What was the title of the book? I have quite a few 19th century titles at hand but would need to know the author, etc. Trying to reference the older hook sizes can be problematic at best as there was no standard sizing. There really isn't any true standard sizing today, either. Then as now, each hoo...

Those look like older E1A dry fly hooks, circa 1975-80. The pic from Whitetail is a modern hook and isn't anywhere near the original. Partridge is now owned by Mustad and the hooks are no longer made in England. The older Partridge boxes like those posted were changed about 1980 to a more descriptiv...

Yes. The wing quills are the traditional winging material for Greenwells' Glory. The marginal coverts can be used as hackles on small spiders.

European blackbird is hard to come by.

After some negotiation with it's former owner, I was recently able to add this rarity to my collection: “The Companion to Alfred Ronalds’ Fly Fisher’s Entomology" While relatively common, most of the existing copies are in poor condition and the flies are either missing or badly moth eaten. In ...

During my talk last Saturday I brought up the subject of Henry Walbran Cooper, the original owner of the collection that contained the John Swarbrick manuscript. The collection was subsequently owned by Irwin Arthur Bennet who was born in Cheshire, England in 1853 and passed away in Willows, Califor...

DUBBN wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:26 pm That was a good read and I agreed with most if it.

What did you disagree with? Just askin' LOL!

Actually, the reason that up-turned eyes were used for dressing dry flies was that the up-turned eye made a convenient thread hold during the process of tying. This is outlined in Halford's first book, Floating Flies and How to Dress Them. The hook style became somewhat "synonymous" with d...

The articles from the three issues were later published in a hardback volume called "Sports illustrated Book of Wet Fly Fishing." The photos were replaced with excellent illustrations by Anthony Ravielli.

I have the full set of three issues.

The accepted substitute since Pritt's time has been the inner covert feather from a starling. My guess is that even most of the original Dotterel flies that have survived the ravages of time and moth are actually dressed with this feather. Placed side by side, the two feathers are closer than most o...

I have quite a few Mills flies in similar packaging and have looked at many more but this is the first time that I have seen the Made in Great Britain tag on them. Without the tags it's anyone's guess where the flies were dressed but you have proof on these! Very neat.