Fly Fis,,,rl--3 On September 7,1991 we were hon- ored to entertain a prestigious visitor to ourgalleries. An American hero, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf; visited Manchester to participate in the first annual Orvis Sporting Clays Challenge. He graciously took time out of his hectic shooting schedule to stop at the Museum, tour our galler- ies, and chee@lly endure yet more picture-taking, including a session with American Museum of Fly Fish- ing Chairman of the Board Leigh H. Perkins and journal editor Margot Page.
OMETIMES THE EDITOR of this jour- both the seasoned angler for whom the fascinating. The more I struggled with the nal actually leaves the office to go out names Hewitt, LaBranche, Rhead, and fractured English of this story the more Sinto the sunlight to fish. In JuneIJuly, McClane are biblically familiar, and the attracted I became to the history of this my husband (who gets to actually fish a initiate who has just mastered the fly rod lost (seri)culture. And shining through lot) and I went fishing in Montana, Idaho, and is eager to find out more about our the translation came the obvious charm and Wyoming, and we brought along legacy. of the writing and the passion of the copies of The American Fly Fisher, Sum- We need our members - you- to author for the lowly and forgotten mer 1991, to spread around. After fishing take the time to sit down and write out silkworm. Over the months letters were for actual fish (the fish of the West are "as your thoughts to us. Those on the East exchanged between Germany and Man- big as babies," to quote a Yellowstone Coast will remember New York Citv's ex- chester, seeking to clarify obscure facts friend), we were served tasty cocktails at mayor Ed Koch and his ringing refrain, and semantic difficulties. Some minor the lodges before the hearty Western din- "How'm I doing??" Well, we're asking. semantic quandaries never did get re- ners, during which time we laid a copy of Tell us! solved, but with great good will from the this magazine politely on the bar. Can you And while you're at it, why not help in author and the cheerful diligence" of our believe that people were standing in line an even more tangible way? You are our superb copy editor, Sarah May Clarkson to get a look? best advocate, so take this magazine, or a (who makes her ~recisenotations and It got me thinking about how to in- back issue, to a couple of friends who corrections in the smallest handwriting crease our visibility and our circulation. haven't seen it, talk us up, and show them I've ever seen - and in ~encilno less!).,, a After all, the American Museum of Fly the membership box on page 26. If every delightful article was born. Fishing is a museum created for its mem- one of our nearly 2,000 members would To accompany that piece, we are bers and The American Fly Fisher is a sign up another new member, we could honored to have received permission magazine designed for its member double our ranks without the expense from National Geographic magazine to readership. In my particular area of con- and wasted paper of traditional member- feature photographs by one of our mem- cern, we have pledged to publish a ship drives. Consider this small effort a bers, the photojournalist Luis Marden of quarterly journal that is not only stun- nonfinancial donation. And if you write Washington, D. C., whose 1951 article ning to look at (thanks to the talents of to me with the name of a new member profiled the silk industry of Murcia, our art director Randall Perkins), but you've signed up, I pledge to publish both Spain. that educates, explores, and engages its your names in public thanks. Rounding out our silk feature, John readers, while adding depth to their un- Mundt and David Klausmeyer write derstanding of this rich sport. about the manufacture and merchandis- We seek to please the greatest number INTHIS American Fly Fisher (Fall 1991) we ing of silk line, giving us insight into its of readers possible and because we know focus on the almost lyrical subject of silk, commercial evolution and decline. And we can't please every one of you, we try to chronicling its once-importance to our for those of you who wonder how many offer a range of material, such as profiles sport. Housed in the files of stock stories of your fellow fly fishers also revere that of important or interesting people, that I inherited when I took this job a year Leonard rod and Bogdan reel, Gerald perspectives on tackle and the treasures of ago was a nearly indecipherable article Stein has polled fifty-two correspondents angling, nuggets of information about that had been translated roughly - shall to rate the most beloved rods and reels of our collections, and behind-the-scene in- we say - from the German. But the story all time. I'll bet vou want to see how vour sights into the goings-on of the Museum it told of how silkworms produce a favorite fares. itself. As the Museum grows we have an gelatinous substance that once formed MARGOTPAGE increasing variety of readers, including the backbone of our tackle industry was THEAMERICAN MUSEUM OF FLYFISHING Journal of 8The American Museum ofFly Fishing Preserving a Rich Heritage FALL 1991 VOLUME 17 NUMBER 3 for Future Generations TRUSTEES Foster Ram Ian D. Mackay s I LK : The History and Use of Silk in Fly Tackle ...... 2 William M. Barrett Bob Mitchell Joe A. Pisarro Bruce H. Begin Wallace 1. Murray 111 Paul Bofinger Wayne Nordberg Lewis M. Borden 111 Leigh H. Perkins I LK : Robert R. Buckmaster Romi Perkins s The History of Silkworm Gut ...... 3 Donn H. Byrne, Sr. Allan R. Phipps Lothar H. H. Martin Roy D. Chapin, Jr. 0. Miles Pollard Calvin P. Cole Susan A. Popkin Peter Corbin Dr. Ivan Schloff s I LK: Silk Fly Line Manufacturing: A Brief History ..... 8 Charles R. Eichel Paul Schullery G. Dick Filay Frederic A. Sharf John Mundt W. Michael Fitzgerald Stephen Sloan Arthur T. Frey Wallace Stenhouse, Jr. Larry Gilsdorf Arthur Stern s I LK: Smooth as Silk ...... 12 Gardner L. Grant Dr. Ralf Stinson William Herrick Forrest Straight David R. Klausmeyer Curtis Hill John Swan Dr. Arthur Kaemmer James Taylor Robert J. Kahn Ralph J. Tingle Personal Treasures: The Bamboo Fly Rods Woods King 111 James W. Van Loan Martin D. Kline Sam Van Ness and Reels Fishermen Love ...... 14 Me1 Kreiger Dickson L. Whitney Gerald S. Stein, M.D. Richard F. Kress Earl S. Worsham David B. Ledlie Edward G. Zern OFFICERS Recommended Reading: Books of Chairman of the Board Any-Month Club ...... 23 Leigh H. Perkins Joe A. Pisarro President Foster Bam Vice Presidents Gallery: John Voelker (Robert Traver) ...... 25 William Herrick, Arthur Stern Treasurer Museum News ...... 26 Wayne Nordberg Secretary Contributors ...... 28 Wallace Murray I11 Assistant SecretarylClerk Charles R. Eichel o N T H E c o v E R: The town of Murcia, Spain, was formerly one of the STAFF world'sgreat centers ofsilkgutproduction. Silkgut was used for over a century Executive Director in fishing tackle and surgical supplies. The strong filaments of gut strands, Donald S. Johnson ranging from 8 to 18 inches, were obtained by squeezing and stretching the ExecutiveAssistan t Virginia Hulett silk sacs of the silkworm, as this Murcia worker demonstrates with exper- Curator/DevelopmentAssistant ienced hands. Photograph by Luis Marden ONational Geographic Society. Manna D. Fisher Research/Publicity Joe A. Pisarro
The American Fly Fisher 71reAmeiiurn Fly Fisher is published Editor four times a year by the Museum at P.O. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Margot Page Publication dates are winter, spring, summer, and fall. Membership dues include the cost of a one-year subscription ($20) and are rax deductible as provided for by law. Membership rates are listed in the back of each Art Director issue. All letters, manuscripts, photographs, and materials intended for publication in the journal should be sent Randall R. Perkins to the Museum. TheMuseum and journal are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, drawings,photographs, Consulting Editor materials, or memorabilia. The Museum cannot accept responsibility for statements and interpretations that are Donald S. Johnson wholly the author's. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returned unless postage is provided. Contributions to The Copy Editor American Fly Fisher are to be cons~deredgratuitous and the property of the Museum unless otherwibe requested Sarah May Clarkson by the contributor. Articles appearing in this journal areabstracted and indexed in HistoricalAbstracts and America: History and Life. Copyright 1991,the American Museum of Fly Fishing, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Original Contributing Writer material appearing may not be reprinted without prior permission. Second Class Permit postage paid at Joe A. Pisarro Manchester,Vermont 05254and additional offices (USPS o574io).TheAmerican Fly Fisher (TSN 0884-3562) Offset Preparation and Printing MASTER: Send address changes to The American Fly Fisher, P.O. Box 42, Lane Press, Burlington, Vermont Manchester, Vermont 05254.
FALL 1991 1 SILK
IN THEBEGINNING - or at least as close to the beginning as we know - lines made of twisted hairfrom a horse's tail were the ultimate infly lines.A gadgetfor twisting horse hair is described and illustrated in A Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle, published in 1496. Whatcame before horse hair is unknown, though it isprobably safe to assume that a variety of other materials were tried. The quantum leap in the development offly lines came in the eighteenth century with the introduction of silk, which quickly became the dominant material forfly lines and remained so until plastic replaced it following World War II. Compared to horsehair lines, silk lines were a joy to cast. Strictly speaking, horsehair really couldn't be cast- as we know casting- at all. There were, however, a couple of drawbacks to the silk lines. A major one was that ifleft wet or damp for any length of time, silk would rot, and a rotted silk line was useless. That meant, then, that silk lines had to be removed from the reel after each use. Drying racks or wooden reels of large diameter for line drying were available and in general use. Many fishers, however, simply unspooled the line and strung it along rafters, between posts, or anything else that was handy and would serve the purpose. Another disadvantage of silk was that if left too long on the reel or even the box in which the line came, the enamel with which the silk lines were coated tended to become soft and tacky, rendering the line unusable. But the marvel was that the silk fly line was the natural product of a creature called Bombyx mori: the silkworm moth. The three articles that follow feature this remarkable critter and the process by which it produces thefiber that created a revolution in the developrnentofflyfishing,as well as document the manufacture and marketing of the silk fly line in America. JOE A. PISARRO
2 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER SILK
Turning silkworm eggs into gut leader was a complex process involving many steps. Soaking and washing the silkworm eggs helped loosen them from the fleece-paper on which they were laid, as illustrated in this circa 1925 photograph from Dr. Johann Gebbing's Seidenraupenzucht (1925). The History of Silkworm Gut
by Lothar H. H. Martin
EFORE THE MARVELS of silkworm stretched its two sticky silk glands into strength and lightness." Later generations, gut were discovered, the hair of horses threads of durable, opaque silk. Eventually surfing atop the eficient wave of synthet- B was used not only to tie a@cialflies Murcia became one of the world3 great ics, have for the most part lost knowledge to our line, but by doctors to sew up wounds centers for the manufacture of silk gut of, or interest in, this once organic leader (white horsehair waspreferred). According leaders, famous for its tensile strength, its material. to a July 1951 National Geographic article lightness, and its unique pearly white color. The following article by Lothar H. H. by oneofour members, Luis Marden, it took By the I~OOS,7opercent of it was bought by Martin has been translated and adapted ii legendary accident to reveal the wondrous fishermen, the rest used by surgeons. from a small booklet, which he published properties of a new and unusual silk The processing of silk gut absorbed at in Germany in 1988 and distributed to fifty product which would revolutionize both least two famous writers, G. M. Kelson and of his friends. It afords us a fascinating anglingand medicine - silkwormgut. The John Harrington Keene, who studied the look at the centuries-old art, now lost, of story he cites is that of a Spanish silk worker subject in detail. Angling businessman silkworm gut production - all you ever fiom Murcia - a town already famous for Charles Orvis, in an 1888 article (reprinted wanted to know about the subject - as well its thread silk production when it was men- in The American Flv Fisher. Summer 1977<, , as revealinga warm afection by the author tioned by Cewantes in Don Quixote in [vol. 4, no. 31) that chronicles his unsuccess- for the little worm, the almost forgotten 1605 - who threw unsuitable worms in ful attempts to cultivate silkworms in Bombyx mori, that played such a critical the trash, whereupon some locals, picking brder to produce his own supply of gut, role in the evolution of our sport. through the refuse, tore a worm open and called silkgut "a transparent strand ofgreat EDITOR
FALL 1991 3 SILK
OVER4,000 YEARS AGO,accord- called a cell, and stored by hang- ing to legend, the Chinese ing them on strings. The farmers emperor Huang-ti was amazed control the cells at regular inter- by the spectacle of a silkworm vals until they have laid their changing into a chrysalis; the eggs, usually counting on about delicate webbing of the cocoon 200 eggs from each female. The inspired him to use the fine silk moths die just after laying their threads in a profitable way for eggs, and it's important that his people. Chinese and, later, their corpses are removed, be- Japanese silk clothing are ex- cause some parasites specialize amples of his successful effort to in eating eggs, which would cultivate the silkworm (Bombyx mean a loss of the entire harvest. mori). Only cells with perfect, tiny By the end of the sixth cen- eggs are stored in garlands (loo tury, sericulture had reached cells each) in well-ventilated Europe. The scholar Gebbing rooms. The room temperature informs us that Greek mis- cannot rise above 9 or lo" C, be- sionaries [the Encyclopedia Brit- cause higher temperatures cause tanica states it was Persian premature broods. monks] smuggled the eggs of the In the last days of October the silkworm in wooden tubes into rooms and working places for Constantinople. In the eighth century George M. Kelson writes about Murcia the washing and drying of the eggs are silkworm culture was spread by the Arabs in The Salmon Fly (1895): "Looking from prepared. In the center of the bright who cultivated the essential mulberry tree the cathedral tower in the town of Murcia laboratories they build water basins, sur- and took their knowledge to Spain, North the eyes survey miles of country closely rounded by smaller basins with benches Africa, and the Caucasus Mountains. dotted with a countless number of little in front of them for the washerwomen. Ruggero, the king of Sicily, became houses surrounded by plantations of The main basin with adequate water is familiar with the silkworm during his mulberry trees." The combination of the warmed up to normal room temperature wars with Greece, and he imported work force - highly qualified residents and shared amongst the washerwomen. A silkworm culture to southern Italy in the who were well worth their price - and foreman distributes about 400 cells to twelfth century. The process came to the intense sun of southern Spain, each woman, some of which are de- France in the fourteenth century, but it motivated most silk manufacturing posited in the basins for soaking. A sticky would not blossom for another 300 years. enterprises to locate in Murcia. Only in gelatin, which the moths created to hook Germany's "Friedrich the Great" en- Murcia could gut be produced with a spe- their eggs up to the cellular fiber of the couraged the planting of mulberry trees, cial pearly white look that earned it a cell, has to be soaked so that most of the the leaves of which were found by the worldwide reputation. The finest fishing eggs can be carefully loosened from the ancient Huguenots to promote the ma- tackle companies were directly or in- fleece-paper. Cells with eggs that remain turation of silkworms. directly connected with Murcia, and it after soaking are stored in special con- was no wonder that agencies were set up tainers and are treated again later in floor- in Murcia for the brokering of raw silk. ventilated chambers. During the washing Sole and the Pilot Gut Company (circa procedure, which separates the eggs from The little Spanish town of Murcia, on 1936) were just two of many such the strands, assistants are busy spreading the banks of the Rio Seguro, is the capital manufacturers that also included Allcock, the single eggs over cotton frames. These of the province by the same name. Its Golden Perch under G. Partridge, Giles frames get attached to racks for drying inhabitants have struggled since ancient Little, R. Ramsbottom, John Enright & over the winter by storing them in cham- times to cultivate their tide-dependent Son, G. Gillet, and probably Chevalier bers or mountain caves at a strictly stable land - lowland territory which is sur- Bowness & Son, Foster Bros., A. Carters, temperature. Rather than being stored rounded by mountains in one of the most and many more. Later came Hardy Bros. over the winter, some eggs will be fertile parts of Spain. The soft and con- and other well-known producers. prepared for export. stant Mediterranean climate and the uni- At the end of February the hibernating que irrigation system turned out to be eggs are awakened. Day after day the ideal for silkworm culture. The diligence temperature is raised about 2" C, until the of Murcia's residents who were employed When the right time approaches for the incubators and storing rooms reach the to grow silkworms soon helped to in- Chinese silkworm spinner moths to ideal temperature of 18 to 20" C. Between crease the reputation for their products couple (it is possible to "wake up" the the sixth and the seventh day the shells of on the worldwide fishing-tackle market, eggs by temperature control), many small the tiny eggs start to look transparent and an industry which bloomed during the bags made of fleece-paper and tissue are the little worm becomes recognizable. early to mid-1900s. At peak production, sown and folded. Only the skilled eyes of After fifteen to seventeen days the egg's Spain turned out 90,000,000 strands of silkworm farmers are able to discern the food supply is used up and the worm bites gut a year - comparable to the volume of subtle differences between the butterflies its way through the point of the shell. As tackle produced in Redditch, England - indicating their readiness to mate. When tiny as it is, the worm has all the necessary with some twenty manufacturers malung the appropriate time has come, each organs for life outside of the egg, and after gut and fishing equipment. couple is carefully locked up into a bag, a short time of drying in the air, it imme-
4 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER SILK
diately craves food: the lovely fresh leaves of the mulberry tree. VoilB, Bombyx mori, a glutton!
On the left and right side of the worm's intestine, are two long tube systems. They are joined together inside the spinning gland and end as one canal in an opening at the head. At the back part of each sys- tem - the so-called silk apparatus - are the secretion tubes in which the silk material is produced. It gets stored in the middle of the tube system, the diameter of which is much wider. The more deli- cate front part is called the secretion tube. The silk material dries in the air, and at this stage has been described as viscous, sticky fluid. Both tubes will each then produce an independent silk thread.
A During the spinning process both threads are pushed through the spinning gland, and by adding sticky gelatin, it is led through the canal to the opening of the head. These sticky spots on the silk threads are perfectly visible under a microscope.
The silkworm usuallv chooses the earlv morning hours (between 6 and 8 A.M.) to hatch. The farmers delicately slide a piece of fleece-paper underneath it and put it into a food frame. called a fold. Everv time a farmer passes the fold he pushes it softly, because the silkworm develovs best when there is a breeze. It will go through five life stages by eating constantly. Each stage ends when the la-ma sheds its skin, an8 between the changes it stays passive, which is why the farmers say the larvae are "sleeping." During its active time, leaves of the mul- berry tree are spread over it, and rem- nants of leaves are carefully taken away. For each of its life stages it gets a fresh leaf. At the end of the fifth stage the larvae show a little discoloration and become restless, signalling preparation for spin- ning a cocoon. The next stages must be critically timed; as Kelson said, "Not an hour before or after!" 1 I In preparation for this time of matura- To obtain gut, the pickled silkworm mustfirst be opened and the silk sacs removed. the workers concoct a mixture of The silk glands were then stretched by a Murcia woman's experienced handi that wine vinegar plus water, referred to by are worn and stained by vinegar-water solution, into raw strands which had to Kelson as a "pickle," the concentration of dry and harden before they could be straightened. Photographs by Luis Marden which regulates the diameter and the ONational Geographic Society. length of the gut produced. A highly con- centrated pickle results in a short but strong gut, whereas weaker solutions cause the gut to become long and thin.
FALL 1991 5 SILK
The ripe larvae are picked from the folds and bathed in the vinegar-water solution, which causes the worm to die immedi- atelv. Twelve hours later the workers remove the corpses from the pickle, break up the larvae, and remove the silk apparatus. They hold each larva behind its spinning gland and stretch both tube systems, so that the silk is spread equally over the silk apparatus. These "strands" are then laid out on the floor for drying, and after a time are collected again when they have curled a little. The raw silk gut becomes hard and is then washed again in clear water. After drying, the farmers bundle up 5,000 to io,ooo strands of this raw material and offer it to manufacturers and agencies, who sell the raw gut by the lulogram. At this point the strands are still covered with the vellowish skin of the silk apparatus, called "carne" (Spanish for meat), and have to be prepared for other uses within so many working days. Gut in this condition was graded into fourteen categories, according to diameter. After drying it takes three hours to measure the thickness of the strands. Then the workers bundle up all gut strands of the same diameter, put those of the same length together, and straighten out the curly ends before both ends are tied with wire. The still-moist gut gets polished with damp, fine leather rags until the strands turn white. The time has come for the naturally curved gut to be turned into straight leaders. In the straightening process a woman takes ten to twelve strands and by strad- dling them she tightens up one end in a vise, which is wrapped with soft leather. A second vise holds the other end. The gut gets stretched by turning a screw. A third hand vise is moved back and forth be- tween the other vises. After ten to twenty Thefresh filaments of silkworm gut were combed and then tied into wiglike hanks at movements the gut remains stretched, Murcia, the world's silkworm-gut center for more than a century. Photograph by Luis because the friction creates heat, which Marden @National Geographic Society. reduces the natural curves in the strand. Once again the nearly raw gut is clas- sified, this time according to quality. The following classifications are commercial terms, which provided important infor- Superior - Second class; quality can be ments through the calibrated opening of mation to the buying customers of improved with work. a gut draw plate, until the right size was yesteryear, who used to prepare their Estradia - Third class. reached. material themselves up until the 1920s. In case strong leaders were needed, the After quality classification the strands gut was prepared as follows, according to Natural Selecta- Perfect gut with no were bundled into hanks; one hank had Kelson: "Knit together three strands of mistakes at all. 104 strands. Fly fishermen mostly needed gut at one side. Wind the other ends Selecta - Good quality with smallest smaller sizes for their tippets, but for around the hooks of the 'gut twisting mistakes, such as discoloration. such purposes the gut had to be drawn apparatus' and fix them. Around eight Natural Superior - Good quality that (polished) by sharpening one end of a turns with the handle will straighten the can't be improved. strand and pulling it in turning move- strands, and help prevent [a later expand-
6 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER SILK
Theyarn-wrapped hanks of silk gut were straightened, sorted, polished, and trimmed to ready themfor commercial sale to tackle companies and medical suppliers. These36,ooo strands of gut are the products of 18,000 silkworms. Photograph by Luis Marden ONational Geographic Society.
ing] .A slide-bar made ofwood with three quirements of home waters. "Light yellow best thing about gut is that it is a natural furrows is shifted between the strands and or amber - 3 scruples (1.296 g) lemon material that decays in a relatively short slit towards the apparatus." peel [.432 grams per scruple], 2 scruples time, unlike synthetics, strands of which Suggestions for the necessary moisten- alum, 2 scruples potassium bitartrate, 12 will litter our waterways for decades. ing of gut before usage on the stream, grains (0.0648 g) red pigment, and 8 e and the necessity for moth-, and light- drops of ferric chloride. Soak the gut proofed storage could be offered here, but three minutes in it and hang it for drying BIBLIOGRAPHY everyone has his or her own formulas for in warm rooms. Or: take a handful of maintaining usefulness. Instead, there berisberries, put the gut one to two hours Gebbing, Dr. Johann. Seidenraupenzucht. should just be one mentioned by John in it and let it dry then. Green, the color Leipzig: 1925. Harrington Keene: "In all cases the gut or of waterweed: boil gut or hair in a solu- Keene, John H. Fishing Tackle, Its Materials hair to be tied should be soaked in warm tion of alum, then indigo, and later yellow and Manufacture. London: 1886. water. I have found that the addition of a root. Easier: color it in hot, green tea. Kelson, George M. The Salmon Fly. London: little glycerine to the water is beneficial Good french coffee gives a brown color to 1895. the gut." Or, color the gut in a pint of Kranig, Eduard. "Seidenraupenzucht in with the coarser kinds of gut, as seems to Deutschland." From Bibliothek der Unterhal- keep it moist and soft longer than water good, dark beer! tung und des Wissens, ed. Union Deutsche seems to do, especially if it be hard. The It's not the beer that makes me sad Verlagsgesellschaft. Stuttgart, Berlin: 1924. bath should not be continued too long, as when I think about the era of silkworm "The Story of Silkworm Gut." Pilot Gut it is apt to injure the texture of the hair or gut, or about our modern times with our Company catalog, circa 1936. gut." nondegradable synthetics. It is our at- Vogt, Carl. Vorlesungen iiber niitzliche und Keene also describes how to color the titude toward fishing - we handle our schadliche,verkannte und verlaumdete Thiere. shiny white gut for adaptation to the re- leaders in a thoughtless way. Perhaps the Leipzig: 1864. SILK
by John Mundt
HE PRACTICE OF USING fly lines to equip themselves. As the tackle in- hair for weaving or "twisting" into a func- made of horse hair and silk is well dustry developed over several centuries, tional line. This classic volume goes a step Tdocumented in the lore of angling, an angler no longer had to produce his or further by describing the various meth- however, information on the actual man- her own tackle, but could readily pur- ods of "dyeing your hairs." In the follow- ufacture of these lines is much more chase the required items. When the ing passage Sir Izaak instructs the reader limited. Early English publications, such market grew enough so that demand how to collect raw material and prepare it as A Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle could be met, published material on how for assembly into a line. (1496), author undocumented but popu- to make lines diminished and what had larly attributed to Dame Juliana Berners, been published was not always archived. And for making your line, observe this rule, and The Compleat Angler or The Con- This explains why there is only nominal first let your hair be clean washed ere you templative Man's Recreation (1653), by documentation on the subject available go about to twist it: and then choose not Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton, pro- today. only the cleanest hair for it, but hairs that By tracing the evolution of the fly line, be of equal bigness, for such do usually vided detailed instructions on how to stretch all together, which hairs of unequal fabricate lines made of horse hair, as it is possible to gain a more detailed bigness never do, but break singly, and so well as other tackle. From the fifteenth perspective on the construction methods deceive the Angler that trusts to them. . . through the seventeenth centuries there used over the ages. The Compleat Angler When you have twisted your links, lay was no firmly established tackle industry, by Walton and Cotton (fourth London them in water for a quarter of an hour at thus prospective anglers had to rely on edition) gives the reader instructions on least, and then twist them over again before these and other reference books in order how to properly select and prepare horse you tie them into a line.
8 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER SILK
raided ish lines, i' J.-
Opposite: The Cortland Line Company began mass producing silk fly lines in the early 1930s using silk filaments imported directly from Japan. The eficient braiding machines (as shown in Cortland's 1932-1933 catalog) still required ninety-six total thread changes in the eight hours it took to complete a single 90-foot line. Catalog courtesy Leon Chandler.
Later in the book, Charles Cotton details concoction, a line would be immersed in taneously marketing horse hair, silk, and the ideal specifications for a line. it until it would "turn [the] hair to be a cotton lines. One can only speculate that kind of grass-colour, or greenish." The Mr. Pole himself made these lines by Now to have your line as it ought to be, two longer the line was soaked the darker it hand with the use of the simple tools of the first lengths nearest to the hook would become. We are advised that pale available at the time. During these early should be of two hairs a-piece; the next green is the most favorable shade, and years of line making, each line was essen- three lengths above them of three; the next three above them of four; and so of five, that one should use a yellow line only tially a unique item which adhered to no and six and seven to the very top. "when the leaves rot." established manufacturing standards. In early American periodicals of the For the next seventy-five years the fly This taper would develop by gradually 1700s, advertisements by "Edward Pole - line continued to evolve until silk became increasing the number of hairs utilized as Fishing Tackle Maker" mentioned "ready the only material available in mid- to late- the line diameter progressed through a money for white horse hair."' This would nineteenth century catalogs.2 Charles total of seventeen separate sections. indicate that raw materials were being Orvis's personal scrapbook of 1870-1900 In dressing or "dyeing" the lines, Sir acquired in the United States to manufac- (in the Museum's collections) includes Izaak recommended a concise mixture of ture lines and leader material. Another two catalogs that offer silklines.3 The first " . . . a pint of strong ale, half a pound of Pole advertisement that appeared in 1777 was published by Bradford & Anthony soot, and a little quantity of the juice of mentioned that he marketed "the best and reads "Wholesale Prices of Braided walnut-tree leaves, and an equal amount green or white hair, silk, hardest, hempen, Fish Lines." The second is more specific, of alum." After boiling and cooling this flaxen, and cotton lines": he was simul- offering "Flexible Waterproof Silk Lines"
FALL 1991 9 SILK
HTIF<+-* %-*3q~~ -- +$ 3 +%==+-c. T 3' T4'
#$I;iirri5t1 39 .'If ir ivzjortar~tthat the size o,f /he liiie shonlit be adajlcd 20 the rod. A heavy lirrc orr n vr,y li@l yoti wotrld be --- bnd; n very li;/il luie oii n hmry rod woiild be worrc. /fiiidsm,iy arc ziiiii~i~dii)t,se loo lr,<,ht n bnc, s~r,bjori!zi.the 4 li;dtlr 2/ L the kss frrrrdic lherr will he iir ~astzii,ad. This,/ fhi,ifi. is SILK -- LIMES,-. -- q*y&s MANUFACTURED BY JOHN SHIELDS & CO, Enamelled Waterproof, Braided Silk Tapered Fly Lines ; I'incbt Q~:~lityhl;l,lr. Sue I). 50 )-arcis, k4.00: 40 ).at-cis, $3 20; 33 $2 40; zj ja1~1,. 62 ooench. o\.\',, o\.\',, @ 2.10: 2j '. 1.75 each. + + .' E. 40 .. 2 So; 3; :: 2.4j ; 30 .' " e.1~11. =,\. " F. 40 " 2.80: jj 2.45. 30 " 2.10; 25 1-75 & ~+,+!!0sswY Level Lines.-D. Bc., E. 7c., F. Gc., G. and lI., 5c. per ya~d. Q- 42 Lcvcl lines are in 25-yard lengths, 4 connecting. d%e:*-- *+33&r s Salmon Tapered Fly Ltines. Size ti. loo ynrd., - - $19,50 1.00 each.,' i s ; a, - - $1~.50eaclr '# C. loo '. . . 1100 " that were manufactured by John Shields gentlemen who have had firsthand ex- This process was then reversed to com- &Company of Brookline, Massachusetts. perience with mechanized silk-line plete the tailing taper. Ninety-six total An Orvis catalog shows that they production. thread changes were required in order to marketed silk lines under their own label The Cortland Line Company was complete a single line. The operator was as early as 1889.~And J. Cheek of London, founded in 1915 under the leadership of responsible for eight machines, complet- "Manufacturer of Walking Sticks and Ray F. Smith, in Cortland, New York, and ing one 90-foot line per machine in an Riding Whips," made rod and silk lines began mass producing silk fly lines in the eight-hour shift. The production sched- for sale through his 1839 catalog5 early 1930s. Leon Chandler, president of ule called for two shifts: the first from The J. Cheek catalog reference is sig- the company, recalled in an interview 6:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., and the second nificant because it shows that Mr. Cheek how silk filaments were imported directly from 2:oo to 1o:oo P.M. was proficient in whip braiding, an early from Japan and were then built into After the braiding was completed, the technique in the evolution of silk line threads by doubling and twisting at lines would undergo an oil impregnation manufacturing. More efficient textile Cortland's mill. This thread was given to process during which a continuous row manufacturing methods were imple- a Cortland operator who worked on a of lines would be drawn through a blend mented during the industrial revolution, modified braiding machine. To produce a of tongue and linseed oils and then fed and it is presumed that automated silk double taper line, the operator would into a two-story oven for drying. This line production was derived from this begin with sixteen small threads at the impregnating process would be repeated technology, affording it much greater line tip and develop the gradual taper by a number of times. Once dry, a grinder availability. In hopes of learning more removing the smaller threads and replac- was used to remove the excess oil buildup about the actual manufacture of silklines, ing them by splicing in larger threads on the outside surface of the line. The interviews were conducted with two until the body of the line was formed. entire manufacturing process would take 10 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER SILK several days to complete. Ivanhoe silk operation as the U. S. Line Company. marker was tied in and the operator lines were one of Cortland's earliest in- Chet recalls in an interview that U. S. would begin the next line; up to thirty troductions. Line purchased its silk directly from Japan lines were braided in one continuous Chet Cook of the U.S. Line Company and had it refined and spun into thread length. This parade of lines was wound of Westfield, Massachusetts, was involved by the now defunct Mason Silk Company onto a skein that was then dipped into with silk line production from the mid- of Winsted, Connecticut. Each thread was boiling linseed oil for impregnating. They 1940s through the early 1960s. U. S. Line built by twisting three filaments into a were drip dried by rotating the skein every was originally known as the U. S. Whip strand and then twisting the three strands half hour for several hours, and were Company (another example of how silk together to form a working thread. Six- dried further by being placed in a 200- line production evolved from whip teen threads were needed to braid a line. degree oven for four hours. making). They were once the largest The factory assigned loo out of 600 After sitting for a day, they were honed manufacturer of whips in the world and braiding machines to tapered fly line by being fed over a curved metal disk that helped Westfield earn its reputation as the production; the remainder were used for would rotate in place. The lines went Whip City. But when the automobile bait casting and trolling lines. Each through this entire process six or seven came into widespread use, they had to operator working on fly lines was respon- times until a smooth surface was achieved. adapt their product line in order to sur- sible for five machines. On these ma- When hand and visual inspections of the vive. Company management assumed chines, mechanized counters would feed final finish were complete, the lines that they could readily convert their specified amounts of thread into produc- would be coiled as they were unwound braiding equipment from whipmaking tion and then shut off, enabling the from the skeins. Workers would then to fishing line production. Unfortunately, operator to splice in the various sized remove the thread marker that was tied in this was not the case, so they purchased threads required for developing the taper. during braiding and cut the individual the necessary equipment and began As each line was completed, a colored lines off. FALL 1991 11 SILK Although Cortland and U. S. Line was able to escape from the line so that an alphabetical system, believed to be began mass producing silk lines during when the pressure was brought back to British in origin, each letter designating the early i93os, lines made by similar normal, oil would penetrate the line. A the diameter of the line taper^.^ For ex- processes were being marketed by smooth surface was achieved by repeated ample, an HDH line had a front taper of Abercrombie & Fitch as early as 1911. coating and drying. The excess coating 25/1,000 of an inch,45/1,000 inch body, and These lines were produced according to was removed by hand with a pumice an end taper of 25/i,000of an inch. A CBC the British "Halford Process," in which a stone and the line was polished with tal- was 30/i,-ooo inch, 55/1,000 inch, and braided silk line was immersed in a con- cum powder. These and many other lines 30h,ooo inch. Thus B signifies 55/i,ooo of tainer of boiling linseed oil and kauri made of silk were marketed during the an inch; C is 30h,ooo; D is 45/i,ooo; and H gum varnish.6 The container was sealed late nineteenth and early twentieth cen- is 25h,ooo. This gauging system was wide- and had the air pressure within it reduced turies. ly accepted by line manufacturers of the with a pump. By reducing the pressure, air Silk line specifications were based on day. product we would refer to as fly line back- ing (of course, this isn't to say that some- Smooth as Silk thing to serve this purpose didn't exist). In the early igoos, an Abercrombie & LOOKINGAT THE AMERICAN angling ex- Fitch catalog did mention "backing" in perience, one of the first references to silk conjunction with salmon lines, but this fly lines is a 1777 advertisement of Edward product wasn't described. For the most Pole, a self-described "Fishing Tackle part, an early fly fisher wanting to pursue Maker" who offered "Silk, Hair, and other big fish would purchase a large spool of Lines of every kind, length and Degree of level fly line and splice this into the back Goodness." Of course, horse hair was a end of his casting Ilne. This long level line material used in the earliest lines, but as would act as the backing, and, as Kelson this advertisement demonstrates, silk was described in The Salmon Fly, would serve being used by the colonial angler. It is also 1 to fill up the "winch." Of such impor- interesting to note that silk lines get top CASTING LINESOR LEADERS, i tance to-the salmon angler, Kelson gave billing in this eighteenth-century adver- I>,, *>,h .,,da careful instructions on how to securely Lxilght Quslltg Trout leadsrs. Slll~l,I.lii. 1,s li .2?C,,<,,. , Extra . . .. li .li :,.;,, tisement. Light " Salmon ti $5 no., braid a backing to the general casting line. ,. Extra Heavy , it, ii ,.V),, The early silk lines were not braided. Bssalmparlal LBOLeFB, II,II>III. I.,,, *i .ill .,.I Though the name Kosmic is more artre HBsvy Bnsa Leaders, Ilu1111I. (isit .iO ii 1.00" Instead, the individual strands of silk Twisted, ' ?i ill ,;fi,. closely associated with the manufacture .. . sn,mo>, .' 1 I", I 15 .. were merely twisted together in order to AO Our ~eadsrsare tied from selected ~istcolor cut, with or of fine reels and exquisite rods, this com- ~lthoutextra loops, as desbred. create the thicker line and increase its -p~-.p-p--..-- pany also offered equally fine double total strength. Two types of silk were tapered and level lines in various lengths. generally available, one being raw and the Kosmic, like so many other companies other boded. Raw silk, as the term implies, gling around the tip of the rod. This, he who offered lines, sold these complemen- was used exactly as it came from the related, was quite a problem for the tary products under its own name; there worm: the finished line being rough and wading angler who, while in midstream, gummy to the touch. Boiled silk, on the would have the formidable challenge of other hand, described the distillation untangling his outfit. eme ember, the process used to remove the natural average nineteenth-century rod was 12 or h-m!~ "gum" from the silk. This boiling, how- 13 feet in length. ever, left a fiber thinner in diameter than An early Dame, Stoddard and Kendall the raw silk. As a result, more individual boiled fibers were required to make a line of equal diameter to a similar line of raw the boiled variety, "oiled" being a refer- silk. Although the boiling procedure, and ence to the oils or varnishes applied to the the added materials required to make silk at the end of the manufacturing boiled silk line, certainly drove up the cost process. This covering helped increase the of the finished product, it was discovered that the additional fibers produced a stronger line. It was further discovered no longer listed the raw silkline', and the that boiling the silk fibers yielded far term "enameled" replaced "oiled." more supple lines than their raw silk Charles Orvis, in a catalog from the late is rarely any mention as to the actual counterparts, but this led to a curious i88os, offered only braided enamelled manufacturer. Even William Mills and problem described by Henry Wells in Fly lines. These came either tapered or level, Son, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Dame, Rods and Fly Tackle. It seems that even and were available in a variety of lengths. Stoddard, and Kendall give little indica- though boiled silk line had greater The Salmon Tapered Fly Lines could be tion as to whose product you were really strength than that made of raw silk, its purchased in lengths of loo and 120 yards. buying. suppleness resulted in a good deal of tan- In none of the early catalogs can I find a In an early twentieth-century Hardy 12 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER SILK The demise of the silk line began technology behind the development of 2. Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton, The Com- pleat Angler or The Contemplative Man3 Recreation, during World War I1 when nylon was in- nylon lines was the direct result of ideas fourth London edition (New York: Thomas Y. troduced. The product of chemical and that grew out of the manufacture and use Crowell & Co.), pp. 245, 246, 348; Samuel Mellner scientific breakthroughs, introduced by of horse hair and silk lines - lines which and Herman Kessler, eds., Great Fishing Tackle the E. I. DuPont De Nemours & Com- play a proud and innovative role in an- Catalogs of the Golden Age (New York: Crown Pub- pany, Inc., nylon was less expensive and gling history. lishers, 1972), illustration, p. 65. - 3. "Charlie's Scrapbook," The American Fly Fisher, easier to produce. Nylon's major short- vol. 8, no. 3 (Summer 1981), pp. 24, 26. coming was that it did not hold the im- ENDNOTES 4. Great Fishing Tackle Catalogs, p. 58. pregnating oils as well as silk. This prob- 5. Ibid, p. 3. lem was solved by coating a level line with 1. "Edward Pole: Fishing Tackle Maker," advertise- 6. Ibid, p. 218. synthetic repellent materials that were ment appearing in The Amerzcan Fly Fuher, vol. 6, 7. Leon Chandler, "Fly Lines That Really Float," then molded to the desired tapers. The no. 1 (Wlnter 1979, p.6. Trout (Autumn 1989),p. 78 B--em~me--m-*W next eight weeks, the the reel when I return and hang them on B W ~LLIAMMILLS & SON'S, braided line is dyed either a peg in order to assure proper drying. c olive green or a straw yel- The next day, I quickly dress the loose low, and all of the necessary coils with the proper floatant that came WATERPROOF varnishes are applied to it. with the line. By that afternoon, about During this time Mr. Bux- twenty-four hours later, the line is ready ..." m 2 ...... Yda. Tnpered. @lee...... ?' ton also proofs each line to to go. ~WE-SW~WBMWMWMW assure that it conforms to Linen, hair, and silk are the materials American Fishing Tackle that made up the lines which connected Manufacturers Association early anglers to their quarry. Over the Brothers catalog, one can find a very wide specifications for line weight. His lines years, countless hours have been spent by range of silk lines sold under the name come in double tapers, which are 30 yards untold numbers of inventive anglers to Corona. The "Corona Superba" were in length, line weights one through nine. produce superior casting lines. For- double tapered lines 30 yards long, and He also makes a 40-yard salmon line in tunately, today's anglers can still cast a the "~evei'Corona' Salmon Lines" were sizes nine through twelve. traditional silk line on their favorite available in 50-yard lengths. Far more in- The Phoenix line, a four-weight in a waters. And it is hoped that we who take teresting. however, was the "Filip," responsibility for our sport begin to pay a describgd in the Hardy catalog as "~pecial little more attention to those who seekthe Tapered Salmon and Trout Fly Lines." small improvements in our tackle, and in Quoting from the catalog, "Roughly the our angling enjoyment. idea is, that a longer foreline can be DAVIDR. KLAUSMEYER thrown when 'shooting,'owing to the spe- cial form of back taper, and the fact that the principal weight of the line is nearer the fly." Undoubtedly, the "Filip" was one of the first commercially available weight-forward lines. Many of us have come to believe that the silk line was a cantankerous piece of tackle requiring an inordinate amount of care, and that once nylon line became available, everyone happily stripped those old silks off their reels and replaced them with the new "wonder" lines. After lovely straw color, is a joy to use. On my all, who would want to spend their time first trip with the line, I pulled the car dressing a line with a floatant if such a onto the side of the road along the Little tedious procedure could be eliminated? River in the Great Smoky Mountains And with the new synthetic lines, one no where the rhododendron leans out over longer had to worry about forgetting to the water by about 4 feet. The stream had take the line off of the reel in order to a medium flow that day, which left about assure proper drying. a 2-foot space between the surface of the Noel Buxton, of West Midlands, Eqg- water and the bottom of the foliage. The land, is to my knowledge the only maker fish usually lie along the undercut bank, of silk fly lines in the world today. and, well, you know the rest. It's a very challenging problem, but one that the In his literature I learned that to entire- Illustrations from Samuel Mellner and Herman ly braid a line takes roughly forty-five Phoenix line handled beautifully. I've Kessler, eds., Great Fzshzng Tackle Catalogs of the minutes using machines especially de- used the line many times since, and I Golden Age (New York Crown Publishers, 1972), signed for the task. Over the course of the always remove a dozen or so coils from pp. 9, 11, 95,131, 251 FALL 1991 13 Personal Treasures: The Bamboo Fly Rods and Reels Fishermen Love by Gerald S. Stein, M.D. OR VALENTINE'S DAY some years much better that I got hooked on fine old tions and few in-depth articles to pass ago, my wife bought me a pair of bamboo. along new information, even good refer- Ftattered Leonard rods in an Aber- The Rockv Mountain region where I ence sources such as Martin Keane's crombie & Fitch canvas-and-leather rod live has a 1o;of good trout,vbut few fine, Classic Rods and Rodmakers (New York: carrier for $85 at our favorite antique old rods and reels. I came to realize that Winchester Press, 1976) and the chapters shop. I fell in love with the 8-foot, three- the limited knowledge and appreciation on tackle in Ernest Schwiebert's Trout piece rod that my friend John Bradford of vintage tackle here was not so different (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1978) are of only identified as a Model 4099 and restored as from the rest of the country. There are few limited use. It is not easy for neophytes to he did the 9-foot, three-piece Model 51DF shops or dealers in most regions, and little find their way around the uncharted which now casts to the most distant rises opportunity for casting - let alone fish- world of classic rods and reels. in trout ponds. I had taken good trout on ing - enough classic bamboo rods to I came to rely on numerous tackle ex- my grandfather's Montague rods while compare similarly designed tapers and perts and am grateful for their availability guiding, but was never really taken with match them to our personal styles. With and knowledge, and for the warm them. The Leonards given to me were so no bamboo rod fishermen's organiza- friendships which have developed with Opposite: Photograph A. Jim Payne rods, RODS Trying to judge consistency of quality in clockwise from top: Model 95, 6-foot, two- order to differentiate among rodmakers piece; Model 96, 6 %-foot, two-piece; FIFTY-TWOREPLIES were received, about is difficult, but necessary ifwe are to reach Model 97,7-foot, two-piece up-locking half from fishermen who are also rod- conclusions that go beyond those of reel seat; Model 98,7-foot, two-piece; makers and some from fishermen who Thomas Maxwell, who headed H. L. Model loo, 7 %-foot, two-piece; Model make reels. Those who fish only for trout Leonard and cofounded Thomas & io1,7 %-foot, two-piece; Model 197,7 %- did not list favorite salmon or steelhead Thomas, and said in a recent interview, foot, three-piece; Model 102, 8-foot, two- gear. One hundred and seventy-six trout "I've had rods in my hands from ever; piece, all-cork grip with rare acorn butt and salmonlsteelhead rods made by rodmaker that were exceptional, but cap; Model 201, 8-foot, three-piece; Model forty-one different makers are cited, as others which weren't as good as buggy 204, 8 %-foot, three-piece early rod with are seventy-four trout and salmonlsteel- whips." slide-band, nickel-silver reel seat; Model head reels from twenty-one different reel- 205, 8 %-foot, three-piece; Model 206, makers. This number of responses seems 8 %-foot, three-piece; Canadian Canoe sufficient to point out the dear favorites, The late Jim Payne was hardly able to Model, 8 %-foot, three-piece; Model 400 but may not be enough to distinguish support himself a generation ago when Dry Fly salmon rod, pfoot, three-piece; between models of nearly equal popu- he was a contemporary rodmaker. Now a Model 410 Dry Fly salmon rod, 9 %-foot, larity, so such models will be considered consensus has evolved as to the unique three piece. Reel at center: Philbrook/ together in groups. quality of his work. Jim Schaaf, who Payne Bimetal, first series, built by H. L. Jim Payne and H. L. Leonard are the adores Dickerson rods, readily acknow- top rods overall, as well as being the ledges when interviewed, "Payne would favorite trout rods. Payne, Leonard, and be at the top of my list - first class in H. S. Gillum share the honors for being every aspect of rodmaking." (Lyle Dick- mavens such as Jim Schaaf and Joe Gar- the favorite salmonlsteelhead rods. erson himself is said to have once pre- man. It has been a steep, gratifying learn- The second most popular group for ferred Payne rods over all others.) Al- ing curve: from trying to fish the Mon- both trout and salmon/steelhead rods though he emphasizes Garrison's innova- tagues and having Walt Carpenter show is comprised of L. L. Dickerson, F. E. tions, noted rodmaker Hoagy Carmichael me his favorite Jim Payne rods, to casting Thomas, and E. C. Powell (see Photo- volunteers in his interview, "I think Jim "Gary" Garrison's own rod at Hoagy graph B). F. E. Thomas appears to hold the Payne was the greatest rodmaker who Carmichael's home and observing Jim edge as the favorite trout rod (see ever lived." Schaaf's labor of love - making Dicker- Photograph C), and L. L. Dickerson the There are no records available from the son Commemorative Series rods. favorite salmon/steelhead rod (see Pho- E. F. Payne Rod Company, but discussions Yet there is still a lot to know in order tograph D). with former Payne rodmakers, dealers, to determine what classic tackle is worth The third most popular group consists and collectors suggest that Ed and his son having - and paying for. With the cost of of G. H. Howells, Garrison, Orvis, Paul H. Jim made between 8,000 and 20,000 rods. most rods and reels at least doubling in Young, Thomas &Thomas, and H. S. Gil- Those rods cited in the survey as being the 1980s and many short, light, "collec- lum rods. In the fourth most popular favorites number between .13 and .31% of tible" rods and some American reels group are the rods of R. W. Summers, all the rods Payne made, about the fifth quadrupling in price in the past five years Goodwin Granger, Winston, Heddon, J. highest number among all rod makes. -largely independent of their value for W. Schaaf, and Omar Needham; Bob Paynes are unique among the makes in fishing - not knowing classic from ordi- Summers's rods seem to have the edge this survey because they are cited as nary can be costly. here. favorites in every length from 6 %-foot To obtain a broader base of knowledge If the choices of only the rodmakers stream wands to 9 Yz-foot salmon rods from experts I trust who have used the surveyed were considered, Payne and (see Photograph A) - a much wider finest tackle over many years, and to have Leonard would still be tops, with Dicker- range than for other rod makes. the pleasure of sharing their conclusions, son heading the second group. If the is her men's favorite Leonards, for ex- I sent out eighty-five surveys to learn choices of only the nonrodmakers sur- ample, are cited almost exclusively in the which rods and reels these experts love to veyed were counted, the top choices 7-foot to 8-foot range. Gathering the full fish. In it I posed the hypothetical situa- would remain the same, but the contem- range of Payne rods cited in the survey tion that an old friend had invited them porary rods of G. H. Howells, Winston, gives the fisherman an opportunity to test on a six-week trip to fish a number of and R. W. Summers would place higher these rods and understand why they are trout and salmon rivers. With limited than they do in the total survey. so highly regarded. gear space, they can only take three trout The survey gives us an indication of Payne rod action and style are precise rods, one bamboo salmon or steelhead how many great rods were produced by and lovely. Each element - from the rich, rod; one trout reel, and one salmonlsteel- each maker, but it does not take into ac- flamed bamboo with Jim Payne's legen- head reel. They were asked not to leave count the vast differences in the number dary varnish work, to the svelte rod tubs anything out because of fear it would be of rods each shop manufactured (es- and ferrule plugs, and his 1951 catalog lost or broken, and not to include any- timates of each rodmaker's production filled with literary fishing essays -is thing largely because of its rarity, value, or will be offered). Thus the survevi, savs little honed to perfection. Yet the overall design its having belonged to someone famous. about how consistently each shop made is integrated and "restrained" as the Assuming they had them to bring on my great rods. Granger rod scholar, Phil Snyder, points hypothetical trip, respondents were asked In an interview, Martin Keane, author out. The feel of Payne rods is so charac- to list the specific models they believed to of Classic Rods and Rodmakers (Win- teristic that they might be identifiable by be "the most enjoyable, finest fishing rods chester Press, 1976), calls the consistency even a blindfolded caster. Paynes are, in and reels they have ever had the good in producing high-quality rods "the es- my opinion, the most satisfying rods to fortune to use." sential genius of the great rodmakers." cast, to take memorable fish on, and to Photographs by G.S. Stein FALL 1991 15 Photograph B. E. C. Powell rods, from top: 7-foot, two-piece, hollow built with rare all-cork reel seat with slide band; 7 %- foot, two-piece, hollow built for #3DT; 8-foot, two-piece, hollow built, part of Companion Rod Set; 8 %-foot, two-piece, hollow built, part of Companion Rod Set; 8 %-foot, two-piece, hollow built, part of Companion Rod Set; 9-foot, two-piece trout rod, hollow built; 9 %-foot, three-piece, solid built with slide-band, nickel-silver reel seat; 9 M-foot, three-piece, record-holding steelhead rod, solid built. admire in the rod rack at the end of the in England) from 1900 on, totals about day. 50,000 (.048% of which are cited in the Yet Payne rods' perfection and the de- H. L. Leonard joins Payne at the top of survey). This estimate is not inconsistent gree of their superiority over other makes the overall survey. Hiram Leonard, many with others arrived at independently. can be overstated. Maintaining objec- of whose early rodmakers went on to To try to compare Leonard rods, the tivity in evaluating these seductive rods, found their own great rod shops, is the period of their construction has to be which seem to envelop owners in their grandfather of most of the rods cited in clarified: the pre-dry fly period until the aura of perfection, is dificult. One of the this survey. Yet over its century of opera- 1920s, the golden era interrupted by many reasons Paynes are so satisfying is tion, Leonard's marked changes in quality World War I1 and ending with the dis- the knowledge that they are so universally point to the shop's inability to maintain astrous 1964 fire, the chaotic red wrap admired. the same focus and consistency achieved era (1967-1970), the Ted Simroe era About half the Paynes I have fished by Payne during its decades of moderate- (1970-1976), the Thomas Maxwell era have been great, and most of the others ly high production. (1976-s982), and, finally, Leonard's cor- were good rods. I do not know of another Inexplicably, the H. L. Leonard Rod porate demise and auction in 1985. (There rodmaker who has made a markedly Company destroyed its records after the are rumblings that H. L. Leonard may rise higher percentage of great rods, though a 1964 factory fire. Thomas Maxwell has again.) Thomas Maxwell reported that number of rodmakers, including L. L. estimated production since the turn of when he took over at Leonard, he found Dickerson, F. E. Thomas, and E. C. Powell the century by counting the number of the rodmaking beveller had been cutting may have done about as well. Jim Payne rodmakers actively working at various bamboo strips so variably that rods desig- told Joe Garman that he felt his rods were times and multiplying by the quota of nated as the same model took different best in the 8-foot to 9-foot range. Anum- rods contributed by each rodmaker. His size lines. So it is possible that even the ber of the participants in the survey felt calculation of the number of Leonards, same Leonard models made in the same that the chances of finding a great Payne William Mills & Sons rods, and the later era are not really comparable. rod outside that range are somewhat Duracanes (impregnated rods designed Our survey fishermen do cite some diminished. by Leonard and built to its specifications great Leonard rods, especially those deli- 16 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Photograph C. I;. E. Thomas rods, from top: Special "Fairy" ?-foot, two-piece; Special "Fairy" 8-foot, three piece; Special 8-foot, two-piece; Browntone Special 8-foot, two-piece; Browntone Special 8 %-foot, three-piece trout rod; Browntone Special 9-foot, three-piece salmon rod. cate Leonards for light-line fishing. Yet has had the chance to cast and cuddle a ledger, and estimates of the small number when asked personally, most acknow- couple of Leonards. That's not so true of of Dickersons not listed, provide a ledge that they tried a number of other rod makes." meager total of only 1,350 fly rods for Leonards before finding one they really trout and salmonlsteelhead (.74% of liked. They recognized that Leonard has which were cited in the survey, the second not been as consistent in making out- Like Jim Payne, Lyle Dickerson main- highest number among all rod makes) standing rods as many other makers. tained a consistent vision, making few from this unusual, mostly one-man shop. Dealer Fred Grafeld believes that changes in the rods he built throughout Payne built at least ten rods, and Leonard "Leonard's name recognition and good his career. Dickerson was not an urbane thirty-fie, for every rod Dickerson made. press . . . have made substantial contri- New YorkerICatskill man, but a hardy Experienced participants in the survey butions to its reputation." Midwesterner who chose function over place Dickerson just behind Payne for Yet this same "halo" effect also deepens form. Dickerson rods were not made to consistently making great rods. John our enjoyment of the great Leonard rods. be perfect or radical; these straightfor- Bradford, a rodmaker who specializes in For me, fishing an 8-foot, three-piece ward rods look and cast as Lyle Dickerson Dickerson rods, even claimed, "If a bunch Model 5oDF built in the 193os, with insisted: "clear as light." Noting the paral- of experts harangue it out, they will come honey-colored cane and wraps, using a lel between the character of this rodmaker to the least disagreement that Dickerson silk-line on a PhilbrookIPayne Bimetal and that of his product, Phil Snyder con- was the greatest rodmaker, as someone reel made by Leonard, is a transcendent cluded, "The man was as good as his will be critical of each of the other experience that turns back time and rods." makes." vividly evokes a sense of our great fishing There has been more recognition of Those Dickersons cited most often in heritage. I also enjoy a Leonard 7-foot, Dickerson in the last few years (Dicker- the survey include the lithe 7 %-foot,two- two-piece Model 38H, one of the two son rod prices are rising) and this has piece Model 7612; the silky 8 %-foot, most cited rods in our survey, which casts made them the third highest priced make three-piece Model 86E (similar to the with crispness and vitality. behind Gillums and Garrisons - about later Model 861610); and a pair of 8-foot, Most fishermen feel good about the same rank Dickersons hold in this two-piece rods: Models 8013 and 8014 Leonard rods and take pride in the favorite rod survey and the closest cor- Guide. Leonard heritage. Hoagy Carmichael respondence between price and our I do not know of another series of two- said, "Leonards have been the standard of fishermen's esteem for any rod make. piece or three-piece rods of any length excellence for over loo years. Everyone Rods listed in the L. L. Dickerson that compares to the Dickerson 8-foot, FALL 1991 17 Photograph D. L. L. Dickerson salmon rods, from top: Model go16 9-foot, two-piece; Model 901913 with extension butt, 9- foot, three-piece; Model 961812,g %-foot, three-piece; Model 961913, 9 %-foot, three-piece; two-handed 13 M-foot, three- piece (the only two-handed rod Dickerson made). two-piece series. (Jim Payne's superb, but taper Dickerson made in even moderate much less extensive, 8 %-foot, three-piece numbers, includes a sweet, delicate 8013 F. E. THOMASRODS series - Models 204, 205, 206, and made for Art Flick's son, Bill, and varia- Generalizing about F. E. Thomas rods Canadian Canoe rods [see Photograph A] tions of the 8013 such as the Model 8013 is difficult for a number of reasons. Mar- - probably place second.) Streamer, Parabolic, and a great Model tin Keane estimates from company Having had the good fortune to use 8013 Special built for Dickerson collector records that founder Fred Thomas and eight different 8-foot, two-piece Dicker- Park Pixley. son Leon produced about 15,000 rods son models - and these do not exhaust *Model 8014 was designed to pinpoint (.067% of which were cited in the survey). the variety of tapers Dickerson made in cast to rising fish from boats on the Au- There is a consensus that Thomas's the 8-foot, two-piece configuration - Sable River. It has rod tips strong enough quality of production was inconsistent. each model felt clearly distinct and su- to pull hooked fish out of the sweeper Comparing the top rods in our survey, perb (see Photograph E). Dickerson's branches that line the AuSable banks. Hoagy Carmichael flatly stated, "F. E. ability to conceive, design, and build so Having been designed for such special- Thomas was the most uneven of them many great 8-foot, two-piece variations, ized use mavlimit the desirabilitvof some all." There is disagreement as to how each with its own unique character and Model 8014s for use on other strkams. Yet much this unevenness detracts from the function, seems remarkable. Though the a Model 8014 Hollow rod, built for L. A. desirability of F. E. Thomas rods. Dealer total numbers of these models produced Pixley with a rare slide band, butternut Fred Grafeld concludes, "The F. E. did extend to double-digit figures, such seat, and intermediate wraps, is wonder- Thomas rods differ from each other, even limited numbers of each model were built fully light. among rods with the same specifications, that the total number of these specific *Model 8014 Guideis cited in the survev but I like them all." Dickerson rods known to still exist does as a favorite rod of several rodmakers. ~h; The best F. E. Thomas rods are unsur- not exceed loo. Worth particular recogni- rod made for guide Tom Evans feels just passed. Several lightweight "Fairy" rods, tion are: right and deserves such recognition. 7-foot, two-piece and 8-foot, three-piece *Model 8oiz,8-foot, two-piece, lays out *Model 8015 Guide Special qualifies for Special Models cast almost magically a #2 silk line beautifully and protects even dealer Tom Clark's designation as a thun- using a 2-inch Leonard reel to float an 8X tippet. It is the finest midge rod I derstick. AuSable guide Norval Stefan's midges on a silk line. Yet an 8-foot, two- have ever used. rod, which drills a synthetic WF7 line, is a piece and 8 %-foot, three-piece trout rod *Model 8013, the best 8-foot, two-piece dynamic, Gillum-like powerhouse. and a 9-foot, three-piece salmon rod (see 18 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER I I Photograph E. L. L. Dickerson &foot, two-piece rod series from top: Model 8012, 8-foot, two-piece; Model 8013, 8-foot, two-piece; Model 8013 Special, %foot, two-piece; Model 8014, 8-foot, two-piece unfinished, last rod Dickerson is known to have started; Model 8014 Hollow, &foot, two-piece with rare slide band and intermediate wraps; Model 8014 Guide, 8- foot, two-piece; Model 8015 Guide Special, 8-foot, two-piece. Photograph C) are exceptionally respon- Asked to comment on this regional dis- is also a retired Air Force double wing sive and strong. The beauty of these parity, Martin Keane, who has long commander. Browntone Special Models with their lauded E. C. Powell rods, explained: Most E. C. Powell rods are 9 feet or chestnut silk wraps is as irresistible as "There is an enormous void of infor- longer. Very few are available under 8 feet mahogany or fine old leather. mation across the country about E. C. in length for fishermen to sample. This Yet there are concerns about F. E. Powell rods. And a lack of people who meager supply of shorter rods, which Thomas rods that lead the most ex- have tried them. Many have never seen many fishermen now prefer, may account perienced participants in this survey, one, but seeing one is not a moving ex- for why most fishermen have not serious- when polled personally, to rank F. E. perience. I would venture that people ly considered E. C. Powell rods. "My Thomas closer to Leonard than to Payne who don't have a soft spot in their hearts father was an exponent of longer rods," and Dickerson in their consistency of for E. C. Powell rods have never spent a reported E. C. Powell's son, rodmaker producing great rods. Respondents cited few hours on the river with one." Walton, "he believed that a good all- the variability, the coarse hardware used; Some of the most experienced par- around rod ought to be 9 feet in length." they questioned the quality of workman- ticipants in this survey are not prepared E. C. Powell did have strong opinions ship and how it was affected when the to compare E. C. Powell with the greatest and built rods the way he believed they company produced the cheaper Dirigo rodmakers. Most acknowledge that they fished best. Unlike many rodmakers who and Bangor rod lines; and they repeated have had too little experience fishing E. C. have only modest skill in casting and fish- the rumors that production quality Powell rods to draw conclusions. Long- ing, E. C. Powell was a champion caster deteriorated further in the early 1950s time rodmaker and dealer Bob Summers who described his knowledge in essays on before the company's demise. remembers seeing only one and has never casting and rod design, and he sometimes fished an E. C. Powell. signed his rods, "E. C. Powell, Angler." His Those survey participants who have patented hollow-built, and thus light, Completing the group of rods that fished E. C. Powell rods rank his work rods with their remarkable tapers provide placed second highest in the survey are behind Jim Payne and Dickerson, but buttery smooth, yet precise casting. Many those of E. C. Powell. Yet if we were to ahead of F. E. Thomas and Leonard. John of the available shorter E. C. Powells do count only the votes of those survey par- Bradford concluded, "I have to admire E. hold their own with the best of rods. A 7 ticipants who live in the West, E. C. Powell C. Powell's workmanship," and not many %-foot, hollow-built gem, built for W. C. and Leonard would be the very top rods. rods pass muster with this rodmaker who Day, lays out a line as lightly as a shadow I I Photograph F. G. H. Howells rods, from top: 6 %-foot, two-piece, his personal fishing rod and thefirst rod G. H. Howells built; 7 %-foot, one-piece, another personalfishing rod; 8-foot, two-piece for #4DT falling on the stream. Exceptional ex- produced 1,000 rods (.7% of which were michael estimates to be only 600 to 650 amples of his work include hollow-built cited in the survey, the third highest num- rods (.96% of which were cited in the two-piece, 8-foot; 8 %-foot; 8 %-foot - ber among all rod makes). survey, the highest number among all rod the shorter half of Companion Rod sets; G. H. Howells rods are hollow-built makes). Such a small number of available and 9-foot rods. Hollow-built 8-foot and and designed for delicate fishing. Gary's rods and the comparatively high prices 9-foot, three-piece models are also cited very first rod, a 6 %-foot, two-piece taper; they have long commanded - in part be- in the survey. A 9 %-foot, three-piece one of his personal fishing rods built as a cause of the limited supply - probably solid-built E. C. Powell that won a world one-piece 7 %-foot rod; and a light, re- prevented our survey fishermen from ex- casting championship in 1932, and took a sponsive 8 %-foot, two-piece salmon rod periencing Garrison rods and thus gain- world's record steelhead in 1936, fished he no longer makes, offer a broader view ing affection for his work. with a Hardy St. George 3 %-inch Multi- of Howells'work (see Photograph F). Garrison's semiparabolic designs are plier reel, is outstanding on any river from Gary Howells's recognition is most radical; his engineering approach re- Oregon's steelhead Umpqua to Nova welcome: being a contemporary rod- markably technical (Dickerson said that Scotia's salmon Margaree (see Photo- maker seems a thankless task. Though if rodbuilding were as complicated as graph B). contemporary rodmakers offer the best Garrison described, no one would have Yet E. C. Powell's plain, Bakelite reel of the old masters' tapers with improved been able to build rods); and his tapers seat spacer that does not bind or need technology, including adhesives, most vary greatly in their appeal. Garrison rods refinishing and the nonreflective oil split-cane rod fishermen insist on vintage acquired even greater status after the pub- finish he used on his cane over much of rods. Many of these are not as good as lication of Everett Garrison and Hoagy his career detract from the aesthetic ap- those that contemporary rodmakers can Carmichael's excellent book, A Master's peal of his rods, in my opinion. I do not build at prices which seem modest, given Guide to BuildingA Bamboo Fly Rod (New find his innovative "Companion Rod" the skill, dedication, and labor required. York: Nick Lyons Books, 1985). All these set, which combines identical tips with Yet repairing and restoring these vintage factors may make it difficult for even two butt sections of different lengths, to rods - for even more reasonable charges sophisticated fishermen to objectively be really successful in creating a pair of -occupy much of the contemporary evaluate Garrison rods. exceptional rods. Had E. C. Powell used rodmakers' time. Those contemporary No fisherman surveyed cites more than model designations; provided catalogs; rodmakers cited in the survey include: one Garrison as among his favorites. A written specific, identifying information Mark Aroner, John Bradford, Pers Bran- number spontaneously questioned their on his rods; or fully explained how to din, Sam Carlson, Hoagy Carmichael, value, then as an afterthought, affec- differentiate among his A, B, and C tapers, Walt Carpenter, Wayne Cattanach, F. J. tionately remembered one Garrison they he might have sparked more interest in Degere, Ray Gambradella, Leon Hanson, felt was a great rod. The Garrisons I have his superb rods, which remain "sleepers" Bruce Howells, G. H. Howells, C. W. cast, including several of the models cited outside the West. Jenkins, Tony Maslan, Walton Powell, J. in the survey, have varied from fair to W. Schaaf, Brad Stevens, R. W. Summers, excellent. Yet a7 %-foot, two-piece Model HOWELLSRODS Art Taylor, Tim Watrud, the Winston Rod 206 is a superb casting machine which The G. H. Howells Rod Company Company, and others have been in- propels the line with a unique feel (see heads our group of third most popular strumental in preserving and extending Photograph G). rods. Howells rods are cited by more bamboo rod tradition, skill, and know- PAULH. YOUNGRODS fishermen in our survey as their "number ledge. How many of them will be revered one" choice than those of any other as great rodmakers once they stop making According to Paul H. Young Company maker except for Leonard and Payne. rods? records, Martin Keane estimates that Howells rods seem poised to join the 5,000 rods (.016% of which are cited in ranks of the great rods - perhaps as soon the survey) were produced. The Paul H. as you can no longer order one. Gary Also in the third most popular group Young Company rods resemble Gar- Howells has maintained a conceptual of rods are the highly acclaimed, yet con- rison's in their use of semiparabolic clarity and quality of workmanship over troversial, rods of Everett Garrison, tapers and in questions as to whether two decades; it is estimated that he has whose total production Hoagy Car- their rising prices are justified. Both 20 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Photograph G. From top: W E. Edwards Quad, 7 %-foot, three-piece; Hawes, 10-foot, three-piece; Gene Edwards Deluxe Model, 8 %-foot, three-piece; Garrison, Model 206,7 %-foot, two-piece. Young's beautiful, flamed cane and his tributed them so widely, that fishermen certain. That many of the Thomas & characteristic mediocre varnish work are have long had ready access to good bam- Thomas rods cited in the survey were legendary. boo. Used Orvis rods are still more avail- made early in the company's existence No favorite rod was cited more often in able at fly fishing shops than any other suggests there was more consistency of the survey than the Paul H. Young Para 15. fine. used cane. Most of the Orvis rods production quality during that period. Though the Para 15 is an exceptional rod, cited in the survey are the impregnated How that consistency will be affected by its apparent popularity in this survey may Battenkill models which are sturdy, but the company's 1991 sale remains to be be misleading. Bob Summers, whose throw a heavy line. Yet only nine of the seen. Model 856 is patterned after the Para 15 nearly ioo,ooo Orvis rods produced are (and is also a very popular rod in our cited. Despite the Orvis heritage, Orvis survey), reports that at least six versions rods have not been idealized like Included amongst favorite rods are of the Paul H. Young Para 15 were built. If Leonards. those of H. S. Gillum. Yet Gillum's overall these had been given their own model popularity in this survey is only because designations, the Para 15 itself would not of its recognition as a top salmon rod. be cited as much, though Paul H. Young Thomas Dorsey, the other founder of Among the favorite trout rods listed, only rods would still be ranked as highly. Thomas & Thomas, counts about 4,000 one is a Gillum, as compared with twen- In fishing Paul H. Young rods, I find his bamboo rods produced over the com- ty-one Payne rods. No Gillums are cited 6 %-foot Midge and his 7 M-foot Per- pany's twenty-two years of operation as favorites by the rodmakers surveyed. fectionist, both two-piece models to be (.o13% of which were cited in the survey). Reportedly a somewhat irascible fellow, original and exciting: these designs are Unlike most rodmakers Thomas & Tho- "Pinky" Gillum made trout rods that brilliant, though the execution was some- mas has aggressively marketed its rods some collectors cherish, many fishermen times imperfect. Ironically, the most with newsletters and beautiful catalogs, disparage, yet no one can ignore. Gillum's desirable Young rods may be those keeping contemporary bamboo dis- limited popularity as a trout rod in this designed by Paul H. Young late in his played before the fishing public. Each year survey is remarkable since a Gillum trout career, and built during his lifetime, by his another unique rod of the master bam- rod sold at the February, 1989, Oliver then-protegC, Bob Summers. boo rod builders is reproduced in the Auction for an all-time record price for Heritage Limited Edition, a celebration of rods of $19,250. classic achievements in bamboo. Such prices do not encourage free and Charles F. Orvis, and the Orvis Com- Thomas & Thomas has demonstrated easy fishing and thus may limit Gillum's pany he founded in 1856, have made avail- an impressive ability to make consistently popularity in this survey. The central able so many bamboo rods -nearly lovely rods, but the casting and fishing issue, however, is over whether the heav- ioo,ooo by Orvis's estimate - and dis- consistency of these rods has been less ier Gillum rods are wonderfully powerful FALL 1991 21 or merely "clubby." Most fishermen agree Sam Carlson has made very impressive six are cited in this survey, a testimonial, that lightweight Gillums are very de- rods in his own shop, few appear in this in part, to the exceptional quality of Jim sirable, yet Hoagy Carmichael estimates survey. Hardman's work. that only one in eight or nine of Gillum's Comparing favorite reels is compli- 1,200 to 2,200 rods (.23 to .42% of which FAVORITEROD LENGTHS cated because the model, series, and size were cited in the survey, the fourth AND LINE SIZES designations are not as standard as they highest number for all rod makes) has The most popular length of the trout are on rods. The Hardy Perfects, for ex- that lightweight feel. rods cited in this survey is 8 foot, followed ample, have been made for nearly a cen- Though my own experience with Gil- by 7 foot rods, then 7 ?hfoot and 8% foot tury in very large numbers - unfortun- lums is quite limited, one 8 M-foot three- in length. The most common salmon rod ately, the company records were de- piece, 4-% ounce Gillum trout rod- length is 9 foot, followed by 8 M foot and stroyed during World War I1 - with a hardly a lightweight - throws #6DT syn- g % foot. myriad of ambiguously designated mod- thetic line with turbinelike smoothness The most popular line size for our els, prototypes, and production versions and power. This rod conveys authority fisherman's favorite trout rods is a syn- of varying sizes, using different materials, and excitement, evoking an expectation thetic #4DT weight. Next most frequent and with features which make them dif- that a big fish might take on any cast, traits is a #5, followed by a #6, then a #3 weight. ficult to categorize." which would endear Gillums to any sal- The most popular line thrown by the sal- Bogdan reels are a simpler line to trace. mon and steelhead fishermen. mon rods cited is a #8 weight.. Yet there are no Bogdan production records to indicate how many have been made. Stan Bogdan estimates production An inherent weakness of this survev is has been in the thousands. This survey a tendency to underrate or ignore rod- points to a consensus regarding Bogdan makers whose work has not been readilv reels similar to the consensus regarding available to most fishermen. For example, Jim Payne rods. As with Payne, nearly Thomas Maxwell names Vince Marinaro every Bogdan model except for the largest as his favorite rodmaker. Maxwell had ac- sizes is cited as a favorite in our survey. cess to several Marinaro rods. but does Assembling the series of Bogdan reels not know of any of his rods being sold and cited, from the smallest "baby" Bogdan remembers Marinaro turning down of- through the popular o Model salmon reel, fers to design rods commercially. Such allows a complete description and evalua- unavailability leaves little chance for tion after the fiftieth year of S. E. Bogdan's wider recognition of this facet of Mar- production. inaro's great ability. These nine Bogdan models vary in A1 Talbot died in 1989, after making diameter, width, fmed or adjustable drag, what Garv Howells estimates was less single action or multiplier, lightweight or than sixty rods. A1 worked as a machinist solid sideplate, "gold" rim or all black and built rodmaking equipment for decorative features. Yet it seems that each Howells and the Winston Rod Company. Bogdan works perfectly, holds up well, Most of Al's quads and six-sided rods and looks great - making its owner feel were one piece. good to be using it. Hooking an Atlantic I find Talbot's 8-foot, one-piece Model salmon or steelhead on a Bogdan and 8041 delightfully smooth, light, and pre- knowing that the excellent drag will pro- cise. A fine 7 %-foot, one-piece, six-sided tect the leader saves many a fish . . . and Talbot is also cited in this survey. Though fisherman. An especially attractive choice he gave some rods to friends, only a few is the oo Model, made as a lightweight, have been sold, and those only in the last adjustable drag, single-action reel -just few years. With Al's passing his oppor- REELS right for trout, steelhead, and salmon. tunity for recognition may also be lost. Asked which Bogdan model he uses for A number of well-known rodmakers' EACHOF THE FISHERMEN surveved lists trout fishing, Stan Bogdan insists he takes work is conspicuously absent in this sur- his favorite trout reel and most cite a whichever Bogdan reel his wife has vey. There are no Halsteads, no Hawes salmon or steelhead reel as well. The most around the house. He doesn't specify (see Photograph G), and no E. W. Ed- popular trout reel is the Hardy Perfect; whether he has always done this, or just wards trout rods, though one E. W. Ed- next are the smaller size Bogdans:u, then a started after the resale price of used wards salmon rod is cited. It is not clear group consisting of the Jim Hardman Bogdan's tripled in the past few years! that these rods' limited production en- reel, the Edward vom Hofe Perfection, Trout fishing with a Bogdan is like staying tirely accounts for their absence. and the Orvis CFO reels. Among the sal- at an expensive hotel - an unnecessary Gene Edwards rods are also absent. monlsteelhead reels, the Bogdans are luxury, but a pleasurable extravagance. though they were produced in quantity. clearly the first choice: notably the oo A distant second in popularity among Sam Carlson stresses that rod aualitvL, was Model, followed by the o Model, then the salmon/steelhead reels is the Hardy St. not the highest priority during the years Large Steelhead Model. George series. Then a group consisting of he worked there. Yet I feel one Gene Ed- Tim Hardman took as an avocation the the Hardy St. John and Hardy Zenith, the wards 8 %-foot, three-piece rod, repor- challenge of making a classically styled, Abel #2 reel, the Saracione, Finnor #2 and tedlv built bv Sam Carlson at the Gene yet beautifully functioning reel. He has #3, the Ross Sz, and the classic Edward Edwards shop, is superb - reminiscent completed only six reels, most of which vom Hofe Tobique. Other reels cited are of Jim Payne or F. E. Thomas. Though have been given to friends. Yet two of the the Pfleuger Medalist, the Thomas & 22 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Thomas Classic, and the J. B. Young Pridex reel. DISCUSSION I THOUGHTHIS SURVEY was designed to do everything possible to objectively name RECOMMENDED READING the finest tackle models, there are limita- tions in comparing tackle by model. No two bamboo rods cast identically, even though designated as the same model by the maker. Differences in the structure and aging of the bamboo used, inconsis- tencies in cutting and gluing together the Books of Any-Month Club strips, the length of time and temperature at which the cane is heated or flamed, and other production differences affect how What the River Knows: An Angler in The book was promptly reviewed in the the finished rods feel and cast. Fortunate- Midstream by Wayne Fields (New York: Times book pages and he was immedi- ly, reels are less prone to such variations if Poseiden Press, 1990) ately elevated to the long-sought full professorship. the exact model can be specified. Upland Stream: Notes on the Fishing Pas- Yet asking fishermen to choose which That will give some idea of where fish- Wethere'' (Boston: reels or rods please them most is subjec- ing books ranked on the literary scale and Brown & Co., 1991) tive and personal. "All in the eye of the the value of being plucked for the pages beholder," insists Bob Summers who goes Where The Trout Are All As Long As of the Times ~ookReview. ~raditionail~, to great lengths to maintain his standards Your Lez by John Gierach (New York: book review editors would as soon review of ;odbuil&ng. Style and appearance are Lyons k~urford,1991) a book on the mating habits of earth- important in these artistic creations. How worms as sully their pages with even a R' Mont- much does the red color of the "red wrap The Way of The Trout by mention of a fishing book, let alone a gomery (New era" Leonards detract from our apprecia- A1fredA'Kno~f,'99') review of one. How then to account for tion of them? Would Omar Needham's On The Spine of Time by Harry Mid- what seems to have become a growth in- rods be more popular if he had used con- dleton (New York: Simon & Schuster, dustry of sorts? Of course, it can be par- sistent, attractive hardware? Details such 1991)/ tially attributed to interest in fly fishing as how well the cork grip fits in our hand and'the many celebrities of ohe ilk & affects how a rod's action feels. Fishing Came First John N. (New another who have been drawn to it. ~~t is York: Nick Lyons Books, 1989) Regional patterns, friendships, and that the whole answer? Doubtful. loyalties also influence our judgments. Old Soldier by Vance Bourjaily (New Whether book review editors are aware The work of Western rodmakers E. C. York: Donald I. Fine, 1991) of it or not, the literature of angling, in- Powell and G. H. Howells rate much cluding fly fishing, has a historythat U~commonwaters: women write About higher with Western fishermen, very few predates most forms of formal of whom can appreciate the excellence of edited Morris, preface certainly long before the novel became a F. E. Thomas rods. The larger Western Margot Page The Press, recognized form. Ernest Schwiebe* in his rivers and occasional Western spring 1991) two-volume Trout speculated that the creeks onlypartially explain these marked IN A RECENT EDITION of the New York first known referenci to an artificial fly variations in regional tastes. Westerners Times Book Review, six fishing books were seems to have appeared in a Chinese book are partial to New Hampshire Bogdans taken up -that's right, six. To appreciate from approximately 3000 B.C.! Was any- over English Hardy Perfects as their the enormity of this, you have tounder- body writing novels in 3000 B.C.? If favorite trout reel. Bogdans are West- stand that the New York Times Book that's questionable, there can certainly be erners' runaway favorite salmonlsteel- Review may well be the most prestigious, no doubt about a third century A.D. book head reels. influential publication devoted to the by a Roman zoologist containing a des- Personal friendships with the rod- book publishing trade. Publishing houses cription of both an artificial fly and how maker cannot be overlooked. Joe Garman and their authors scheme and dream of it was fished in ancient Macedonia - for answered the survey question about his getting their books reviewed by such an trout, no less. favorite salmonlsteelhead rod, "I don't estimable publication. And it doesn't Angling - fly fishing particularly - know whether I prefer the Payne (9-foot, necessarily matter whether the reviews seems to have been the sport that at- three-piece Model 400 DFS - see Photo- are favorable;the important thing is to get tracted the best and the brightest, and graph A) or the Needham, but this was a book in those pages. certainly the most literate. This helps to Omar's rod and he gave it to me, so I will As an example of the power of the account for the fact that angling is pick it." The personal meaning of a rod in Times Book Review, there is the case of an probably the one sport or recreation that one fisherman's life led him to answer the associate professor at a large university can boast a most extensive body of litera- survey, "It was an unmarked rod, but I who for years was denied a full professor- ture. In the English language, we can restored it, and got it like it should have ship despite having had a half dozen definitely date it from 1496, when the been, and it is my favorite rod." Another books published; the problem, you see, Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle was first confided, "I got this rod when I was twelve was that they were fishing books. Then, published, though written some seventy years old and loved it. It is why I am a cane with tongue in cheek, he wrote and had years earlier. For nearly five centuries the rod builder." - published a book on, of all things, dieting! Treatyse has been attributed to Dame FALL 1991 23 Juliana Berners, not only a woman but a challenge of fishing the entire 20-mile An attempt to review in depth all, or nun. Since then, there have been un- length of Cook's Run, a trout river in even most, of the many fine angling counted numbers of books on the sub- Michigan's Upper Peninsula which flows books that have appeared in recent ject; a recent estimate placed the figure in near the remote cabin he and his familv months would be bevond the urovince of excess of 6,000. This is a sport that has had occupied for fifteen years, and writ- this essay, so the best that can be done at produced books about the books. ingV about the exuerience. But for Fields it this point is to merely list some of them: Not all of them, it has to be said, qualify became more than simply a fishing trip in Where The Trout Are All As Long As Your as literature. And the reason is fairly hopes of recording the capture of a big Legby John Gierach, in which the author simple. There have always been writers trout. It becomes, instead, a metaphor for reveals some (but not all) of his secret who fish and who at times bring fishing his life and he begins to see it as an fishing holes; The Way of The Trout by M. into their writings, and then there are "awkward fumbling after grace" . . . the R. Montgomery, an essay on anglers, wild fishermen who sometimes write about grace to forgive himself for a lifetime of fish, and running water; On The Spine of their sport.Very little of the latters'output small failures. He also begins the process Time by Harry Middleton, about an is truly literary, and in most cases is of letting go, makes an effort to find in angler's love of the Smokies; Fishing designed only to instruct-so-called how- middle age a new connection to life and Came First by John N. Cole, a book that to volumes-such as the Dame did in her the world. He thinks of his three children won't enhance your angling, but will help Treatyse. The volumes of this type are in growing up and away from the tight hold you understand why you keep on casting; the vast majority, far, far outnumbering of the family; that they willleave his house Old Soldier bv Vance Bouriailv., ,, one of those considered literature. as he had left the house of his father. today's finest novelists who has penned a The appearance of any such volume, Ultimately, What the River Knows is a storv that takes ulace in Maine and is built whether literary or not, brings with it a meditation on, and celebration of, trout around fishing for landlocked salmon; measure of pleasure and enjoyment. and children, of clear waters and stagnant and Uncommon Waters: Women Write Michael Pollan, an editor as well as an pools, of personal loss, of what has been About Fishing, edited by Holly Morris. angler, struck the right note when he and what remains to be. Fishing? Oh, yes, Since this whole thing" started with a wrote, "Fly-fishing would hold little ap- there's a good deal of fishing in this odys- Treatyse by a dame, it seems fitting that peal if not for the shelfful of classics that sey; it's the thread that holds the narrative this uiece should end with the same comes with it. . . . After all, it isn't only together, but it's also a lot more than a gender. In Uncommon Waters, a volume God and nature that made the trout a fishing story. It is, as one reviewer put it, of some 280 pages, thirty-five women more interesting creature than the pick- "a compelling confrontation with nature writers pen their particular views and at- erel; Norman Maclean and Thomas Mc- that is also an excursion down the river of titudes about this benign insanity we call Guane and William Humphrey deserve at the soul." Few readers will fail to find fishing. As Margot Page points out in her least part of the credit." Indeed. Such a points where they can empathize with the ureface. it is remarkable that in the cen- declaration mav not need any reinforc- joys and anguish of the author, or detect turies-old history of angling literature, ing, but gets it anyway from novelist in themselves that same "angling for this is the first collection of women writ- Howard Frank Mosher's stout proclama- grace." ing on the subject. Although women have tion that "From Thoreau's Maine Woods Of an altogether different character, fished for centuries - note Dame Juliana to Hemingway's 'Big Two-Hearted River,' but easily falling into the category of Berners in the fifteenth century - only in the pleasures of fishing have inspired literature, is Upland Stream: Notes on the recent years has it become an acceptable some of the most appealing passages in Fishing Passion by W. D. Wetherell. In and respectable sport for the so-called American letters." Is there another sport these essays, Wetherell explores the age- gentler sex. The pieces in this volume that can edge its way into that company? old question, "Why fish?" In attempting cover just about every type of fishing Not likely. to answer it he discovers that "Why fish?" known to man - and woman. The male The editor of the journal vou're read- may be a simple question, but there are no reader will find herein perspectives on the ing, who commissioned this piece, asked simple answers. While pursuing answers, sport he never experienced or even for a review of some recently published he casts his flies in trout streams ranging dreamt of. There is humor here aplenty to books dealing with angling; instead, this from Vermont's Battenkill to the Yel- match the best from the pens of famous seems to have turned into a ramble about lowstone and to the mysterious lochs of male angling-humorists. some of the ti- fishing literature. But there's no inconsis- Scotland, with stops at a multitude of tles alone are enough to make you tency here; fly fishing itself is a sort of other enticing trout waters. From per- chuckle. Keep a straight face if you can at rambling sport, which may be why it has sonal experience he combines elements such titles as "A Buncha Guys, A Coupla such great appeal. Those seeking a pas- of natural history, his own inner revela- Fish, and ME: The Opening of Trout time guided by set rules of time and place tions, and a deep love for this solitary Season, Roscoe, New York," or "Jesus, and other strictures mav find haven in the sport. An accomplished novelist, Weth- Pete, It's a Woman Fly Fishing." That more traditional sports of golf, tennis, ere11 makes an impressive stab at the ques- should give you some idea. With con- bridge, or bowling. tion that won't go away, because, he says, tributors such as Margaret Atwood, Le Among recent issues, probably the one fishing is "a balm and supportive to the Anne Schreiber, and Joan Wulff, the closest to Maclean's classic A River Runs soul, an antidote to bitterness, a relief and quality of the writing should be no Through It is Wayne Fields's What the a restorative and a reward." Well, if that surmise. River Knows: An Angler in Midstream. isn't an acceptable answer, it will do until may be that none of the books Though fly fishing figures prominently in a better one comes along. To reinforce covered in this essay will help you gain a both books, neither, strictly speaking, that declaration, he lists thirteen separate full professorship or that promotion you could be called a "fishing book any more and specific reasons for "Why fish?" Any so richly deserve, but you will end up with than Moby Dick would be called a whaling reader who can resist the urge to explore a lot of good reading and, who knows, as book. Fields finds himself at age forty-two those thirteen reasons can't be a serious a result you might even catch a coupla in a midlife crisis. He sets himself the dual fly fisher. more trout. JOE A. PISARRO 24 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER GALLERY OHN D. VOELKER,also known as Robert Traver, died on fishing effects of her husband to the Museum. The well- March lo, 1991, at the age of eighty-seven. He achieved used fishing vest was the same one he had worn for the last national prominence with his riveting best seller thirty years; the wonderfully shapeless, hole-ridden sweater JAnatomy of a Murder (1958), which was made into an was knitted twenty-five years ago by Grace for her husband. Oscar-winning movie by Otto Preminger. Traver wrote The stained Eddie Bauer fishing hat was his favorite. eleven books including Laughing Whitefish, Danny and the An elegantly battered enamel fishing cup accompanied Boys, Small-Town D. A., and The Jealous Mistress. He was an John on his fishing outings, nestled in a market basket on attorney in private practice and a Michigan Supreme Court the seat ofhis jeep along with bourbon, bottle opener, jigger, Justice before retiring to Ishpeming, Michigan, on his and water, according to his wife. His Orvis Impregnated beloved Upper Peninsula. Limestone Special rod is an 8 ?h foot, 4 ?h ounce for a He also gained prominence writing about the wild Upper 6-weight line. Also included in the donation was a box for Peninsula and the characters, human and otherwise, who his Italian cigars, and his small notebooks and famous green reside there. He wrote three fishing books that became pens. Anyone who corresponded with Voelker will instantly instant classics: TroutMadness, Anatomy ofa Fisherman, and recognize the green ink on yellow stationery. Trout Magic. Trout Madness is arguably one of the finest Another significant and related component of the collections of fishing stories ever written. He was also the Museum's collection are approximately 225 letters John author of the oft-quoted "Testament of a Fisherman." Voelker wrote to publisher Nick Lyons, donated by trustee In August 1991 Mrs. Grace Voelker donated the personal Bob Buckmaster in April 1990. - Photograph by Cook Neilson The American Museum of Fly Fishing Post Office Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254.802-362-3300 JOIN! are any indication, then we'd have to say Membership Dues (per annum*) Hemingway Exhibition that the public - and hundreds of Mu- Associate* $25 On July 20 Museum director Don seum members - really like the finished Sustaining* $50 Johnson represented the American Mu- product. Patron* $250 seum of Fly Fishing at the gala opening of The comments - which, to our great Sponsor* $500 "Hemingway: The OakParkYears," a spe- delight, have also increased in number Corporate* $1000 cial exhibition at the Oak Park Art Center markedly since June- border on the Life $1500 in Illinois. The Museum contributed euphoric. "Wonderful" wrote Martha Membership dues include the cost of a several Hemingway angling-related ob- Hill of New Haven, Connecticut; Jane subscription ($20) to The American Fly jects to the exhibition which was spon- White of South Pomfret, Vermont, Fisher. Please send your application to sored and installed by the Ernest thought the Museum "a jewel!" To other the membership secretary and include Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, a visitors the Museum was "crisp," "a great your mailing address. The Museum is a nonprofit organization whose ultimate place," "excellent," and "impressive as al- member of the American Association goal is to establish a Hemingway Center ways." Our favorite, to date, was left by of Museums, the American Association in one of the two Hemingway boyhood Matthew MacIver, who lives in Hingham, of State and Local History, the New Eng- homes in Oak Park. Massachusetts. Matthew was so im- land Association of Museums, the Ver- Interest in Hemingway the angler pressed with the Museum that he likened mont Museum and Gallery Alliance, remains as strong as ever, even among his visit to "a near religious experience!" and the International Association of nonanglers. The question Museum staf- And one of our most recent illustrious Sports Museums and Halls of Fame. We fers hear most from visitors is "Where is visitors, General H. Norman Schwarz- are a nonprofit, educational institution Hemingway's rod?" For the record, his kopf, signed his name in his distinctive chartered under the laws of the state of rod can now be seen as part of "Anglers straight-line handwriting and com- Vermont. All," the American Museum of Fly mented that the Museum is "a "great Fishing's major traveling exhibition, on tribute to a wonderful pastime." SUPPORT! view at the Manitowoc Maritime Muse- Most of the Museum's renovation As an independent, nonprofit institu- um, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, through work has now been completed, although tion, the American Museum of Fly December 1991. "Hemingway: The Oak our staff is still working on the fabrication Fishing must rely on the generosity of Park Years" will run indefinitely at the of a "kid's corner," and is completing public-spirited individuals for substan- Oak Park Art Center. plans for the installation of a cold-water tial support. We ask that you give our aquarium. Stop by for a visit -we think institution serious consideration when "Great Job Folks!" you will like your new Museum. planning for gifts and bequests. If the remarks left in the Museum's visitors' book since the June 7 official Library Donations Needed opening of our newly renovated spaces As we've mentioned in some of our Summer hours (May 1through October Mareot Page previous issues, the Mu- 31) are lo to 4. Winter hours (November seum is hoping to expand 1through April 30) are weekdays lo to 4. the number of volumes in We are closed on major holidays. its library. This is especial- ly true now that we've BACKISSUES! moved our publications The following back issues of TheAmer- department out of the ican Fly Fisher are available at $4 per copy: library and into the new Volume 5, Number 3 addition, thereby creating Volume 6, Numbers 1,2,3,4 almost twice the library Volume 7, Numbers 2,3,4 space. Volume 8, Number 3 Members who are in- Volume 9, Numbers 1,2,3 terested in donating books Volume lo, Number 2 on any relevant subject Volume 11, Numbers 1,2,3,4 should contact Alanna Volume 12, Number 3 Fisher, the Museum's Volume 13, Number 3 curator. Donations may Volume 14, Numbers 1,z take the form of indi- Volume 15, Numbers 1,2 Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf; on his recent visit, was vidual volumes or entire Volume 16, Numbers 1,2,3 shown Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's Orvis rod and Gen. collections and all will be Volume 17, Numbers I, 2 George Patton's creel by Executive Director Don Johnson. warmly welcomed. 26 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER Renovated Museum Spaces kji:A visitor signs the guest book in the new reception area that features a suspended Adirondackguide boat and an enlargement of an oldphoto- graph taken on Saranac Lake, New York, from the Mary Orvis Marbury exhibit. Above: The audio-visual room is dedicated to its sponsors, Leigh and Romi Perkins. Here, visitors can watch VHS tapes on a large screen monitor, browse through reading materials at the conference table, or ex- amine panels from Mary Orvis Marbury's Columbian Exposition collec- tion (1893). seum Gift Sh Our pewter pin features our logo in lver on an olive-green Our popular background. Our patch is silver ind T-shirts are made of black on a Dartmouth Green back- loo% preshrunk cotton. ground; $5 each, plus $1 postage and Specify color (navy or cream) and size handling. (s, M, L, XL), $15 each, plus $2 postage and handling. Four-color exhibition posters printed on high-quality glossy stock, ample bor- ders. Right, "Time On the Water" by John Swan (26"~20"). Above, "An Artist's Creel" by Peter Corbin (26"x 23"); $15 each, plus $2.25 postage and handling. Left, "Lost Pool," special limited edition print by John Swan, printed on acid-free paper (15 %"x 26 %"), ample borders. Each signed and numbered print, $95. Postage and handling included. Please make checks payable to: AMFF and send to 20. Box 42, Manchester, VT 05254. Mastercard, Visa, and American Express accepted. Call 802-362-3300. FALL 1991 27 CONTRIBUTORS Barbara Arter C. S Stein David R. Klausmeyer holds degrees in English (B.A.) and Political Science (M.A.) from Oklahoma State University. Formerly a management development specialist with the University of Tennes- see, Dave now makes fine cane rods on a full-time basis, and is actively involved in Trout Unlimited. He regularly speaks to T.U. and F.F.F. chapters, and appears at fly shops throughout the eastern United States to talk about cane rod construction. Dave, wife Barbara, and their two children live in Knoxville, Tennessee. Gerald S. Stein, M.D., is a psychoanalyst in private practice in Colorado Springs who also teaches medicine at the Uni- versity of Colorado Health Sciences Tovce loseoh Center. His interest in tackle began with John Mundt is a first-time contributor his grandfather's Montague baGboo fly to The American Fly Fisher. Born in rods and Martin automatic fly reels, and Westwood, New Jersey, he now resides his uncle's Shakespeare Wonder Rod in Simsbury, Connecticut, and is a mem- and Alcedo Micron reel. His book on ber of the Museum's Hartford Dinner1 rodmaker L. L. Dickerson, coauthored Auction committee. Currently employed by J. W. Schaaf, is being published by as an account manager with Xerox Cor- Centennial Press in 1992. poration in Hartford, John is a member of Trout Unlimited and the Atlantic Sal- mon Federation. Newly married (July), his other interests include history, lacrosse, theology, and hunting. Lothar H. H. Martin is an art conserva- tor who specializes in wall painting. He lives in Berlin for most of the year and summers in eastern France in a small village of 141 residents, near one of the best angling rivers in Europe, the Loue. He writes for German and French fish- ing publications (Fliegenfischen, Fliegen- fischer, Fly Only, La Premiere Catkgorie, and Connaissance de la Piche), and in his spare time makes handmade rods. 28 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER The American Museum of Fly Fishing is pleased to announce the publication of A Treasury of Reels: The Fishing Reel Collection of the American Museum of Fly Fishing Introduction and catalog by Jim Brown, photographs by Bob O'Shaughnessy One hundred numbered and signed copies of this deluxe, hand-bound limited edition are being offered for sale at $450 each HIS DELUXE LIMITED EDITION has been hand- bound antique fly tackle who has written extensively on the history in the traditional manner by Karl Eberth at the of fly reels. His first book, Fishing Reel Patents of the United TMemory Theatre in West Pawlet, Vermont. Each States 1838-1940, is now accepted as a standard reference book is sewn with linen hinges and features Italian paper work in the field. He is an active member of the American endsheets, leather endbands at the top and bottom of the Museum of Fly Fishing as well as numerous other angling spine, and a ribbon marker for convenience. Each book is and conservation organizations. quarter-bound in brown Nigerian goatskin with leather along the fore-edge of each board; the front and back boards Bob O'Shaughnessy is a Boston-based photographer who are an imported Dutch linen cloth, and the spine is stamped has worked in the advertising business for the past thirty using 22-carat gold. The book is housed in a quarter leather years. He has been a dedicated salmon fisherman for at least clamshell box made by Judi Conant with the title and as long, and regularly fishes in Canada and Maine. He is past Museum's logo stamped on the spine in gold. The text has president of the New England chapter of the American been printed on a soft white acid-free paper. Society of Magazine Photographers, as well as a member of the American Museum of Fly Fishing, the Fly Casters of The frontispiece featured in this deluxe edition of A Boston, and the Atlantic Salmon Federation. Treasury of Reels is a luminous four-color print of an oil painting by the renowned artist John Swan of Portland, Please note that our deluxe limited edition is being sold Maine, entitled "New Moon." The print, commissioned on a first-come, first-served basis and that, because of the expressly for this deluxe edition and published by the small edition size, we expect it to sell out quickly. Numbered Amscot Group of Bloomfield, Connecticut, has been tipped copies will be reserved as the orders are received by mail and into the supplemental front matter. The reproduction of by phonetcredit card. Copies will be delivered in February, "New Moon" has been limited to loo copies, and each one 1992.They are being sold, retail only, by the Museum at $450 is signed and numbered by the artist to correspond with the per copy, which includes shipping and handling. number of the book in which it appears. Send your order with check, or call with credit card infor- Jim Brown is a librarian who lives and works in Stamford, mation: The American Museum of Fly Fishing, P.O. Box 42, Connecticut. He is an avid fly fisherman and collector of Manchester, Vermont 05254; 802-362-3300. THEAMERICAN MUSEUM OF PLY FISHING was established in 1968 to preserve and ex- hibit the treasures of American angling. As the only national nonprofit educational institution of its kind, the Museum serves as the repository and conservator to the world's foremost collection of angling and angling-related objects, including more than 1,500 rods, 800 reels, 40,000 flies, 2,500 books, as well as manuscripts, photographs, periodicals, and other related items. The Museum's growing collections provide students, authors, teachers, writ- ers, and all members of the public with thorough documentation of fly fishing as a sport, art form, craft, and industry in the United States and abroad from the mid- sixteenth century to the present.