Spey & Dee Fly Tutorial By Cameron Derbyshire
Antique Hook Posters By Ron Reinhold
Are These Blacker Flies? (Part II)
Blacker's Wings & How to Make Them By Martin Bach
Design of flies..Going with the FLOW by Aaron Ostoj
Dyeing with Natural Dyes By Charles Vestal
Facts and Folklore About Hooks By Ron Reinhold
From Anton Rist an Evangeline Variation
From Bud Guidry Elegant Simplicity
From Dave McNeese an Orange Heron and Pearl Peril
From David White A Sir Richard
From Edwin Rist A Green Highlander & Pyrite
From Gordeaux The Mary O and Purple Infusion
From Kyle Hand A Blue Baron Variation
From Stefano Farkas No 1 A Golden Lady & Popham
From Stefano Farkas No 2 A Greenhighlander & Butcher
From Stefano Farkas No 3 A Baron & Childers
From Stefano Farkas No 4 A jumbo Popham
From Stefano Farkas No 5 Three Doctors
From Stefano Farkas No 6 A Jock Scott
Growing Your Own Silk Gut by Jim Blais
Indian Crow / Red-Ruffed Fruit Crow
Indian Crow Subs by Don Colman
Lt. Col. Reid's Materials Order
Making a Chute Wing Setter by Don Colman
National Geographic Silk Gut Article
Notes on Salmon Fly Storage By David White
Raising Heritage Turkeys By Kyle Hand
Stonehenge
Tapered Floss Underbodies By Stefano Farkas
The 2004 International Fly Tying Symposium
The high cost of tying Atlantic Salmon Flies today?
The Pine Meadow House Gang or A Fly Tyer?s Excellent Adventure
The Tinsel Belt by Tero Lannes
Tinsel Bodies by Wayne Luallen
Toppings and Tails by David White
The great and ancient stone circle of Stonehenge is one of the wonders of the world. It is the substantial remnants of the last in a sequence of such monuments erected between circa 3000BC and 1600BC. Does it or the Druids that may have worshiped there have anything to do with tying salmon flies? Nothing that I know of!
Stonehenge is also the pen name of author John Henry Walsh who wrote Manual Of British Rural Sports around the middle of the 19Th Century. It is a compilation of sporting endeavors similar to the Book of St. Albans that contains "Treatise Of Fishing With An Angle". I doubt that anyone would compare the two works as being of equal stature but the section on fishing in Stonehenge's work does contain a passage I feel is as important as any message in any fishing book. Keep in mind I have never seen the book but I became aware of it through Tony Smith. Tony had sent me a copy of Jon Harrang's hand written excerpt from the book that contained the fly patterns. Jon had copied the information when he wasn't able to get the book. Another friend, Paul Martin, does have a 1857 Third edition and was kind enough to scan the passage I'm so enamored with. See insert at right and he also scanned the fly plates which appear at the bottom of this page. I find it fascinating he encouraged fly tiers to "step outside the lines" so to speak and use substitutes in lieu of unobtainable or expensive materials as it didn't seem to matter to the fish. He also refers to the New Kid On the Block, William Blacker and cautions the newbie he isn't going to be able to tie them like the pictures. Paul Martin tells me the tying instructions in this book are about as obtuse as Blacker's but we'll get them on this site for you soon. I feel the ideas brought forth in this passage are quite contemporary and allow for substitution and experimentation as much as any current author. The fact it was written 150 years ago certainly adds to the value. Do you suppose possibly John P. Traherne was influenced by this?
Below are the plates:
