Thaddeus Norris (aka "Uncle Thad")

[letumgo]

As I was thumbing thru my copy of "The Art of Tying the Wet Fly", I noticed the dedication page "To Thaddeus Norris - America's Greatest Fly Fisherman"



This sent me on a little quest, to find out more about Thaddeus Norris. Here is some of the stuff I found.


http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com/2008 ... maker.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ameri ... r%27s_Book


Source - Orvis Fly Fishing History (http://www.orvis.com/news/fly-fishing/R ... ts-III-IV/)
1864, in America - American Angler’s Book, by Thaddeus Norris. This popular book made Norris the father of American fly fishing. Advanced in his thinking, “Uncle Thad” Norris, as he was affectionately known, clearly described the use of the floating fly. As tackle-maker and merchant, he participated in the development of the modern fly rod. A noted writer and widely admired man, he had profound influence among American anglers.

You can download a free copy of Thad Norris's book here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=eSY9A ... &q&f=false

Or if you want to pay for a paper edition, you can get one here:
http://www.amazon.com/American-Anglers- ... Angler%27s

Anyway, I wanted to share these links, since I had not done research on Thaddeus Norris before. Seeing Jim Leisenring dedicate his book to him, I figured I'd better dig into who Mr. Norris was.

Enjoy!

[DOUGSDEN]

Beautiful Ray, just beautiful!
The Leisenring Spiders adorning the dedication page are delicious looking (I am dinning like a trout again) and so appropriate! Syl Nemes touches on "Uncle Thad" quite a bit in his "Two Centuries of Soft-Hackled Flies" and I would have to agree that up to that point, T.N. was the greatest American Fly Fisher! Fortunately, we have had a basket full of these great men since that time!
Thanks for providing the two links to his great book! It's nice to be able to read the pages and if you like, you can purchase it right on the spot! Marvelous!
From a much happier fly fisherman because of what is before me,
Doug

[redietz]

Not only was he the preeminent US angling writer of the 19th century, but he was also a regular on the Broadhead(s). The latter fact may have had something to do with why Leisenring chose to dedicate the book to him, since that was also JL's favorite stream.