a foot long. But they are not us, I thought very much less of trout fishing, than I did of re- Marshpee, nor Red Brook, nor Wakquoit nor Hinckley's Mills, cording in my sketch book the incidents of his early life, which nor of that brook in which we were always in the 'the worst of I was already hoping to utilize in a coming private biography. It it.' " It was in a letter written to his son, moreover, before going was while Mr. Webster was driving me around the country by to Capon that he made this allusion to another incident of old prox-y (for 1 held the reins) on what he called a fishing frolic, time: "If I find a trout stream in Virginia, 1 shall not have to be that he took me to see the house where he was born, and of thinking out-Venerable men." The allusion here was to a story which I took a sketch for Mrs. Webster. In a letter that he wrote that had long before been circulated, that, while pulling out to Mr. Everett in 1851 he said: "The house delineated in Mr. some large trout from Marshpee brook, he was heard to exclaim, Lanman's sketch is the one in which I was born. Some of my "Venerable men, you have come down to us from a former older brothers and sisters were born in the first house erected by generation!" -as if thinking more of one of his speeches than of my father, which was a log cabin. Before my birth, he had be- trout fishing. come able to build a small farm house which several persons, On our return from Capon Springs Mr. Webster talked a now living, will remember and which is accurately depicted by great deal about the pleasures of fishing, and of the wonders he Mr. Lanman. This house in its turn gave way to a much larger had seen during our trouting expedition, as he called it, and one which now stands on the spot which was built by those who after politely saying to me that expert anglers were very apt to purchased the property of my father. I have recently repur- be good business men, he added that he wanted me to resign chased the spot." An allusion that he made to this house in a my ~ositionas Librarian of the War Department, and enter speech delivered in 1840, is one of the most touching passages the Department of State as his Private Secretary. Knowing he ever uttered. Another place that we visited was Punch Brook, that even a dolphin might have a good time in the wake of a where he used to fish when a boy, and while he sat in his car- whale, I listened and submitted. riage only a short distance off, 1 went down and picked out a friend R.M. Blatchford inviting him to Marshfield in 1849, he says: "Come and you may go to Edgartown with Fletcher, or to Seconet Point with me. For blue fish merely, nothing can be quite so good as Edgartown. For blue fish, basse and tautog altogether, Seconet is better." On another occasion he wrote: "I have a world of talk when 1 see you, on the phenomena of the seasons by sea and land. I understand the fish die by thousands and hundreds of thousands in the Chesapeake and the rivers of Maryland, and are washed ashore. We have seen nothing like that here." And then again, he made this allusion to a bit of sport: "Thursday I caught thirty very fine tautog under Sunk Rock. It was just the day for them; mild, still and a little cloudy. On such a day, and at the commencement of flood tide, throw your hook into the den, and the chiefs will contend for it. I took one seven pound fellow. On Saturday I went out in

the Lapwing. - with Fletcher and some of his Boston friends. We had no great luck and it came on to rain, during a perfect calm. So we did not escape a wetting, but I took little harm from it." And again to the same friend he wrote: "In the afternoon, I went out in the boat and caught some fish-namely tautog and skippog, the same I suppose, as are called porgees in New York. They were all small." In a letter written from Wood's Hole, in Falmouth, he said that there was a spot in its vicinity "famous for trailing for basse." His friend Blatchford was himself an angler and to him he frequently communicated his fishing information, and in winding up one of his letters he says: "1 am going to see the blues this morning. Yours always, whether the fish bite or not." Writing to his friend from Edgartown he says: "We Mr. Webster At Marshfield took forty three fish, -I think my takings were twenty-five," and he went on to praise the fishing in the Sound of art ha's Vine- couple of speckled beauties, the direct descendants of the yard, which he thought better than that off Marshfield, -the whoppers that added so much to the happiness of his boyhood. Vineyard fish "pulling like horses." We also visited on that day, a charming little pond or lakelet on In another letter, addressed to President Fillmore in 1850 he the domain, where its owner had a small fish house and a boat, says: "Fishing for cod, haddock and halibut is a common and from which he had taken many a pike and perch in previous coarse amusement, which the connoisseurs in angling reject. I years. like it, however, as it gives me occupation, while we are out for It was my privilege to revisit Elm's Farm with Mr. Webster the benefit of the air and the ocean. I caught thirty codfish to- later in 1851, but time was now beginning to tell upon his man- day, weighing from eight to ten pounds each, and as the boat- ly physical proportions, and he talked more about the men and men were also fortunate, we brought home a fare which aston- books of the olden time, than he did about fishing. Before ished our neighbors. They represented fish as very scarce, as leaving Washington, on the occasion of a dinner that he was to they retire in hot weather, into deep water. I told them I should give certain piscatorial friends, I sent him two dozen trout know where to look for fish." which I had captured within fifteen miles of the National No matter where Mr. Webster might be,-in the city, among Capitol; and it was only a few weeks afterwards that I sent him the mountains or on the sea shore, he was always ready to talk a twelve pound salmon from the coast of Labrador, carefully or make plans about fishing. Even when making a brief visit to packed in snow, which was also served at one of his admirable Norfolk in Virginia, in 1849, he recorded this information: dinners, and was the text for much agreeable talk on fishing; "This is a famous place for fish. For breakfast we had a gray sea and even at Elm's Farm, when talking with the friends who trout, and a round head, that is a sea mullet, weighing three or visited him there, he frequently alluded to the incidents just four pounds, and a very nice fish. For dinner we are to have a mentioned as truly remarkable, thereby showing that he was a sheeps head-the first of the season, and perhaps also a hog fish genuine angler in his feelings if not able to practice the delight- of which, or his race, I know nothing." When at Marshfield, he ful art. enjoyed the sea fishing more than trout fishing, and complained When the time came for him to make a move towards of the poachers who did so much harm. He loved to praise the Marshfield, in carrying out his plans, he made a short visit to sea air of Marshfield because it made him stronger, and used to Nahant. During his sojourn there he was not well and very reti- say that as the giants grew strong by touching the earth, the cent about his movements, and on one bright morning he was same effect was produced on him by touching the salt sea-shore seen to march slowly down to the water's edge, where he board- near his home. ed a fishing smack and sailed out to sea. He was gone all day, In April, 1852, while at Washington, on receiving a new rod and on his return reported that he had enjoyed himself in- and reel from his son Fletcher he wrote the following in his note mensely, and had fish enough on hand to supply the whole of acknowledgment: "The rod came safe to hand. lshall hardly town. From the skipper, I subsequently heard that he had not use it unless for a perch or small rock at the Little Falls." even attempted to wet a line, but spent most of the day half It was about this time that his health began to fail, and he asleep, basking in the sunlight and drinking in the breath of old expressed his doubts about his ever being able to capture an- ocean. To quote the language of a baseball scholar, "that's the other big rock fish at the Little Falls. On the 20th of April, by kind of fisherman he was!" way of explaining his absence from a cabinet meeting, he wrote But it was at Marshfield that Mr. Webster had the best a note to President Fillmore in which he said: "1 have not been opportunities for fishing in his old age. There in his much loved out of my house for three days on account of a very heavy cold vessel called the Lapwing, he had his old friend Seth Peterson and the bad weather. There are some things to be thought of for commodore; and a minute account of their experiences would make a charming volume. In one of his letters to his (continued on page 29)

Page 7 Annual Meeting Leon Martuch Elected Nluseum President

Leon Martuch, former President of Scientific Anglers, was elected President of The Museum of American Fly Fishing at our Annual Meeting, held May 13 in Manchester. Leon, who has also served as a Trustee, succeeds Carl Navarre, who completed his second full term. as president. Leon's broad experience in the world of fishing will be a real plus for the Museum in its educational work and artifact collection. The other officers and trustees, as elected, are listed on the inside front cover of this issue. In other Museum business, Treasurer Leigh H. Perkins reported that the cost of producing our magazine now roughly equals the price of an associate membership; members can be sure that they are getting full value from their dues. Also, the Museum continues to operate on a bare-bones budget, since all income is absorbed ill-main- taining the collections and exhibits and in putting out the magazine. A list of special projects, which need doing but require special funding, was presented. Some of these will be summarized in future issues. Austin Hogan announced his retirement as Editor of THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER, and expressed his gratitude to all who have helped him with that work over the years. Executive Director Paul Schullery presented a report on his activities since arriving- last ~ecember,and discussed several important Museum developments, including involvement with the Federation of Flv Fishermen. The Museum is also increasing- its professional associations, having joined the New England Conference of the American Association of Museums and the American Association for State and Local History. We are now exploring the accreditation process of the American Association of Museums, an extremely important step in the life of the Museum. Leon Martuch, new Museum President, tries out a 10% ft. antique fly rod on the Battenkill.

19th CENTURY FLY FISHING

Our 19th Century fly fishing expedition was well received, though the returns were measured in fellowship and entertain- ment rather than in trout. Two outfits were provided members, who, after a brief instruction, tried them on the Battenkill. One rod was a 9% ft. lancewood model from the 1890's, the other was a circa 1860 10% ft. ironwood and lancewood beauty, complete with silk line and wooden reel, loaned to us by Martin Keane, Museum Trustee. Roth were rigged with snelled flies on gut leaders, the leader material having been provided by T. Felizatto, a Museum member from Italy. Such lines are still being manufactured in Italy. Members were quick to adjust to the slower rhythms of the old gear, and it was quickly obvious we have some very cool hands with a fly rod in our group. After a few minutes of "getting the hang of it," most anglers were able to throw a creditable line. Though the anglers stuck with it for close to two hours, and covered a sizeable stretch of productive water, the fish were not as impressed with us as we were. The opportunity to gather in such gentle surroundings, and to relive a style of fishing we've only read about, was greatly appreciated; It was agreed some similar activity will be appropriate for our next meeting. Austin liogan (center) explains the finer points of angling to Richard Page 8 Adams (left) and Alvan Macauley. Susie lsaksen AUCTION BRINGS $2,984 Martin Keane Roland A. Kollbeck Once again we were fortunate to have the services of Col. David B. Ledlie Henry Siegel, of the Angler's and Shooter's Bookshelf, as auctioneer. Col. Siegel's expertise in the angling book and art The Orvis Company, Inc. markets inspired confidence in the bidders, and, as was noted in Leigh H. Perkins last year's meeting report, "the man has an amazing talent for Pflueger opening pocketbooks." Among the items offered were prints by Paul Schullery Weiler, Schaldach, Gruer, Pleissner, and Hagerbaumer, original COI. Henry Siegel artwork by Atherton and Hogan, a variety of angling books, and Tony Skilton tackle from several major manufacturers. This year's auction Southern Wisconsin Chapter, Trout Unlimited brought in $2,984.00,just a few dollars more than last year's. Ralph Wahl The Worth Company We wish to thank the following individuals, organizations, and manufacturers for their donations of items for our auction. The annual auction has become a major fund-raiser AWARD DINNER for the Museum because of the support of our many friends. The day was capped with an excellent dinner, the sort we've Richard Bauer come to expect from Mr. and Mrs. Barnes at the Avalanche Joseph Spear Beck Motel. Don Zahner, Editor of FLY FISHERMAN and a Museum Kay Brodney trustee, served as M. C. He presented an entertaining review of a not-so-recent angling book, THE TREATISE ON FISHING Charles Brooks WITH AN ANGLE, and then introduced Dana Lamb, who pre- Burke Fishing Lures sented Austin Hogan with The Arnold Gingrich Award for his C.J. Byrnes work with the Museum. Dana favored us with a readineD from Dan Callaghan one of his books, an account of the life of Joseph Seccombe, Roy Chapin, Jr. America's first angling author. This was a fitting choice for Cortland Line Company honoring one of America's leading angling historians. The Eagle Claw evening was concluded with a showing of the Museum's new T. Felizatto traveling slide program. Fly Fisherman Magazine The officers and Trustees extend their thanks to the many Austin S. Hogan individuals who helped make the day so thoroughly enjoyable. Austin Hogan Given Arnold Gingrich Award

Many of our members may not be acquainted with Austin Hogan's distinguished background in angling history. He has been researching the subject for the past 25 years, and has served American anglers in many capacities. He was at one time editor of the magazine of the United Fly Tiers, he served as regional editor of THE FLY FISHEK, and he has provided many anglers with assistance with their research. He was once given the New England Outdoor Writer's Association's Non- Professional Sportsman of the Year Award, being cited for his "generous help to all conservationists in supplying inspiration and information from his lifetime of study into the lore of fly fishing." Best-known among his publications is THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER, of which he has been the editor for over four years. The magazine was founded by him and received its direction and character from his tremendous background in angling lore. He has published in a number of other magazines, including THE FLYFISHER and THE CONSERVATIONIST, and has produced several independent projects, such as his mile- stone checklist AMERICAN SPORTING PERIODICALS OF ANGLING INTEREST, published in 1973 by The Museum of American Fly Fishing. His service to the Museum goes far beyond publications.

He has served as voluntarv curator for almost a decade. takinga responsibility for exhibits and for the administration of a fast- Museum auctions, and are coveted by many collectors. growing collection of angling memorabilia. In this work he has Austin's work with the Museum is by no means completed, devoted countless hours to the Museum's cause. as he has accepted another term as Vice President and will act Many members probably do not know that much of the as a consultant. We also look forward to more of his research art work that embellishes the magazine was produced by findings. The presentation of an award to him at this time is Austin, but they are surely aware of his colorful paintings of merely an effort on the part of the membership and trustees flies that have been featured in some issues. Original water- to recognize the many things he has done so far to build the colors by Austin have helped boost the proceeds at all our Museum into an important educational institution. Page 9 Sarah McBride: Pioneer Angling Entomologist By Kenneth Cameron 'I'l~eIClcBritle House irl 1Clurni'ord. New York.

ARA J. McBride of Mumford, New York (south of Spinner as the inlago of the Blue Dun, while standard British Kochester) was the first American to publish anything practice (in Konalds and Francis Francis, for example) made the original, native and based on field study of aquatic in- Jenny Spinner the imago of the lron Blue or the Little lron sects. Her work was noted at the time that she wrote, just at the Blue. The Blue Dun - - in Cotton, Chetham, Bowlker and beginning of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and Ronalds - - changed into the Red Spinner; yet for McBride, the the flies that she tied were much praised, but she disappeared Red Spinner was the imago of the Great Dun, at least on her from the angling scene too soon to fit into the tradition that home waters. would, in her absence, begin some years later with Theodore Of those patterns that are most associated with her - - the Gordon. 1 Fox series, especially the Bright Fox and the Silver Fox - - there To read her first published essay, "Entomology for Fly are few precedents. 3 Only "Halcyon" in 1861 and Taylor in Fishers", included here, may at first glance suggest that she 1800 gave attention to the Fox flies, and in Taylor, at least, was less interested in the angler than in the insect. If, however, there is lrish influence. Both mention the Light and the Dun the essay's title is taken seriously, it comes into perspective: it is Fox, to which Taylor adds the Ash, but the Bright Fox and its a study of insects /'or fly fishermen, not a study of fly-tying. imago the Little Egg are her creations - - imitations of a wonder- The fishermen must draw their own conclusions - - often, make ful sulphur ephmerid and its egg-yolk-colored imago. up their own patterns. Seen against the background of the age in It must be remembered in reading "Entomology for Fly which she wrote, this approach is understandable and commend- Fishers" that McBride was almost certainly thinking of what we able: most fishermen were ignorant of entomology, even of the would now call wet flies. The floating fly existed, to be sure - - distinctions between caddis and ephemerid, between sub-imago Norris had seen it in the 1860's; Ogden had already introduced and imago; as well, they lived in the burgeoning of the American it to the Wye; Halford's predecessors were using it on the Dove passion for the fancy fly. Non-imitation was the rage, and it was and ltchen - - but McBride's style of tying was wet-fly and so imitation that Ms. McBride preached. were her materials. It will be the more confusing, therefore, to Her heritage was lrish and English, Irish from her fly-tying read that she clearly intended that the winged insect be imitated father and English from the available books on the art. Not and not the nymph. "It is only those insects that in leaving the surprisingly, the Irish influence showed: considerable interest in water rise from the current of the stream" that interest the the caddis flies; a use of fur bodies; imitation of mayflies with fly-fisherman, she wrote in "Entomology for Fly Fishers." 4 the super-long tails of the "caughlan" style. 2 There are few possible conclusions to be drawn from this Her taxonomy was weak. She put caddis and stoneflies into seeming paradox; she was a fool who thought that the float- the Phryganidae, a Linnaean classification that had been chang- ing insect looked just like the underwater insect (patently not ed as early as 1840. (See, for example, Introduction to Ento- true on the evidence of her own writing); she was talking about mology, by James Duncan, edited by Sir William Jardine, 1840). dry flies even though she never mentioned them (unlikely She had evidently not read Konalds, but she may well have because of the few precedents); she lived among fishermen who read Taylor and Bowlker and others. While she developed fished dry but had no theory for it, much as Halford was several new patterns, most notably the "Bright Fox", she used doing in the same years (possible, and an intriguing idea I am a old ones creativelv as imitations of the insects she closelv little tempted to believe); she never thought about what she was observed. I ascribe her use of existing patterns to her profession- alism and to her father; she was a business-woman, after all, 3. Actually, the fly most associated with hrr in thf* rlinett.enth century whose livelihood depended upon tying flies. Standard patterns may have betm the large fancy fly, the Tomah lor. Srveral versions were her bread and butter. Yet she recommended the Jenny of its origin are in print; howrver, if the whole hood Duck-feather wings were turned back to back instrad of face to fact:, the result would be a silver-bodied Mayfly - - Ogden's Grt:en Drake, perhaps, with 1. The principal books that mention her are Charles Stevens' Fly-Fishing embellishment. lhe true source may be any of several Irish mayfly in Maine hkes (1881) and Mary Orvis Marbury's Favorite Flies imitations for lakes. (1892). She published in Rod and Guh and b'orest and Stream and advertised her flies in those periodicals in the late eighteen-seventies 4. Elsewhere she wrote that "it is only when (aquatic insects) assume the and the early eighties. perfect form . . . and with gossamer wings float in thr air, that they are of interrst to the fly-fishrr . . ." and "It is that insect floating off 2. See my two-part article, "The Girls of Summer", The Flyfisher, V. X into a new element that the fish are watching and waiting to feed on." Nos. 111 and IV, 1977. ("Metaphysics of Fly Fishing.")

Page 10 doing but simply tied imitations of the winged insect (possible, they were superb imitations of emergers, even to the suggestion but it does not jibe with what we know of her.) I would point of husk in the hair bodies and the air bubble caught in the out that Spring Creek (her Caledonia Creek) is about as close to delicate fur. They may have been fished slightly below the a chalk stream as one will get in New York State and that its surface (downstream, although that is far from certain) and fishing conditions are very similar to those of Italford's streams - manipulated slightly against the current. - abundant hatches, clear water, slow but powerful current, How the nymph can have gone so long ignored by her - - and heavy vegetation, numerous and free-rising trout (even if they others, of course - - is a maddening mystery. The woman had an were brook trout). The existence of pockets of specialized aquarium, and her remarks indicate that she almost certainly angling practice is too well proven elsewhere - - the floating used a microscope, yet nowhere does she ever even hint that fly on the Wye and perhaps the Axe, the tiny, soft-hackled imitating that "anatomical structure (which) is grace and nymph in the border country - - to say that such a thing was symmetry combined", would have advantages for the fly impossible. However, if we even seriously entertain the specu- fisherman. And to suggest that the trout were simply too easy lation that a group of New York State anglers was fishing the to catch with existing flies is nonsense. She noted elsewhere the surface in 1875 on a limestone stream, we must admit that they frustration on Caledonia Creek of the angler using the wrong were probably not false-casting and that they did not fish fly. Even then, the trout did not leap out of the current and with flies tied to float - that is, they did not use out-turned commit suicide at the fisherman's feet. wings made from matched feathers and, except for the Hare's Sara J. McBride was born in 1844 or 1848, depending upon Ear, they did not use materials chosen for their floating quali- which United States Census one chooses to believe. ( In 1870, ties. What they IIIL~~have done was use a "dry" fly in the sense she gave her age as twenty-two; in 1850, her age was given as that both Norris and Pulman meant the word - one fresh from six.) She began to publish in 1876. She disappeared from the the fly-book - - and they may have fished with the wind at their angling press in 1880. Yet, in those few years, she proved her- backs to dap the fly on the surface, and they may even have self a unique and talented pioneer in American fly-fishing - - not cross-lined as the Reverend Durnford did on the ltchen in 1809 infallible, not perfectly creative - - as "Entomology for Fly to keep his fly afloat. Fishers" will, I think, show. She set about to build a strong Or it may simply be that a tradition-bound Sara McBride tied foundation of observation and fly-tying skill, but nobody put flies as she had been taught even though the styles violated her a structure on it, and, like those weed-choked cellar holes one own observation. The flies would have caught trout because finds in the woods today, her work was forgotten. Entomology for Fly Fishers

by Sara McBride Edited by Ken Cameron

The following article by the pioneer American Angling Two flies associated with the Mc- entomologist Sara J. McBride first appeared in the Rochester, Brides, taken from Stevens' FLY New York "Express" of 15 February 1876; it was reprinted as FISHING IN MAINE LAKES (1881): No. 5 is the Tomah Joe, "Entomology for Fly Fishers" in "Rod and Gun" for 3 March and No. 2 is the Fiery Brown. 1877.

Beside the Singing Strearri 2 A Study of the Insect Fauna of Caledonia Creek The Phases of Insectivorous Life Trout and their Habits

Mark well the various seasons of the year,

How the (succeeding) insect race appear; #4 In this revolving moon one color reigns, i Which in the next the fickle trout disdains. study, and does much to enhance the pleasures of this, pre- eminently, the "contemplative man's recreation." We trust to HE habits of aquatic insects have always been a fruitful hear further on this subject from our esteemed contributor, at theme for contemplation and study, although a subject a future date. - - ED. EXPRESS. of which the very best entomologists know compari- m 1. The original title. The first paragraph was not repnnted in Rod and tively little. Our accomplished ladv contributor, Miss-~c~ride, Gun and 1s not McBride's. who to say, On the stream of 2, Wow Spring Creek in Monroe County, New York. A remarkably rich Caledonia, has been an assiduous student of this branch of stream, it was the site of Seth Green's hatchery and is still prime trout entomology, and therefore writes of it and describes it from water. A year after McBride's study, it was the subject of another arti- individual observation and experience. If the theory of prevail- cle that, sadly, did not cite her work and whose authorhad not con- ing opinion be correct that in order to fish successfully the sulted with her. He had dealt with Green, who was far less knowledg- able in the field of aquatic entomology. (See J.A. Lintner, "Report angler must use an imitation of one or other of the natural in- on the Insects and Other Animal Forms of Caledonia Creek, New sects on the water at the time, a familiarity with their habits York", New York State Fishery Commission Tenth Annual Report, cannot be too highly estimated by the angler who would aspire 1877-78, pp. 12-36.) baskets. Be this as it a knowledge the 3. Th: theory of imitation is not usually thought to have been6'prevail- habits of insects which abound more or less on all streams where ing in this country in 1876. However, it may well have had local the trout "most do congregate" is always a matter of pleasing importance on Caledonia Creek and similar limestone streams.

Page 11 Entomology for Fly Fishers 4 bright salmon. An infusion of them dried, with the addition of About one-half of insect life feed, breathe and sport in the a mordant, colors a permanent rosy salmon. Twenty-five or water. In the grace of their movements, in the quick adaptation thirty of these small pigments form but an ordinary meal for to circumstances, they show a joyful feeling of pleasure in their a trout. The Gammarus are single brooded - - dying in April existence. Some live an aquatic life in all its three phases, others and May. The young resemble the parents. Their food is decay- in two, and some in but one. It is a strange instance in the ing vegetation and vegetable mold. economy of nature that although insects use the six feet in The Ephernerina differ in many respects from the type. They walking, yet for swimming the latter two pair are only employ- are of small size, triple brooded, or with a succession of ed. The forelegs when not adapted for prehension are partially broods; l1 the second wings rudimentary. They live twenty- aborted. All aquatic insects that I have been able thus far to rear four, thirty-six and sometimes forty-eight hours after leaving feed on vegetable matter on exclusion from the egg. After the the water before casting the last parchment-like covering. After second and third molts that appetite varies. A large proportion this they live about the same number of hours before they per- are nocturnal, both larvae and imagines. 5 ish. The germ cells, from thirty to forty in number, are inclosed Springs, rivers ponds and pools have their own peculiar insect in a globulous gelatinous membrane that expands in contact fauna. In some there is an excess; in others a marked scarcity. with the water, and adheres to any object it meets. The food of The essential elements of a rich fauna are sunlight, healthy larvae and pupa is decaying vegetation and vegetable mold. vegetation and uniform temperature. These Caledonia Creek Their anatomical structure is grace and symmetry combined, possesses in a wonderful degree. 6 There is also an equilibrium and actively swimming up, down and round through the water of the forces of nature that preserves each species in the same their tactics are continually of the defensive. When placed in proportion for successive years. Carnivorous devour gregarious, a position of danger, or if taken from the water, they throw multitudes remain; some denizens devour all species; multitudes their setae up at right angles with the body, and present such a of all species remain. formidable appearance that if one were not certain of their The larvae of all the insects are fish food, and in this con- harmlessness they would prefer to handle them with gloves. nection there is this query - - Do trout burrow in pursuit of The Ephemerina leave the water mornings and evenings, the food? I have found the larvae of insects in their stomachs that greater number in the evenings, and if the sun is obscured they feed and transform buried in the soft mud eight, ten and twelve will rise all day. When ready to leave, they swim to the surface inches below the water. Although there are so many and vari- and lie in the current. The case slits open on the thorax, a pair ous forms of life, yet the imitation of comparatively few can of wings unfold and are held upright, the head and feet are be used by the fly-fisher. It is only those insects that in leaving drawn out: it rests on the old hull an instant while the abdomen the water rise from the current of' the stream and those that in is being freed, and flies away to cast the last covering. It is then returning to the water to perpetuate their race, hover over the brighter colored and more transparent, so that ima o and sub- current. 7 The reason of this is apparent to those who know the imago are known by different names to the angler. 19 habits of trout. Whether insects feel the vibrations of sound Potomanthus rufescens, (sic) "blue dun" and "jenny spinner", with their antennae or have auricular orifices is a disputed leaves the water, if the weather is favorable, in the middle of question. They certainly hear some way. It is the music. of the March. Roetis longicauda, (sic) "great dun" and "red spinnerw, ripple that guides them back, sometimes a mile or more, and the first of May. The "dark fox" and its hago, the "silver they will always be found in the greatest abundance where fox", the last of April. The "bright fox" l3and its imago, the there is a dam or break in the current, causing the flow of the "little egg", the first of May. This is the most abundant fly on water to be heard at a greater distance. the stream. The "brown coffin" and its imago, the "gray coffin", the first of ~u~ust.14 The trout understand this and congregate in such places to feed; for trout, although gorged to repletion, will rise to their The Pbryganina, "Case worms," Caddis bait, "are the best favorite food - - the fly, that comes to them like manna from known of water insects. 15 There are in the stream twelve dis- above. tinct species, nearly all vegetarians, and partly nocturnal in their The largest of articulate life is a crawfish, Cambarus acutus. 8 habits. The pupae are quiescent, and when ready to transform The young are found in April and May among the leaves of the rise to the current, leaving the water just before twilight. The water plants, feeding on Entomostacea, water fleas and small (continued on page 14) Ephemerina; 9 later in the season, and when fully grown, they 11. The meaning 1s unclear. Brooding - -reproducing - - three times a burrow under gravel and stones. There is but one other Crusta- year? cea in the stream; it belongs to the family Gammaridae. It is these as a food that give the Salmo fontinalis 10 of the stream 12. Indeed. Most fishcrn~enof the day thought them quite different their peculiar color flavor and numbers. In life the color of the insects. Gammarus is a uniform dark green. After death, they turn a 13. McRride's nomenclature is unfortunate. Apparently neither Potam- anthus rufescens nor Roetiv (sic) longicaudn has ever been correctly applied to an American insect. (I am indebted to Professor George F. 4. What follows is McBride's. The Express and Rod and Cun versions Edmunds, Jr. of the llniversity of Utah and to Professor 1,ewis are identical, with minor variants as noted. Berner of the University of Florida for checking this for me in detail; the information is from their correspondrncr with rnr.) As well, 5. Scientific names are generally italicized in R. (e- G., left in Roman her use of English patterns to match these insects, whatever they in Express. were, is idiosyncratic, but it suggests that she worked from careful observation and not from theory - - an excellent example for a fly 6. The Creek still has enormous beds of cress and a constant tempera- fisherman, a rather poor one for a scic.ntist who wished to communi- ture that varies from 48 to 52 degrees F. year-round. cate with others in the field. Any atttSnipt at corri:ct imitation is mere guesswork. The Bright Fox is still used on Spring Crerk during 7. So italicized in Express, not in R (e- G. the abundant hatches of the natural. 8. Lintner, "Report", cites a "craw-fish, Cambarus Bartonii (Fabr.)". 14. I do not believe she meant the modern Coffin Flies hwe, but the McBride's Latin terminology is often inaccurate. Irish "Cofflin" or "Coughlan" , very long-tailed imitations of ephemerids. 9. Ephemerina is used by McBride for the small ephemerids. 15. The confusion of caddis and stone flies is, again, unfortunate. Lint- 10. The trout of Caledonia Creek were brook trout; browns were not ner, "Report", cited several sprcies of caddis and noted thrir abun- introduced until some yea:: later by Green. Lintner, "Report", dance; despite her error here, MrBridc showed a healthy awareness found the stream's plants swarming" with Gammarus fmciatus, of thr importance of thr caddis, perhaps becausc: of her Ily-tying probably the gammarid referred to by McBride. heritage from Ireland, where caddis were, very important.

Page 12 THE LYE BROOK POOL by Ogden M. Pleissner

We have two reasons for devoting a page to the work and sport of Ogden Pleissner in this issue. First, we wish to pay tribute to Mr. Pleissner's generous support of the Museum. The publication by the Museum of THE LYE BROOK POOL several years ago gave the young institution a tremendous boost, and the continued sale of the prints has been a healthy supplement to our income. It was surely a publication that had more value than the financial returns, however, since it associated the Museum with one of America's foremost outdoor artists. Ogden Pleissner's work has been admired and treasured for many years. At the time the print appeared the Museum was in its infancy. By lending both his name and his art to our cause, Ogden did much to help,generate interest and support. Second, this is to inform readers-ihat we still have several copies of THE LYE BROOK POOL, available unframed for $400.00. Included in this price is a Patron Membership for one year. In addition, $380.00 of this amount is classified as a charitable contribution to the Museum. This is an opportunity to obtain an outstanding work of sporting art and assist the ongoing projects of the Museum at the same time. Orders should be addressed to the Secretary, The Museum of American Fly Fishing, Manchester, Vermont 05254,

Ogden Pleissna with a magnificent 45 pound salmon taken recently from a Gaspe river. larvae weave coverings of fine silk, some employing extraneous single brooded and hybernate in the pupa form. Simulium matter for the dress, others using it only as a ballast, but each larvae are maggot-like, without feet or distinct head, trans- species clinging to its own style of garment through all time. parent, varying in color according to the vegetation they feed One species selects three small branches, varying from one to on; spin a slipper-shaped pouch for the pupa; transform in three three inches in length, places them longitudinally around the weeks; are triple brooded. body; inside of this is another covering of finer texture. This is The Coleoatera1 are nocturnal. 18 In the wincedn form the "pale stone fly". It begins to leave the water in November, they breathe by coming to the surface. They take occasional on warm days through the winter, and in March and April. flights, flying with a heavy whirring sound. They are strong, Another larva that feeds on the leaves of the water-cress. build- rapid swimmers, using their feet as oars. When seized, they ing laterally and forms a rhomboid case, using only what silk is emit a milky fetid liquid. Hydrophilus piceus is olive black, necessary to bind the pieces together. This is the "stone fly"; an inch and a quarter long. Its armor is a sharp spine on its it leaves the water and is found hovering over it in July, August breast. The larvae is a soft fleshy grub with well-developed and September. One species weaves together small snail shells, mouth parts, when grown three inches in length. If touched, first eating the toothsome mollusk. Its costume is thus a series they emit a black liquid; it discolors the water and enables them of spiral folds. This resembles in color the preceding. Two use to escape. They are herbivorous. In the late fall they leave the sand and gravel, adding on as they increase in size. One is the creek and seek neighboring pools, where they live in torpor until "poor man's fly." It leaves the water in April. The other is the following April. The Dysticidae have earned their reputation the "wren hackleV.l6 It is seen the most in July. Two use silk as water tigers. Besides insect larvae they attack tadpoles, mol- only. One of these is shaped like a horn. It is the raven of the lusks and young fish, and if hungry they will not spare their stream, and "comes off" in June and July. The other resembles own species. They are dark brown, with stripes of paler brown a cucumber seed, and is the "black hackle" for June, known on the exterior edge of the elytra; are large, burly beetles, and in Pennsylvania as the "June Spinner." when flying, have an alar expanse of over three inches. The The sub-family Rbyacopbila, of which there are three species Gyrinidae, or whirligigs, are all small-sized beetles, oval, some in the stream, weave tents of silk with two entrances. This is a bluish black, others brown. They will be seen in numbers, place of rest and refuge, leaving it to seek their food. They are swimming in circles near the surface. They rise from the water all solitary in their habits - - quiescent pupa and single brooded. and fly when pursued by fish, and dive to escape the water There are two species of dragon flies, Odonata, single scorpions. They are remarkable for the arrangement of their brooded, hybernating in the larvae form. Their food varies in eyes, which are apparently double. The lower eyes look into different stages. I have noticed this in connection with all the the water, the upper eyes into the air above. I have traced five Odonata I have reared in aquaria - - twenty varieties. Up to the species of this family through the different stages, and there time of the third molt, their food is vegetable matter. After this are at least five more in the stream. 19 Of all insects that they live on small Ephemerina and other small insects until fully creep, fly or swim, the water scorpions (Hydrocorisae) are the grown and ready to leave the water. They are rapid swimmers, most destructive. They seem to kill and destroy to satisfy a using the feet as oars and moving with an undulating motion. feeling of wanton cruelty, and nothing but a living, breathing They are fond of coming to the surface, and if disturbed, by a meal will satisfy their appetite. Clumsy swimmers, they lie in sudden contraction of ;he trachae they will spurt a spray of wait and dart on their prey like a cat. Of the genus Nepa, there water eight or ten inches; the same movement impels them are two species, oval, very flat, and of an ashy gray color. One suddenly away. There is the same contraction when they dart species is two and a-half inches long. The body is terminated for their prey; throwing out the long under lip, they grasp and with two grooved threads, through which the adult insect swallow instantly. Authors have often referred to this con- breathes. ~anatrafusca has a long-linear body, its respiratory traction, and considered it their only method of propelling tube consisting of three grooved threads an inch in length. themselves through the water. 17 The Diptera are all small-sized species, and belong to the 1.8. Again, McBride gives no pattern for the water-beet1t.s. British tradi- families Chironomidae, Tipulidae and Simulidae. Chironomous tion relied on small Hackles and a few patterns like the b~~;.lshtnatt's larvae are slender, worm-like, distinct head, one pair of prolegs Button. and retractile anal hooks. Their food is decaying vegetation. 19. Lintner, "Report", identified eleven. Pupae are in a thin, rude case, formed of debris; transform in two weeks to a graceful fly with large feathered antennae, transparent wings shorter than the abdomen; hybernate in the larvae form, doublebrooded. There are five species. The first brood appears in March and April; the second in August and September. They leave the water almost invariably in the morning. They are named, piscatorially, "black gnat", "dark claret gnat," "bright claret gnat," "gray gnat," and "Olive gnat". Tipulidae larvae are a dirty green color, scaly head, almost entirely drawn within first thoracic segment, without feet, live on vegetable mold and growing confe~ae.They are

Kenneth Cameron is well-known to museum members for his work as museum registrar some years ago. His researcb into the 16. The Poor Man's Fly was an old pattern; the Wren Hackle, (or Wren's history of angling has led him to publish articles in THE FLY Tail), no longer seen because the feathers are not available, is a very small, very delicately colored fly using a wren wing feather as hackle. FISHER, TROUT, ADIRONDACK LIFE, and other journals. He is the author of three novels, a colle~etheatre textbook, 17. McBride gives no dragon-fly imitation. One had been offered as articles on medieval and Restoration theatre, and two ofr- early as Rennie's Alphabet of Angling, 1833 (whose fly illustrations were pirated for Scott's Fishin in Arnericon Waters, 1869) but the Broadway plays. He is currently Writer in Residence it? the fly was certain1 not opular. f have known one instance of enorrn- Departme?zt of Theatre and Speech at the University of Soutb ous mccess on kine%root trout when dragon flies were hatching, Carolina. Ken describes binzself as "a rotten fisherman who with big Wulffs and fuzzy nymphs. Anglers-of McBride's day may have successfully used the popular Brown Hackle, knowindy or generally prefers soft-hackled nineteenth-century Scottish flies otherwise. because they are easy to tie."

Page 14 Adirondack Museum Historical Exhibit to Highlight Outdoor Sports

A new permanent cxhit~ition, "Woods and Waters: Out- door Life in the Adirontlacks," opens June 15, 1978, at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, New York. Divi- ded into four major sections - waters, mountains, woods, winter - the exhibition portrays the utilitarian, sporting and leisure activities that have drawn nien to the Adirondack wilderness for nearly two centuries. Emphasis is placed on man's use of the environment and the olants and anirnals associatetl with it; subjects such as camping, fishing, mountain climbing, hunting, trapping and winter sports are treated in detail. Special features are nineteenth century sporting equipment, including a large collection of fishing tackle, a tank containing live brook trout, a life size replica of an Adirondack lean-to, a rustic gun room, the hut belonging to hermit Noah John Kondeau, and the two man U. S. bobsled, gold medal winner of the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1932. Kesearch for "Woods and Waters" was begun six years ago; planning and installation has been in progress since 1976. Funtl- ing for the exhibition includes grants from the National Endow- ment for the Mumanitites, Washington, D.C., and the New York State Council on the Arts. Thc Adirondack Museum is open daily June 15 through October 15. Color Plate: Historic Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Flies

Fly fishing for the Pacific salmon and steelhead has a long Below the Brayshaw patterns are four of Enos Bradner's and colorful history, but most of the popular fly patterns used originals. Starting from the top and going counter-clockwise today are products of the last few decades. Most earlier fishing they are the Firefly, the Orange Shrimp, Brad's Brat, and the was done with standard trout and salmon patterns. Killer. Enos Rradner's book NORTHWEST ANGLING has for On the following pages we present a selection of flies, by many years been regarded as a standard reference on fishing some of the most notable innovators, from the museum collect- that region. ion. We are still in need of representative flies, and we encourage On the fly book are several patterns by Oregon's well-known our western members to help us search for then1 - Jim Pray, tier, A1 Knudson. An early advocate of winter fly fishing for Mike Kennedy, Polly Kosborough and many others are still not steelhead, Knudson's exploits were frequently featured in regi- represented in our exhibits. onal publications from the 1930's to the 1950's. The top fly is On the far left are coho streamers, tied of polar bear hair by Al's Special. Counter-clockwise from it are the White Streamer, Letcher Lambuth. These flies, developed in the 1920's for salt- Knudson's Wet Spider, and the Hot Shot. In the center is the water fishing, are part of the Letcher Lambuth Memorial Col- Black Bear. lection. Readers will remember the article by him, on the use of these flies, in Vol. 2 No. 2 of THE AMERICAN FLY Tbc Lambuth flies were donated byMrs. Olive tarnbuth. The ANGLER'S (with Steve Krayshaw flies weye part of the Darrah Coybet estate. The which will be published by Champoeg Press later this year. Hradner patterns were donated by Stzve Raymond, and the Next to the salmon flies are some favorites of 'Tom~nyBray- KF7,idsonflies donated by Jack Hutchinson, shaw's, whose story it told on page 28 of this issue. HISTORIC PACIFIC SALM( From The Mu 3N AND STEELHEAD FLIES seum Collection CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER (1829-1900)

Courles) of '1'11(~ Stow(.-Dal Foulldation, Hartford, Conr~ecticut A Fight With ATrout by Charles Dudley Warner

The name of Charles Dudley Warner is now all but lost to students of American literature, but in his day he was a respected and frequently-read essayist. If he lingers in print today it is most likely the result of a novel entitled THE GILDED AGE, which he wrote m collaboration with Mark Twain. Warner wrote several novels, but was at his best as an essayist. In the last thirty years of the 19th century he produced a series of essay collections, graced with a warm and sophisti- cated wit. He traveled widely, frequently publishing sketches of his trips, and from 1884 to 1898 was a contributing editor of HARPER'S NEW MONTHL Y MAGAZINE. "A Fight with a TroutUappeared in the book IN THE WILDERNESS, published in 1878. IN THE WILDERNESS deserves to be republished. Its portrayals of camplife and outdoor recreation in the Adirondack Mountains of New York are laced with the sensitive reflect- ions of a wilderness enthusiast who sometimes seems dnsure of the true spiritual value of all this fashionable discom fort. But though he suffers magnificent1 y in a rain-drenched camp, he admits that "in memory nothing remains but its charm." "A Fight with a Trout" is full of the gentle sarcasm that made Warner so popular in his day. While he pokes fun at the traditions and tackle of angling, he is obviously enjoying himself, and in his closing paragraph he provides us with one of fishing's most enduring wisdoms, that the size of a fish is most advantageously estimated from a distance.

KOUT-FISI-IING in the Adirondacks would be a more of the trout usually are. Confiding my purpose to Luke, we attractive pastime than it is, but for the popular notion secretly made our preparations, and stole away from the shanty ofits danger. The trout is a retiring and harmless animal, one morning" at dav break. Each of us carried a boat, a air of e\cept when he is aroused, and forced into a combat; and then blankets, a sack of bread, pork, and maplesugar; while 1 had his agility,. . fierceness, and vinclictiveness become apparent.. . No my case of rods, creel, and book of flies, and Luke had an axe one who has studied the excellent pictures representing men in and the kitchen utensils. We think nothing of loads of this sort open boat, exposed to the assaults of long, enraged trout flying in the woods. at them through the open air with open mouth, ever ventures Five miles through a tamarack-swamp brought us to the in- with his rod upon the lonely lakes of the forest without a cer- let of Unknown Pond, upon which we embarked our fleet, and tain terror, or ever reads of the exploits of daring fishermen addled down its vagrant waters. They were at first sluggish, without a feeling of admiration for their heroism. Most of winding among triste fir-trees, but gradually developed a their adventures are thrilling, and all of them are, in narration, strong current. At the end of three miles a loud roar ahead more or less unjust to the trout: in fact, the object of them warned us that we were approaching rapids, falls, and cas- seems to be to exhibit, at the expense of the trout, the shrewd- cades. We paused. The danger was unknown. We had our ness, the skill, and the muscular power of the sportsman. My choice of shouldering our loads and making a detour through own simple story has few of these reconimendations. the woods, or of "shooting the rapids." Naturally we chose We had built our bark camp one summer, and were staying the more dangerous course. Shooting the rapids has often been on one of the popular lakes of the Saranac region. It would be a described, and I will not repeat the description here. It is need- very pretty region if it were not so flat, if the margins of the less to say that I drove my frail bark through the boiling rapids, lakes had not been flooded by dams at the outlets, - which over the successive water-falls, amid rocks and vicious eddies, have killed the trees, and left a rim of ghastly dead-wood like and landed, half a mile below with whitened hair and a boat the swamps of the under-world pictured by Dore's bizarre pen- half full of water and that the guide was upset, and boat, cil, - and if the pianos at the hotels were in tune. It would be contents, and man were strewn along the shore. an excellent sporting-region also (for there is water enough) if After this common experience we went quickly on our the fish commissioners would stock the waters, and if previous journey, and, a couple of hours before sundown, reached the hunters had not pulled all the hair and skin off from the deer's lake. If 1 live to my dying-day, I never shall forget its appear- tails. Formerly sportsmen had a habit of catching the deer by ance. The lake is almost an exact circle, about a quarter of a the tails, and of being dragged in mere wantonness round and mile in diameter. The forest about it was untouched by axe, round the shores. It is well known, that, if you seize a deer by and unkilled by artificial flooding. The azure water had a per- this "holt," the skin will slip off like the peel from a banana. fect setting of evergreens, in which all the shades of the fir, the 'This reprehensible practice was carried so far, that the traveller balsam, the pine, and the spruce, were perfectly blended; and is now hourly pained by the sight of peeled-tail deer nou urn fully at intervals on the shore in the emerald rim blazed the ruby sneaking about the wood. of the cardinal-flower. It was at once evident that the unruf- We had been hearing, for weeks, of a small lake in the heart fled waters had never been vexed by the keel of a boat. But of the virgin forest, some ten miles from our camp, which was what chiefly attracted my attention, and amused me, was the alive with trout, unsophisticated, hungry trout: the inlet to it boiling of the water, the bubbling and breaking, as if the lake was described as stifj'with them. In my imagination I saw them were a vast kettle, with a fire underneath. A tyro would have lying there in ranks and rows, each a foot long, three tiers deep, been astonished at this common phenomenon; but sportsmen a solid mass. The lake had never been visited, except by stray will at once understand me when I say that the water boiled sable-hunters in the winter, and was known as the Unknown with the breaking trout. I studied the surface for some time to Pond. I determined to explore it; fully expecting, however, that it would prove to be a delusion, as such mysterious haunts (continued on page 3 1)

Page 19 OUR OLDEST FLY ROD Photo by Don Gray Dorset, Vermont Courtesy of Fly Fisherman Magazine Page 20 TOMMY BRAY SHAW: (Continued from page 28) an accountant, schoolmaster and orchardist, living at Vernon a series of colorful steelhead flies he created in his fingers, never near the heart of the famous Kamloops trout country of using a vise. British Columbia's southern interior. The Kamloops waters His years at Stackhouse were happy ones, spent in fishing, were then just coming into their first flush of productivity conversation and work, and during those years he achieved a as fish were transplanted to the many fertile lakes in the status of exalted elder statesman among Northwest anglers. But hills around Kamloops. Brayshaw fished Knouff Lake, where advancing age and declining health finally forced the Brayshaws trout of double-digit weight were taken on dry flies in the to leave their riverside home and move into Vancouver. There, early 1930s, and in the Adams and Little Rivers where huge in October of 1967, Tommy died. Kamloops trout foraged on emerging sockeye salmon fry. It To recite the highlights of his life is to say little of his per- was a time and place for trout fishing which has seldom been sonality. He was as vibrant and alive as his paintings, a wiry equalled. little man with sparkling eyes and wit whose hands and mind When the Second World War began, Brayshaw returned were never totally at rest. No one who met him could ever for- to the service, this time as a recruiting officer in the Canadian eet him. Army, where he rose to the rank of major. When the war ended, - Read, Straight and Haig-Brown pay generous and deserving Brayshaw and his wife settled in a new home on the west bank tribute to him in this book. But the best of the book is the of the Fraser River near Hope, B. C., near the point where the selection of color plates of Brayshaw's work, including photos Coquihalla River flows into the Fraser. The Coquihalla then was of his carvings. And there are excerpts from his diaries and one of the prime summer steelhead rivers in the province and correspondence that offer glimpses of the fishing he experienced Tommy adopted it as his own, fishing it often from his new and the way in which he worked. home, christened Stackhouse after his birthplace. The home The Ardent Angler-Artist is in some ways different from was close to the highway leading to the Interior and quickly be- what we have grown to expect in limited-edition books. It is came a stopping place for both Canadian and American anglers not bound in leather with gold trim, nor is it fitted with a headed to or from the Kamloops trout lakes, the steelhead fish- fancy slipcase. Outwardly, there is nothing very remarkable ing on the Thompson River or the fine trout fishing on the about it. The money was spent on the inside, to reproduce the upper Skagit. work of a master artist and craftsman, and that is as it should In the workshop at his home, Tommy learned the art of be. Nevertheless, it is a handsome book, printed on Carlyle building bamboo rods from the late Letcher Lambuth of Japan paper and bound in Holliston roxite fabric, with each Seattle and continued to work on his carvings and paintings. copy numbered individually. It is a fine memorial to a remark- His work first won international recognition with publication able man and his remarkable work and will surely be viewed of the second edition of Haig-Brown's Tl~eWestern Angler as a major contribution to the angling literature and lore of the which featured Brayshaw's illustrations. As Haig-Brown later Pacific Northwest. wrote: "It was sometime during" World War 11 that I talked him into starting on the illustrations . . . All the time he was insisting Copies may be ordered for $32.50 each from the British he was only an amateur, that he couldn't possibly do anything Columbia Wildlife Federation, 17633 57th Ave., Surrey, B.C. so exacting as book illustration, he was busily sketching in pen V3S 1G9. The cost includes a donation to support the work of and ink, on hotel notepaper, exactly what I wanted. And as the Federation. soon as the army retired him for being over sixty, he did a beautiful job." Steve Raymond is the author of two excellent books on It was a beautiful job, and Brayshaw's work immediately angling in the Northwest, KAMLOOPS and THE YEAR OF became popular with anglers. His art included works in water- THE ANGLER. He is a Vice President of the Museum of color, pastels and pen-and-pencil; life-size carvings of fish, and A merican Fly I'ishing. OUR OLDEST FLY ROD The specifications of our oldest rod were given in the Museum's 1973 Catalogue: "12 ft. 5-piece with one butt joint, one second joint, one third joint, two fourth joints, and 4 tips. The main joints are of dark finished greenheart, the grip being an integral part of the butt. lnletted reel seat with nickel-silver reel bands and large tapered nickel-silver butt cap. The tips are a unique combination of greenheart with finely tapered lancewood spliced to the ends, comprising about three-quarters of '. the section. The rod is completely outfitted with loose ring , guides with small intermediate winds on the tips only. The black , metal female ferrules have wooden plugs, the male ferrules are wood dowel type reinforced with nickel-silver sleeves pinned in place." We are interested in learning more about the origins of this rod, and about the Furman family in general. The rod was in- scribed to a G.C. Furman, New York, 1832, but also we hav several references to a William Furman, an active fish-culture expert of the 1860's. He was mentioned by Genio Scott in FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS as being lo near New York City. This same Furman was I BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH still being involved in fisheries work. Whatever its origins, the rod is a superb example of early." craftsmanship. Its exceptional workmanship is amazing than its near-perfect condition. It see been used. ------Fly- Casting

Early casters often differed as much in style as modern ones do. We present two contrasting techniques here. The first, that of Henry P. Wells (FLY RODS AND TACKLE, 1885), is now described as "traditional," or "old-fashioned," or some equally perverse term. Even in their formality the instructions are not without humor. The model for the illustrations, incidentally, was Chancellor Levison, a well-known New York caster who was a founding member of both the Brooklyn Fly fisher's Club and the Angler's Club of New York. The second instruction, by Dr. James Henshall (BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS, 188 I), offers a variation, especially in the backcast. Observe to which shoulder Dr. Henshall moves the rod, and the path of the fly as it moves behind him. The unfortunate feature of early casting illustrarions is their stiff-collared appearance. The photographs at the conclusion of the text, taken from Edward Samuel's WITH FL Y ROD AND CAMERA (1890), dispel some of that image.

HE coach taking his stand abreast of and on the right In actual fishing the casting elhow is always and invariably to of the caster, and at such a distance as conveniently to be held quite close to the side, and the forearm should not be observe every motion, let the latter withdraw from the raised beyond an angle of forty-five degrees with the horizon. reel line equal in length to about one and a half times the length The wrist, however, is to take a further bend upward and as far of his rod. The thumb of the casting hand must not be closed up as possible, for from the action of this joint should the in~pulse on its fingers, but be extended and bear upon the rod itself. Now of the cast be almost exclusively derived. throw the tip of the rod upward and behind a little, but only I am aware that I am at variance with the precepts of many a little, beyond the perpendicular. writers, as well as with the practice of many excellent anglers, in The illustration on this page (below, Fig. I), from a photo- the direction that the elbow be invariably close to the side. graph from life, shows the extreme limit of this movement, a Some cast at arm's-length, and largely with the shoulder-joint. limit by no means to be exceeded, while it may well be some- This is a thoroughly bad method, fatiguing, inefficient, and what abridged. rivalling in grace a duck on land. Others cast with the elbow to or near the body, but just before the flies light extend the arm to its full length, as thougl~tbey were about to impale soine- thing on the point of the rod. This method is used by many anglers, whom I freely acknowledge to be my superiors. Not- withstanding, I am convinced that it serves no useful purpose (except in casting for distance only) not otherwise readily attainable, while it certainly looks labored and awkward. The one method resembles the postures of a trained athlete, no portion or member of his body in motion except those in actual use; the others approximate in greater or less degree to the contortions of the greenhorn, every limb pawing the air. Though the elbow partakes slightly at the beginning of both the cast and recover, still it is the wrist that is really the motive power in casting. The novice cannot too early and too firmly impress this on his mind. Figure 2 represents the position of the wrist when on the back cast; Figure 3 the wrist on the forward cast. Note the position of the thumb. The position should be an easy one, and the body and the unemployed arm should be kept perfectly still. No habit is worse in casting than unnecessary contortions of the one, or flourishes of the other. Not only is it exceedingly awkward, but it is injurious as well, since it is motion rather than the mere sight of an object which demoralizes the fish. The coach will pay particular attention to the back cast, for if this is mastered all else follows. It is the secret of success. In practice, the end of the line, when behind him, should in no case fall below the level of the caster's head; everything below that should be regarded as a fault. There is nothing in fly-fishing which so promptly grades an angler as a high back cast, when circumstances permit its use, while nothing will more prejudice reputation for skill than the habit, even when sitting in a boat, of allowing the flies to touch the water behind the caster. The expert knows how few possess the former accomplishment, and that to him who has it the highest development of the art is Fig. 1 possible; while he equally recognizes that the latter is a vicious Page 22 habit, difficult to overcome, and a perfect bar to real excellence. Therefore cultivate a high back cast with the utmost assidui- ty. It is not difficult to acquire at the beginning, though this is no longer the case when another and different habit has been formed. The secret of this is to throw the rod but little, if any, beyond the perpendicular on the back cast. The first view in this chapter illustrates the extreme limit. While the butt joint is nearly upright, the upper portion of the rod will bend backward still more. Kods of varying flexibility vary somewhat in this respect. The stiffer may be thrown a little farther back, and still, since they bend less, give the line the required upward direction. I trust 1 have emphasized the importance of this sufficiently, as well as made clear the method by which it may be attained. The coach must next see to it that the caster by no means begins the forward impulse, until the line has extended behind to the limit of its length. Ignore the front cast altogether in the first lessons, considering it merely as a necessary preparation for the back cast, and as otherwise of no consequence whatever. Concentrate the attent- Fig. 2 ion on these two features of the back cast altogether (except, of course, to insist that the body and unemployed arm are motionless, and that the impulse proceeds from the wrist). Hang to these two points as if they were all there was to fly-casting, for really this assumption will be but little wide of the truth. Having given the backward impulse to the line, it will be found that an interval must intervene between this and the forward impulse, during which the line is occupied in straighten- ing itself out. This pause is absolutely essential, and an undue abridgement of its duration is the most common of all faults. It varies, of course, with the length of line used; and since the caster cannot see behind him that he may know when the exact moment for the forward impulse has arrived, he must use the eyes of another, or experiment in the dark. The coach will therefore watch the line, and when it has thus extended its full length give the word "Now!" Thereupon let Fig. 3 the caster at once give the forward impulse. It will require a little practice on the part of the former to give the word at the proper moment, and on the part of the latter promptly to res- pond, but this will be soon overcome. Be a rigid adherence to this method of coaching and practice, a high back cast, and the allowance of the proper interval for the line to straighten out, will soon become purely automatic- a mere matter of instinct adjusting itself to whatever length of line may be in use, without a thought or an effort on the part of the caster. When this is accomplished, and stick to it until it is, the game is in your own hands, for everything else follows almost of itself. Now some attention may be profitably given to the forward cast. That the line shall fall gently upon it, the end reaching the level of the mark first, are the desiderata. To accomplish this, throw the rod forward, remembering to drive the impulse from the wrist, until it assumes the position shown by Figure 4 at left. Cast not at the mark, but as though an object three or four feet above it. were the bull's-eye. Then when the line has un- folded almost its entire length, raise the point of the rod a couple of feet or so. This will turn the line point foremost, and cause the end to alight first. If the force of the impulse is justly proportioned to the distance to be covered, the line will fall by its own gravity alone upon the paper; but if too much power has been applied, it will strike hard, or recoil and fall short of the mark. That cast is the most perfect in which the minimum of force is employed, and the beginner must make constant effort to see with how little exertion he can accomplish the result. He will find that very little power is required even for quite a long line-say fifty-five feet-and that the line falls most lightly and straightest in those casts where the power is justly proportioned, and not in excess of the work to be done. But if careful, patient, Fig. 4 and persevering, this too will soon become purely automatic, Page 23 Fig. 3 Fig. 1 Fig. 2

MANNER OF CASTING THE ARTIFICIAL FLY adjusting itself to circumstances without conscious muscular or movement, the latter is a double one; that is, it is divided into mental effort. two motions, or parts; though these two fonvard motions are But remember the back cast is the foundation, and that un- made in the same length of time as the backward movement. less it is solid the superstructure will be rickety. Remember I will now try to explain these movements more explicitly, also that the motion of the rod through the air should be with the aid of the annexed cuts and diagrams. almost, or quite noiseless. Nothing offends the anger's ear more The prospective fly-fisher having his rod, reel and cast in than the "swish" of a flyrod. It is like a false note to an edu- readiness, stands near the bank of the stream, with a clear space cated musical ear. It indicates a degree of force about as approp- of fifteen or twenty feet behind him. Having the line about the riate to the end in view, as a burglar's jimmy to opening a length of his rod, to begin with, he takes the hook of the tail-fly watch. This should never be, except possibly when casting di- between his left thumb and forefinger and stretches the line taut; rectly against the wind or for distance only. then, by waving the rod slightly backward over the left shoulder, and at the same time releasing his hold of the tail-fly, the line Casting the Fly straightens out behind him, the right elbow meantime being (Henshall) held close to the body, as the backward movement is made with the wrist and forearm entirely. The position of the right hand Casting the artificial fly is performed by two principal moti- during this portion of the cast is with said hand grasping the rod ons, a backward and a forward one. The former is to throw the just above the reel (the reel being at the extreme butt, and on flies behind the angler, and the latter is to project them forward the under side of the rod), and with the reel and palm of the and beyond. That is all there is in it. These are the main princi- hand toward the angler, the thumb looking toward his right ples involved, and the first or backward motion is merely pre- shoulder (see figure 1). paratory to the second or forward one, the latter being the most When the line and leader are on a straight line behind him, important. which the beginner must learn to judge and time exactly, with- But the style and manner of making these two motions are out looking behind him, he brings the rod forward with a all-important; for upon the correct, skillful, and, I might say, gradually increasing rate of speed, until the rod is slightly in scientific performance of them, depends the success of the advance of him, say at an angle of fifteen degrees off the per- angler. The main objects of the two motions are, first, to get the pendicular; then, for the first time, the right elbow leaves the line and cast behind the angler in a straight line, without lapping body, and, at the same time, the rod is turned in the hand in or kinking; and second, to project the line forward without the opposite direction (see figure 2); that is, with the back of snapping off the tail-fly, casting it perfectly straight, without the hand toward the angler, so that, at the end of the cast, the confusion, and causing the flies to alight before the line, with- reel is below the rod, while the back of the hand is upward, and, out a splash, and as lightly as the natural insect dropping into without stopping the motion of the rod, the right arm is pro- the water. This can only be done by the novice, with a short jected forward to its full extent, and on a line with the shoulder line, about the length of his rod, and he should not attempt a (see figure 3). This is the second part or motion of the forward longer cast until he is perfect in this. When he can lay out his movement, and consists in merely following the direction of the short line perfectly straight before him, without a splash, every flies with the tip of the rod, so as to ease their rapid flight, and time, he can then venture further. allow them to descend without confusion, and to settle upon But we are getting along too fast; we must go back to first the water noiselessly, and without a splash. Thus we see that principles-the two motions. the backward movement is in one time and one motion, and the The backward and forward movements are each made in forward movement in one time and two motions, as the mili- about the same length of time, but while the former is a single tary have it, or according to the following formula of time: No. 1 represents the backward throw, in one motion, in the time of a half note. No. 2 represents the forward cast, in one time and two motions, '1 and 6, in the time of two quarter notes. This is not to be understood as fishing by note, but the relative time of making the different motions in casting the fly approaches very nearly that of the formula given. This is better explained by a reference to the foregoing cuts; where figure 1 represents the backward throw, and figure 2 represents the first part or motion (a), and figure 3 the second part or motion (b),of the forward cast. a b c, is the curve described by the tip of the rod in the back- Sometimes these movements are made straight backward and ward and forward movements of the cast-back over the left forward over either shoulder, or over the head; but the best way shoulder, and forward over the right; while the dotted curved is to make the backward movement over the left shoulder, and line, d e f, is the approximate arc described by the tail-fly, the forward over the right shoulder, the line thus describing an leaving the water at d, and alighting, by a lengthened cast, at f: oval or parabola. By this method the flies are not so apt to be By studying these diagrams in connection with the instruct- whipped off, and it is, withal, more graceful, more en regle. ions given, the theory and mechanical piinciples will soon be The following diagram represents the arcs described by the mastered by the novice. He should then, by assiduous and tip of the rod and the flies: patient endeavor, make a practical application of these princi- 0 is supposed to be the angler, and, as we are looking down ples, and become tolerably proficient in casting the fly, before upon him from above, it represents his hat. The dark line, he attempts to venture near the haunts of the Bass.

New York Fly Casting Tournament, May 1889

K. B. Lawrence, single-handed fly rod, 89 feet.

W. A. Blackford, single-handed fly rod, 85 feet. Connecticut River Near Holyoke FLY FISHING FOR SHAD

By the rice-horder'd Southern coast, Where the Savannah River winds, The shad-shoal, an unnumher'd host, Its earliest feeding pasture finds. Thence northward where the Hudson sweeps Connecticut's transparent deeps, Their gleaming myriads seek a home Beyond the surges and the foam. Genio Scott (1869)

e have recently been asked by several correspondents to hooked a heavy fish, but did not hold him long, as the gut give them an article on fly fishing for shad. We beg to re- parted at the hook. It had been burned through with rust; tly fer them to No. 8, page 120, of The American Angler, number two was attached, with the same result. With the third where they will find a description of the method of fishincnd fly I took a two-pound striped bass. The next cast I hooked a of the best fishing cast of flies. In this connection we append heavier fish, which carried away the fly. In a very few minutes extracts from a series of letters published in the Turf, Field and the two rods were tied up, and Murray and I pulling for the Farm, the writer being Mr. Thomas Chalmers, of Holyoke, Holyoke shore, where we soon found entrance to a neighbor's Massachusetts.: chicken coop, and with permission selected such feathers as we I arrived in Holyoke for the first time in 1870. I soon learned desired. The next in order was an exploring expedition through of all the fish and fishing in the river. I was also informed shad the few houses which kept fishing tackle for sale in the then could not be taken with the hook, as they never feed in fresh town of Holyoke; no gut was to be had but the few snells we water; ate nothing from April to October. had by us, nor were any hooks to be had but with eyes, of which we bought a few and filed the eyes off, and put up five or six flies each that night, with the intention of going out to In the winter of 1870-71 I built a boat, and Mr. George try them on Monday morning. The flies were a rude imitation Murray and I commenced the season (1871) fishing together. (as clumsy fingers from long disuse could make them) of the On the second Saturday of June we were both fishing from the shad-fly. At 4 o'clock Monday morning Murray knocked at my boat, and had good sport with striped bass and yellow perch. window; not feeling very well I did not get up, and Murray went Feeling somewhat fatigued by sitting in the boat, we rowed for out alone, returning at 7 o'clock with one shad, a yearling. On the east shore, where we had a stretch on the soft stoncs by way the same evening I went out alone, came in at 8.30 with twelve of change. When thus resting the fish in the river commenced shad and one striped bass; seven of the shad averaged four rising to the shad-fly, then abundant on the water. I had three pounds each, two two-year-olds and three yearlings, having lost old flies in my book (small white miller of Irish pattern), which a great many for want of a landing net. Improvising a piece of were to memory dear for services performed years before. The hoop iron into a netting needle, by next evening 1 was equip- three flies were taken out and examined, the gut wet and rub- ped with a landing net. The river was not then spanned by a bed down soft. Attaching one to the end of my line, I stepped bridge, and the old ferry-boat made its half-hourly trips back into the boat and pushed out into the river. At the first cast I and forth, and for three weeks, coming every evening loaded

Page 26 with shad, the ferryman, with open eyes and gaping mouth [luring the first nvo years of our shad fishing at Holyoke one would ask: "Where do you fellows get them shad?" When told solitary boat was on the river, and its two occupants only en- they were caught with a hook, he made us feel uncomfortable; joyed the sport, but last season there were over thirty boats we could bear it and grin. The next time we were asked quest- anchored in all conceivable positions and places, and shad head- ions we replied one got into the water and caught the fish and ing for all of them, and there were a great many lines also out put it on the hook, the other drew it into the boat. After a few from the long bridge. weeks a few of the knowing ones would get down to the river As shad feed in fresh water, notwithstanding all that has been about the time we would be coming in, would take a look at our said to the contrary, I firmly believe they can be taken in all string, cast a side glance at the landing net, when there would be fresh waters which they frequent for spawning purposes. When a shake of the head, then disappear muttering "fraud!" we first commenced fishing in 1871, and for three or four years Up to this time (1873) 1 had examined many stomachs. In afterwards, we took them only in strong currents; later experi- one I found a piece of rotten wood; in another two worms ments, however, have materially altered both our theory and (to the manor born), alive, but both died on exposure; the practice: Five years ago I took them two miles below the dam, intestines were in every instance full, which certainly must my boat being anchored in fifteen feet of water, since which have got supplied from the stomach. The season of 1874 opened time that spot has become a favorite fishing ground. about May 29, with an increase of black bass. I had heard of the If a good current can be found (at the foot of a rapid) run- e red ibis being a good lure for said fish, and to change the sport a ning into a deep pool, it is decidedly the best chance for a little I put up a red fly for trail, white niiller down drop, and catch. Anchor the boat about one yard from the edge of, and brown hackle hand drop. The black bass either did not see it, or in the current about fifty or sixty feet above the pool, letting the shad drove them away from it. It came down heavy on shad, the flies drop down on the edge of the current from thirty to and we have used it as trail fly ever since. But alas for black fifty feet. By so doing you will have a good chance of success, bass! I have yet to kill my first bass with the red ibis, either with as the shad hold big pow-wows in all these pools. In such a place my own putting up or with those purchased in New York. I last season with a companion in my boat, in two hour's fishing, still opened many stomachs, and this season (1874), 1 found I took sixteen shad. My companion took seven, and I carried to srnall particles of crustaceae, and what appeared to,be the wings the house fourteen, Which weighed sixty-one pounds. of flies, in two or three stomachs. 1 think, too, it was this year Later in the season, from the middle of June, my favorite (1874), that Mr. R.H. Fuller, the original ferryman, whom the flies are a large white and a red with red wings, dressed on a use of the bridge had deprived of a living by the ferry, had be- No. 3 Limerick. Always avoid a large, heavy wing. I also take come a convert to shad angling. When out one afternoon, in them casting as for trout, and catch a good many by trolling addition to his flies, he had an artificial minnow spinning for with flies. bass, and with the minnow he took four heavy shad. He sent a T. G. boy requesting me to come down to the river, which, on reach- The following is a brief description of the cast of flies which ing, he pulled ashore and showed me what he had done. I step- was sent us by our correspondent: ped into the boat, and with a minnow of the same pattern, in 1,euder-Double gut, six feet in length. less than half an hour, I took two heavy shad with it, since when Tail fly-A white miller, body wrapped with silver tinsel, tied they have been frequently taken with the minnow. on No. 3 Limerick. Dropper-Wings mottled mallard, body and legs scarlet, wrapped with gold thread. Same hook as tail fly. THE AMERICAN ANGLER, April 15, 1882 Hand fly-Body, peacock hurl, legs natural brown hackle, FLY FISHING FOR SHAD wings smaller covert feather of the woodcock's wing. Tied on No. 3 Limerick. What kind of flies are used in fishing for shad? Do you think it likely that we can catch them in the Delaware river the coming THE AMERICAN ANGLER, February 18, 1882 season? A half dozen anglers would like these queries answered in 1'111. 4 VGLER. Philadelphia, Feb. 15, 1882. C. W. B. We have on the Delaware many likely sports where a cast for shad will doubtless be fruitful. The late Thaddeus Norris made many earnest efforts to lure them with flies, but was mainly unsuccessful, not because his tackle and skill were deficient, but we believe from bad judgment in choosing his grounds. If we remember correctly, his main efforts were made in the rapids and small pools just above the Trenton Bridge, and trenching somewhat under it. This spot is about the end of the tide water in the Delaware, and a starting point for the shad in their upward swim, and is the most unlikely spot to lure them that can be found on the river. It is in the pools at the foot of the strong rapid5 that the shad are most in the humor for flies. There they are resting, after a sturdy stretch through rushing waters for miles, and, just there would seem to be the spot where they will take the feathers. We received some time ago a letter on the above subject from Holyoke, Mass., which we give in full, as it is explicit in explanation of the method and tackle used in the capture of shad with IIIustrations courtesy of the fly. Holyoke Dam, C. 1880 In reply to yours of the 6th, which was duly received, I en- Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass. close a leader with three favorite shad flies for these waters, although they take any and all flies offered them. Photo courtesy- of Stariley Reat1 and The Universitv of British Columbia Press.

Tommy Brayshaw: The Ardent Angler -Artist

A sketch of the life and work of Totnmy Brayshaw, and a review of Dr. Stanley Read's biography of hirn

by Steve Raymond Tommy Brayshaw and steelhead, 1943, on The Camp- bell Kiver.

HE weakest link in the works of angling art often is the fish. Galleries and collections abound with oils and Brayshaw was born in Yorkshire in 1886 and cut his angling watercolors of fishing scenes in which every detail is teeth on Yorkshire brooks, fishing with a twisted horsehair line. correct and every subtle shading perfectly achieved - except that After schooling, he was sent in 1904 to serve an apprenticeship the inevitable leaping fish looks cut out of cardboard, an awk- with a shipbuilding firm near Newcastle, where he became a ward caricature of the graceful lines and movement of living skilled draftsman and where his latent talents as an artist were trout or salmon. perhaps first fully exposed (he never received formal training Maybe it's unreasonable to expect more. After all, how can in art). an artist possibly capture something so fleeting and ephemeral The apprenticeship ended in 1910 and by the beginning of as a leaping salmon or a cartwheeling trout? the next year Brayshaw was in British Columbia, taking the Yet a few - very few - do. Tommy Brayshaw was one of measure of one of the Commonwealth's rawest, newest lands. them. He found steelhead waiting in the lower mainland rivers and Fish were Tommy Brayshaw's first love and most frequent great tyee salmon in the saltwater bays of Vancouver Island and subject. He angled for them, handled them, studied them and began his long acquaintance with both species. somehow seemed to feel what they felt, as if there were some In 1914 he returned to England for a visit and he was there transfer of psychic energy from the lateral line of the trout to when war began. Brayshaw enlisted as a private in the Duke of the sensitive hands of the artist. However it was achieved, the Wellington's West Kiding Regiment and after brief service was result was a legacy of drawings, paintings and carvings of fish - commissioned a lieutenant. In 1915 his regiment was sent to mostly salmon and trout, but many other species as well - in join British forces in France, where Brayshaw was severely which the life and movement of the subjects was breathtakingly wounded in the front lines. After long convalescence in vari- preserved. Tommy Brayshaw's fish were never cardboard; they ous hospitals, he returned to service as a revolver specialist, move. writing and illustrating a manual of instruction in use of the Now a small but significant collection of the late artist's weapon. work have been assembled and published in a fine limited- Ironically, the day after the Armistice in 1918, Brayshaw edition book: Tommy Bray.shuw, The Ardent Angler-Artist, was again wounded - this time by an exploding round of by Stanley E. Read, with a foreword by Lee Straight (outdoors ammunition during an inspection of his revolver range. He editor of The Vuncouver Sun) and a tribute by the late Roderick later joked about being the last British soldier to be wounded Haig-Brown, published by the University of British Columbia in the Great War. Press. Kecovery from the second wound was rapid and early in Stanley Read is professor emeritus at the University of 1919 Brayshaw, by then a captain, was discharged. By the British Columbia, where Brayshaw's diaries and letters are part following year he was back in British Columbia with his wife, of the university's angling collection. Based on that material whom he married in 1916. In the ensuing years he worked as and his own friendship with Brayshaw, Read has put together a brief but highly readable account of the artist's life. (con tir~urdon pap<, Y 1)

Page 28 DANIEL WEBSTER AS AN ANGLER: (con tinued {rorn pug(, 7)

and talked about." It was then, during his efforts to keep warm, mouth, the transom bolt of the carriage was broken and we that he sighed for a warm wood fire, "made out of John Taylor's were both thrown headlong upon the ground. In a letter descri- chips and logs." Showing how his mind loyed to wander off to bing the narrow escape which Mr. Webster wrote to President the region where he was born and had lived the life of a farmer. Fillmore, he said that a similar accident had happened to him During his confinement within doors. he was reauested bv his some twenty years before, and that it was a great escape. "I was physiiian to remain in bed, but he wduld not, o;could nit do pointing out to Mr. Lanman," he wrote, "where the Mayflower so, and spent his time in dictating to me a business letter or came to anchor, and showing him the island, still called Cap- note, or in rummaging among his books; and then it was that he tain's Island, which was the possession of Miles Standish, and went to a particular shelf, took down a small book, wrote some- where his descendants now reside." We caught no fish on that thing on a fly leaf, and in a majestic manner presented it to me, occa5ion, for reasons that need no explanation; and by way of without uttering a single word. The title of that volume was: showing that he was still haunted with a love for fishing, he Fish. How to cl~ooseaixi Ifow to Dress, published by Longman wrote to his friend R.M. Blatchford only about a month before & Co., in 1843; and the writing alluded to was as follows: his death: "I have had a bad turn, but the fish are coming in in "Washington, April 18, 1852. To my much respected friend and multitudes. Hope to be able to work next month." junior brother angler, Charles Lanman, I present this little vol- In looking over some of Mr. Webster's letters addressed to his ume. Possibly he may hereafter attach some value to it for my friends in various years, I have stumbled upon the following sake. Daniel Webster." piscatorial allusions which are worth repeating: In 1825 he visi- How little did 1 imagine when I received that present, that ted the Falls of Niagara and gave a minute description of them; before the close of the year, the distinguished donor would be and as a postscript to one of his letters he added the following resting in the grave! somewhat daring remark: "I am going to try and wet a line at The cold which Mr. Webster had taken in April caused him to the foot of the Falls." It would seem from all I can gather, that hasten his departure so that he might partake of the joys of there was a period between Mr. Webster's boyhood and maturer Marshfield-where he did indeed recuperate his health for a life, when he did not devote much attention to the pleasures of time. Not long after he had become fairly settled in his home by fishing, and his earlier tastes seem to have been revived, when the sea, a neighbor presented him with a superb four pound his leisure hours were spent among the hills of New Hampshire, trout which had been taken at the mouth of a stream that wat- and on the sea shore of Marshfield. ered his domain. He was delighted with the gift, and when its In 1842 he wrote from Washington that he was going north fame extended to the town of Plymouth, an old friend residing to see certain friends in New York and Boston, but chiefly to there invited him to go over and enjoy some very easy fishing see Seth Peterson at Marshfield and "to catch one trout" and a- for trout in a private and well stocked pond. This invitation he gain shortly afterward, he remarked: "1 have done fishing and proposed to accept, and presuming that the book he had given trout catching and have taken leave of Seth Peterson." he. had instructed me in the art-of choosing fish, if nothing In the summer of the same year, after giving a list of fish he more, I was invited to pilot the way to Plymouth. And it was had seen in the Washington market, including the bonita, black while upon that expedition after trout, that the terrible acci- drum, red drum and the sheepshead, he makes this allusion to dent took place which nearly resulted in Mr. Webster's death. the subject of tackle: "1 brought along with me white tinned We were in a carriage and while going up a gentle hill near Ply- hooks from England-lines boiled in gum, from Kio Janeiro, and

APPROACI-1 TO MARTHA'S VINEYARD

Page 29 Blue-Fishing

other craft from Boston and New York-not to mention some plish for the pursuit of his favorite sport! Among his followers beautiful reels and some elegant artificial bass and blue-fish bait, are thousands of better anglers than myself, but I may challenge manufactured at Marshfield." them, one and all, to show that a disciple can be found who Writing from Martha's Vineyard, in 1847, about blue fishing, goes better prepared for creditable performances. My responsi- he says: "I thought as good fishing as any we had was when we bility I fear is the greater. A fly thrown clumsily with such lay at anchor, and threw the hook at the end of a long line, into implements, or a fish struck unadroitly, or played without skill the foaming and roaring surf. One thing was new to me. You or suffered to make his escape, except into the basket, would have seen on the surface of the sea those smooth places which justly affect the operations with lasting disgrace. How could fishermen and sailors call 'slicks.' We met with them yesterday, he hope to justify himself before the Giraux of New York, or and our boatman made for them whenever observed. He said the Eckley's of Boston? Henry Grennill! I should be ashamed they were caused by the blue fish, chopping their prey. That is to meet him after such a misadventure. If he should hear of it, to say these ravenous fellows get into a school of manhaden, he would pause, though he was just throwing a fly for a salmon which are too large to swallow whole, and they bite them into in the rivers of Ireland. If I again shall see Islip, or Smith's Pond, pieces to suit their tastes. And the oil from this butchery, rising or the Fire Place; even if I shall wet a line quite alone at Waqu- to the surface makes the slick. Whatever the cause may be, we oit, or Sampson's Narrows, my hand I am sure will tremble, invariably found fish plenty, whenever we came to a slick. I do especially when I shall, for the first time, throw a May fly to not know what is to happen in our waters from the enormous a trout, with this beautiful gear." increase of these fish. It is a common opinion that they des- Before concluding this chapter of gossip about the leisure troy or drive off many of the other valuable finny tribes. If hours of one of the greatest men of our country, I would re- this be so, it will be the more patriotic in you and me to take mark that from whatever stand point we may contemplate his as many of them to the land as possible." character, we shall always find him to have been a true man. Having received as a present on another occasion, from a While winning the highest honors as a statesman, a lawyer brother angler, a very complete lot of fishing tackle, he ack- and an orator, he never forgot the joys of his boyhood, nor nowledged the gift in this manner: "Such a rich and elegant the sentiment of the poet Wordsworth, that we have all one apparatus for angling 1 am sure I have never seen, either at home human heart, by which we live. With the hatred and contention or abroad. The rods and reels are certainly of exquisite work- and the degrading selfishness of the average world, he had no manship and richly ornamented; the flies truly beautiful and sympathy, and what he mostly enjoyed were the serene and the contents of the books ample, abundant and well selected. benign influences of nature as he found them in the quiet Poor Isaak Walton! Little did he think when moving along the country, among the mountains, on the peaceful ocean and a- banks of the rivers and brooks of Staffordshire with his cumber- long the gliding streams; and hence, when he came to the some equipments, that any worthy disciple of his would ever be shore of the Great River, it was quite natural that he should so gorgeously fitted out, with all that art and taste can accom- have exclaimed, "I still live!" for he knew that he was only passing into a Better Land."

ons on pages 29 and 30 from NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE NEW Page 30 ENGLAND COAST, by S. Drake, 1875. A FIGHT WITH A TROUT (Continu

TliE CARRY From DESCRIPTIVE GUIDE TO TI1E ADIRONDACKS by E. R. Wallace (1895) see upon what sort of flies they were feeding, in order to suit but an artistic suggestion of it. It requires an artist to construct my cast to their appetites; but they seemed to be at play rather one; and not every bungler can take a bit of red flannel, a pea- than feeding, leaping high in the air in graceful curves, and cock's feather, a flash of tinsel thread, a cock's plume, a section tumbling about each other as we see them in the Adirondack of a hen's wing, and fabricate a tiny object that will not look pictures. like any fly, but still will suggest the universal conventional fly. It is well known that no person who regards his reputation I took my stand in the centre of the tipsy boat; and Luke will ever kill a trout with any thing but a fly. It requires some shoved off, and slowly paddled towards some lily-pads,-. while training on the part of the trout to take to this method. The I began casting, unlimbering my tools, as it were. The fish had uncultivated, unsophisticated trout in unfrequented waters all disappeared. 1 got out, perhaps, fifty feet of line, with no prefers the bait; and the rural people, whose sole object in response, and gradually increased it to one hundred. It is not going a-fishing appears to be to catch fish, indulge them in difficult to learn to cast; but it is difficult to learn not to snap their primitive taste for the worm. No sportsman, however, off the flies at every throw. Of this, however, we will not speak. will use any thing but a fly, except he happens to be alone. I continued casting for some moments, until I became satisfied While Luke launched my boat, and arranged his seat in the that there had been a miscalculation. Either the trout were too stern, I prepared my rod and line. The rod is a bamboo, green to know what I was at, or they were dissatisfied with my weighing seven ounces, which has to be spliced with a winding offers. I reeled in, and changed the flies.(that is, the fly that was of silk thread every time it is used. This is a tedious process; not snapped off). After studying the color of the sky, of the but, by fastening the joints in this way, a uniform spring is se- water, and of the foliage, and the moderated light of the after- cured in the rod. No one devoted to high art would think of noon, I put on a series of beguilers, all of a subdued brilliancy, using a socket joint. My line was forty yards of untwisted silk in harmony with the approach of evening. At the second cast, upon a multiplying reel. The "leader" (I am very particular which was a short one, 1 saw a splash where the leader fell, and about my leaders) had been made to order from a domestic gave an excited jerk. The next instant I perceived the game, and animal with which I had been acquainted. The fisherman did not need the unfeigned "dam" of Luke to convince me that requires as good a catgut as the violinist. The interior of the I had snatched his felt hat from his head, and deposited it house-cat, it is well known, is exceedingly sensitive; but it may among the lilies. Discouraged by this, we whirled about, and not be so well known that the reason why some cats leave the paddled over to the inlet, where a little ripple was visible in the room in distress when a piano-forte is played is because the two tinted light. At the very first cast I saw that the hour had come. instruments are not in the same key, and the vibrations of the Three trout leaped into the air. The danger of this manoeuvre chords of the one are in discord with the catgut of the other. all fishermen understand. It is one of the commonest in the On six feet of this superior article I fixed three artificial flies, woods: three heavy trout taking hold at once, rushing in dif- a simple brown hackle, a gray body with scarlet wings, and one ferent directions, smash the tackle into flinders. I evaded this of my own invention, which I thought would be new to the catch, and threw again. I recall the moment. A hermit thrush, most experienced fly-catcher. The trout-fly does not resemble on the tip of a balsam, uttered his long, liquid, evening note. any known species of insect. It is a "conventionalized" creation, Happening to look over my shoulder, I saw the peak of Marcy as we say of ornamentation. The theory is, that, fly-fishing gleam rosy in the sky (I can't help it that Marcy is fifty miles being a high art, the fly must not be a tame imitation of nature, off, and cannot be seen from this region: these incidental

Page 31 Photo by Lee Matthys A FIGHT WITH A TROUT: (continued from page 31) touches are always used). The hundred feet of silk swished through the air, and the tail-fly fell as lightly on the water as a three-cent-piece (which no slamming will give the weight of a ten) drops upon the contribution -plate. Instantly there was a rush, a swirl. I struck, and "Got him, by -!" Never mind what Luke said I got him by -! "Out on a fly!" continued that irreverent guide; but I told him to back water, and make for the centre of the lake. The trout, as soon as he felt the prick of the hook, was off like ashot, and took outthe whole of the line with a rapidity that made it smoke. "Give him the butt!" shouted Luke. It is the usual remark in such an emergency. 1 gave him the butt; and, recognizing the fact and my spirit, the trout at once sank to the bottom, and sulked. It is the most dangerous mood of a trout; for you cannot tell what he will do next. We reeled up a little, and waited five minutes for him to reflect. A tight- ening of the line enraged him, and he soon developed his tacticd. Coming to the surface, he made straight for the boat faster than I could reel in, and evidently with hostile intentions. "Look out for him!" cried Luke as he came flying in the air. I evaded him by dropping flat in the bottom of the boat; and, when I picked MUSEUM EXHIBIT my traps up, he was spinning across the lake as if he had a new at idea: but the line was still fast. He did not run far. I gave him Theodore Gordon Flyfishers Annual Meeting the butt again; a thing he seemed to hate, even as a gift. In a moment the evil-minded fish, lashing the water in his rage, was The Museum's Director traveled to New York City in coming back again, making straight for the boat as before. Luke, March to present a small exhibit of flies at the Theodore Gordon who was used to these encounters, having read of them in the Fly Fishers Annual Meeting, held at the Rye Town Hilton. writings of travellers he had accompanied, raised his paddle in Among the flies on display were those tied by Fulsher, DeFeo, self-defense. The trout left the water about ten feet from the Schwiebert, Leisenring, Jorgensen, Rogowski, and Shollenberger. boat, and came directly at me with fiery eyes, his speckled sides The exhibit, one of many at the meeting, was very popular and flashing like a meteor. 1 dodged as he whisked by with a vicious we are sure it made the Museum some new friends. slap of his bifurcated tail, and nearly upset the boat. The line Two of our trustees were honored at the meeting. Dana was of course slack; and the danger was that he would entangle Lamb received the TGF Arnold Gingrich Memorial Award for it about me, and carry away a leg. This was evidently his game; his contributions to the literature of angling, and Gardner but I untangled it, and only lost a breast-button or two by the Grant received the TGF Conservation Award for his many swiftly-moving string. The trout plunged into the water with a contributions to the protection of stream resources. hissing sound, and went away again with all the line on the reel. More butt; more indignation on the part of the captive. The MEMRERSHIP BENEFITS contest had now been going on for half an hour, and I was getting exhausted. We had been back and forth across the lake, and Members receive THE AMERICAN FLY FISHI

Page 32 Available from the Museum

THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER MUSEUM CATALOGUE, 1969-1973

Back issues of the Museum magazine are already beginning to A true rarity, the Museum's catalogue of holdings was appear in rare book catalogues. We have available all back issues published in 1973, shortly before THE AMERICAN FLY except Vol. I, No. 1 ; Vol. I, No. 2 ; Vol. 111, No. 2 ; Vol. 111, No. FISHER was launched. The quarterly magazine, which regularly 3; and Vol. IV, No. 3. $3.00 each. announces new acquisitions, has replaced the catalogue in function. The catalogue contains Austin Hogan's thoroughly researched essay "An Introduction to the History of Fly Fishing in America," as well as G. Dick Finlay's thoughtful description BROWN UNIVERSITY FLY FISHING of the Museum's treasures. 24 Danes. 8%"x 11". $4.00.

exhibit has already-become a collector's item. The fGreword is A superb collection of Dana Lamb's articles, together with by Joseph Bates, and the historical introduction by Austin some previously unpublished material, illustrated by Eldridge Hogan. 16 pages, paper covers, $3.00. Hardie. Autographed. We have only a limited number of these left. $8.95. AMERICAN SPORTING PERIODICALS DON'T BLAME THE FISH OF ANGLING INTEREST - by Rob Warner A collection of light-hearted fishing stories, described as "not Austin Hogan's unique checklist of 19th-century sporting quite fiction, but certainly not nonfiction either," DON'T periodicals also contains an historical introduction to angling BLAME THE FISH is illustrated by NEW YORKER cartoonist periodicals and a directory of libraries holding such material. William O'Brian. Bob Warner's many articles on outdoor subjects Numerous excerpts from significant periodicals are appended to have appeared in most of the well known magazines, and he is the work, published by The Museum of American Fly Fishing in a long-time friend of the Museum. We have very few copies of 1973. 128 pages, paperbound, $6.00. this autographed volume. $8.95. A Barbless Hook. 'The use of a barbless hook would permit the trout fisher to take off the undersized fish and return them to the water without killing them. Unfortunately it might let the big ones get a- way, but we understand Seth Green fished with the kind he made successfully. A correspendent thus described it; It consists of a common needle bent round in a sneck or side twist and with the point standing well in towards the shank of the hook, so as to afford at once quick penetration-and increased holding power in the absence of the barb-for of course there is no barb. As I had the process of manufacture explained to me, it appears that the needle was previously softened-the temper was "drawn," to speak technically-by being held in the flame of a spirit lamp, and the wire was then bent round to its desired shape. After this it was hardened in oil and tempered by being again heated. Each process is of course a matter of experiment as to its duration, etc., as in the case of hook and needle making at large. The result in any case was a finely pointed barbless hook which certainly did not prepossess me at first sight as being likely to retain a fish. This opinion, however, proved wrong, and I should never hesitate, in water where there were no unusual difficulties in the way of snags and roots, to use it for the largest fish. Of course a taut line is necessary all the time; that is the only real necessity of the case. But then, who is there worthy the name of angler that would allow the fish slack line after being hooked? Apropos of this subject I habitually remove at least one half of the barb of the larger trout hook for my own fishing. It is surprising with what success one hooks a fish when this obstacle is removed.

The Fishing Gazette (New York) April 13, 1893