Pictures of Walbran's flies - calling Johnno for help.

[daringduffer]

Thank you Ruard (and Johnno) for making these available again. Contemporary flies are much more tidy. I wonder what anglers hundred or more years ago would say about this. The most common comment I have heard, or read, is that people had to use materials that were readily available to them. Would they have been more successful with what is available today? I value your opinion on this.

In his book "This Wonderful World of Trout", Charles K. Fox quotes one Eugene E. Slocum from his book "Ye Gods and Little Fishes": "An infinity of details, constantly varying with conditions which may change with the speed of lightning, bestrew the pathway between fly casting and a mastering of the whole game. The fundamental principles may be learned in a few hours; to transform them into a finished art requires many years of devotion". I think he nailed why my life is too short to become a true angler. Just entering the path is promising enough,though.

dd

[tie2fish]

This is pure speculation on my part, but I'm guessing that the old timers might be more successful today. They learned the tricks of the trade the hard way, and logically might have been better tacticians than those of us who have far better equipment and, with some notable exceptions, access to better quality tying materials. Those of the groundbreakers who fished for a living (for food or for sale) were also likely to deal more intensely with the task at hand, schooling themselves in nuances that escape the majority of modern fisherfolk.