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sheebean

fly tying history?

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Hello All

 

Newbie here! I hope this is the right place to ask for fly tying information.

 

I was wondering if anyone could direct me to any sources with information about the history of fly tying. I'm doing research for a presentation, and I've found lots of info on fly fishing but not fly tying.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

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Many good flytying manuals devote a few pages or a chapter to the history of tying.

 

The most concise summary I know comes in Brook's Trout Fishing in a chapter titled The History of Trout Fishing. Unfortunately, I suspect this book is out of print.

 

Another good but brief history of tying opens Schweibert's classic Matching the Hatch.

 

Hughes Wet Flies has 2 chapters on the early literature of fly tying. But he confines himself pretty much to the wet fly, nymph and flymph. The history of the dry fly is not covered.

 

Nemes devoted an entire book (Two Centuries of Soft-Hackled Flies) which surveys several dozen of the important early tying books, focussing on the different soft-hackle styles. (I think this one, despite its size, is probably too limited in it's scope for your purpose.)

 

Shewey's Spey Flies and Dee Flies summarizes the history of these types of salmon flies. (Same comment as for Neme's book.)

 

I'm sure there are many other sources. I vaguely remember one of the fly tying magazines covering this topic. Good luck and have fun.

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The http://www.flyfishinghistory.com/ is indeed a very good place to start. It has tons of info on ancient methods, medieval flies (Dame Juliana), early modern fishing (from Walton till 19th century) and the modern times. When doing a presentation you need lots of pictures, which is something this site is a bit light on - but it is a great start and remember, google is your friend ;)

 

There are some challenges - such as tying all the patterns described in Dame Juliana as close to original as possible - that keep popping up every once in a while. There should be lots of pics on line.

 

If you are interested in history of the Catskill style flies pay a visit to blog of Niklas Dahlin - http://mulhonken.blogspot.com/ - he is a great fan of these flies and an accomplished tyer :)

 

J.

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