The Mannon Collection

[ckpj99 0]

I recently introduced myself in the "introduce yourself" forum. I thought I'd make my first official post. My father sent me an old fishing kit that someone had given him from an estate sale. My father lives in New Mexico and I spent my summers there when I was a child. It's where I learned to fish.

 

Anyway, in this box of supplies were some reels, pliers, and a ton of fly fishing stuff. Two full tin boxes of flies and a bunch of tying supplies. I'm a photographer, so I really wanted to document the collection. What makes it special to me is that there was small soap tin with different hooks inside there was a sheet a paper with a couple fly designs jotted on it. The paper is a blank check from The First National Bank of Santa Fe in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and names printed on the check are "Thomas B. or June P. Mannon," hence I'm calling this the Mannon Collection.

 

I'm not sure how common these collections are, but it seems like if anyone would appreciate it, the folks on this forum would. The flies are mostly medium sized trout flies. Some are really tiny, and a documented the size of those. There are a few pretty big ones as well. I wouldn't say that Mr. Mannon (or his wife as the case may be) were master fly makers, however, I think many of the flies are pretty advanced. It's also interesting to see how these flies have aged.

 

The other great part is the old materials. Unopened golden pheasant tippets, beaver and mink fur, yarn, feathers and peacock quills, many with prices still attached. $1.20 for a package of peacock. 25 cents for some amazing bright green hackles. And all from a variety of companies. I thought these prices and packaging might help someone here date this collection. I'm assuming these materials are from the 1960s or 70s, but I don't really know.

 

Anyway, there are over 50 flies in the collection and many other odds and ends. I picked a dozen or so photos to show here. If you'd like to see the rest, I created a Flickr album where you can check out the whole collection: https://www.flickr.com/photos/42885739@N04/sets/72157646165561200/

 

 

The check. I blurred the account numbers... just in case.

 

 

Two fly designs outlined on the back of the check: Thor (I think) and Atomic

 

 

 

 

Some type of cicada looking thing, I have no clue what that yellow stuff is. It looks like some type of epoxy, and reminds me a little of "Great Stuff" insulation foam that comes in a can.

 

 

This one has wings, you can see a couple different angles of it in the full set.

 

 

 

 

 

Some hooks. The box on the far left says they were made in Olso, Norway.

 

 

 

 

Hope you folks enjoy this. I'm not a super experienced fly maker, so I think this stuff is fascinating. I suppose it could all be junk from the 90s, but my instinct is that it's quite a bit older. If you guys have any information about the brands or shops mentioned on the tags or the ages of any of this stuff or the designs of these flies, I would love to learn more about all of it.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. If this sort of post is boring or doesn't belong here, let me know that, too. Have a great week.

[mikechell 0]

Nice collection. I am no expert on vintage stuff, either. Some of those flies are pretty neat ties, though.

[oldtrout58 0]

First of all, welcome to this forum. Second of all, your father sent you this "stuff", so it is priceless.

Third of all, we expect great things from you.

[ditz2 0]

I am no expert either but I would guesstimate 70ish.....Thanks for posting...brings back some good ole memories

[FlaFly 0]

Those flies are wonderful. At least this member is one who really appreciates the historical aspects of anything I am interested in doing, whether it's bowling, or music, or fishing. Some of that stuff, including the hook boxes, looks older than the 1960s. Some of the flies on the Flickr site look very modern, flies you'll see others tying on this site. Others look really unique and creative. Have to wonder what fish were caught on them.

The strangest thing of all is that at the end of all the flies, there is a baitcasting reel (in seemingly mint condition).

Thanks for sharing them with us.

[Chase Creek 0]

Thanks for posting. Very interesting stuff. I'm certainly no expert on vintage fly tying or flies, but I do see a couple of familiar things in that group of materials.

The box of hooks on the left looks like vintage Mustad hooks, out of Norway.I would guess the late 60's - very early 70's Also, the name Hank Roberts on a couple of the material packages rings a bell. Believe I had a couple of Hank Roberts backpacking stoves many years ago, probably early 70's. Don't know if they were in the fly tying business before or after they made backpacking equipment. I would guess sometime before. Would love to see more info on these items.

[flytire 0]

interesting photos above (I cant see flikr photos at work)

 

looks like theres a fan wing royal coachman (fly #4)

 

a grizzly king wet fly (#2) and a grizzly king streamer (#6)

 

fly #1 appears to be a hopper pattern (I'm guessing)

 

#3 might be a woven stonefly of some sort

 

and #5 might be a caddis pattern

 

parts of each fly are missing (deteriorated) or have come untied

 

fan wing royal coachman

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=fan+wing+royal+coachman&safe=active&nord=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5CLyU-T6FMngoASfu4LgCw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw&biw=1200&bih=628

 

grizzly king

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=fan+wing+royal+coachman&safe=active&nord=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5CLyU-T6FMngoASfu4LgCw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw&biw=1200&bih=628#nord=1&q=grizzly+king&safe=active&tbm=isch

 

hopper pattern

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=fan+wing+royal+coachman&safe=active&nord=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5CLyU-T6FMngoASfu4LgCw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw&biw=1200&bih=628#nord=1&q=joes+hopper+fly+patterns&safe=active&tbm=isch

[ckpj99 0]

Thanks for all the info so far, folks. A couple of responses:

 

oldtrout - the items definitely have some value to me. They aren't getting sold off or anything. There were several open packets of materials and I have used some of them, along with some of the thread. I'm trying to resist using a few of the things until I know more about them, especially the mink. If there's anything really special in there, I'll probably wait until I have a really special pattern or something.

 

flafly - I assumed it was all post-war, but pre-80s. I'm old enough to recognize a lot of the packaging used throughout the 80s on fishing gear, and this doesn't match what I've seen. There were two baitcasting reels in the collection. Neither are very valuable (I can check those due to the model numbers and such). I included that shot because of the cool leather reel case. I'd put those reels into use, but the handle mechanism doesn't disengage for casting, when you cast the handles would spin. I can't imagine they'd be all that easy to use. I like that the owner chose to match the fishing line to the handle color though. I actually forgot to photograph the fly reel that came with the collection, but luckily I already have a shot of it, albeit a more stylized image.

 

 

Chase Creek - Thanks for the info. I would love to know if some of these stores and companies still exist. "Creative Sports Enterprises," what a weird name for a business. Cortland, Dan Bailey's, and my favorite Tack L Tyers in Evanston. There are a few things with Tiano's tags as well, I'd put money on that being someplace local for the guy.

[ckpj99 0]

flytire - thanks for the pattern info. I think you're right on the money with most of them. You're right about the condition. Most have seen better days, that's why I wanted to get them documented. I may try to get a frame or something for them eventually. Anyway, thank for the info. Let me know if you get a chance to check out the rest of them.

[Chase Creek 0]

That's a really cool image of the fly reel. (Might even steal that for my computer desktop image, if that's OK)

[RCFetter 0]

An amazing collection. Thanks for posting the pics.

[FlaFly 0]

All bait casting reels back then were not able to unlock from the gears. That didn't come along until years later. Back then you had to cast huge, heavy lures in order to pull the line out of the reel. BTW my reels back in the 1950s were more "modern" than that green one. Looks like the one my father in law passed on to me. Were there any rods in the load? before the 50s they were all steel, then came the early fiberglass rods around the 50s.

[FlaFly 0]

That really is a great pic of the fly reel. Was that the original line? really amazing!

[FlaFly 0]

ckpg

Was that green reel a Bronson Green Hornet? (I have one that looks just like it).

[hairwing 0]

Neat collection and a few memories for me.

 

I'll comment on the pic #5. It's a fly called Bailey's Mossback. Originated By Dan Bailey. The tail ,legs and missing horns were tied with condor quill. The body is woven monofilament over a underbody. Usually the mono was dark on top and light on the bottom. I would almost guarantee that the fly was purchased from Dan Bailey's and not a home made tie.

 

Lot's of the flies were chewed on by insects and some severe oxidation was taking place along with heat, which explains the bubbling coming through the mono.

 

My guess is that the collection is mostly from the 1960's.