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Tomah Jo (Orvis and Cheney 1885 Fishing With The Fly)

The Tomah Jo In Orvis and Cheney's book is quite a bit different than the one in Bergman's 1938 Trout.

Hook: # 2 Mustad R74-9672 Streamer

Thread: Black 70 Denier Ultra

Tail: Yellow India Cock

Butt: Black Ostrich Herl

Body: French Oval Tinsel (I only had extra small probably need a medium for this size hook)

Hackle: Yellow and Orange India Hen

Wing: Barred Wood Duck

Head: Black Ostrich Herl

I plan on doing some research to see where and how the pattern changed in the the 53 years between the two books.

Edited to add date in title

That is a stunning fly. I think it is too pretty to let a fish hit it.

Well done!

Thank you!

Very nicely dressed fly. I have a fascination with the old full feather wing flies, especially the old bass flies. Hard to imagine what one would look like after a fish or two had mangled it.

The Tomah Jo is listed in Mary Orvis Marbury’s book (Pattern 70) https://archive.org/details/favoritefli ... up?q=Tomah

“The fly called Tomah Jo was first made by Miss Sara J. McBride, of Mumford, N. Y., and named by Mr. Charles W. Stevens, of Boston, who introduced it to the public in his pleasant little book entitled, “Fly-Fishing in the Maine Lakes.”

Beautiful fly.

Yes and I tracked down a pdf of the book she mentions. I haven't had a chance to look through it though.

Great fly pattern!
Favorite fly of a Maine Indian Guide. Tomah Joseph, an Algonquin Indian from the Grand Lake Stream area in Maine was a fly fishing guide in the 1800s as well as an elder of the Passamaquoddy Indian tribe. He also built beautiful birch bark canoes ! Tomah Joseph was also a fishing and canoeing companion to President Franklin D. Roosevelt!
Great history
Lou

I totally agree the the pattern has changed through the years.
Many years ago on the Penobscot River I saw many older gents fishing variation’s of this pattern for Atlantic salmon.

Lou

Variant wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 10:37 am I totally agree the the pattern has changed through the years.
Many years ago on the Penobscot River I saw many older gents fishing variation’s of this pattern for Atlantic salmon.

Lou

The Tomah Joe is a lost pattern up here. Sure, it lives, somewhere in the mists of time, and the memories of certain incredibly old farts, but virtually everybody left alive thinks the Tomah Joe is Joes Smelt.

Lots of things have changed over the years. We used to be able to catch salmon out of the Penobscot, too. When was the last Presidential salmon caught-1990? I was working in Presque Isle at the time and always tried to get a couple of days off to drive down and fish the run. No such luck... (newspapers wait for no fisherman; which is probably why I embraced my farmer ancestry).

Combat fishing on the Penobscot was always significantly different than the combat fishing on the Salmon River in Pulaski. Well, ...sort of; it all depended what side of the river you were fishing; Bangor or Brewer.

My last great Hurrah on the Penobscot was in 2012 when my wife and I drove down to watch the initial destruction of the Great Works dam, and then the dam at Veazie. Some salmon have returned, something like 1,000 this year; a far cry from the glory days of yesteryear.

Christ, I hate dams.

Sorry, I'll stop now.

Forgotten Flies - Schmookler and Sils

#70 Tomah Joe from Favorite Flies and Their Histories - Mary Orvis Marbury