The Fly Fisher's Illustrated... | Buy

This Dictionary contains more than 350 explanations of fly- fishing terms and phrases, including fly tying, entomology, historic equipment, and angling methods- illustrated with more than 150 drawings and photographs. The entries are listed alphabetically, and are supported by anecdote and often by photographs or drawings. This is a book for those interested in the lore and language of fly fishing; it is a treasure trove of useful information, arcane knowledge, and modern references. It will be of particular interest to fly tyers, as it includes detailed information on such subjects as tying proportions and terms, rare and unusual tying materials, and hook shapes. From gildard to Isabella buff, from leveret to snoods-here is a charming ready reference to the past and to practical information for all present anglers.

DARREL MARTIN is a regular columnist for Fly Rod & Reel, and is the author of the fly-fishing classics Micropatterns and Fly-Tying Methods. He has taught fly casting for over thirty years. He lives in Tacoma, Washington.

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Three Sample Entries from THE FLY FISHER'S ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY:

Isabella (colored): A color of fly tying material; "Dubbing of an absolute Black mix'd with 8 or 10 Hairs Isabella coloured Mohair . . ." (Chetham, 1700). Also appears in The Compleat Angler. "A kind of whitish yellow, or, as some say, buff colour a little soiled." (Altieri's dictionary, quoted by Cotton). Cotton gives the following story: "The Archduke Albertus, who had married the Infanta Isabella, daughter of Philip the Second, King of Spain, with whom he had the Low Countries in dowry, in the year 1602, having determined to lay siege to Ostend . . . his pious princess, who attended him in that expedition, made a vow, that till it was taken she would never change her cloathes. Contrary to expectation, as the story says, it was three years before the place was reduced, in which time her Highness's linen had acquired the above mentioned hue." (The Compleat Angler, Part II, Chapter VII, Charles Cotton).

Loop-Rod: Term popularized by David Webster's The Angler and the Loop-Rod (1885). ". . . a two-handed spliced rod, measuring from 13 feet 6 inches to 13 feet 8 inches. It consists of three pieces. The butt is made of ash, the middle piece of hickory, and top of lancewood. When greater lightness is desired, limetree may be used for the butt: what the rod gains in this respect, however, is lost in durability. Attached to the extremity of the top piece is a strong loop of twisted horse-hair, through which is passed the loop of the hair-line used in casting." The loop-rod, sans reel, was thus characterized by the horse-hair loop at the tip. The horse-hair casting line was about 18 to 20 feet long, tapering from 36 to 45 hairs at the butt to five or six hairs at total line length (from the line loop to tail fly) of 34 to 37 feet. Nine flies, on two-inch looped droppers, were attached to the gut-line.

Unguentum Piscatorum Mirabile: (angling): An ointment that "prodigiously causes Fish to bite" according to James Chatham's The Angler's Vade Mecum (1700). "Of Man's Fat, Cats Fat, Herons Fat, and of the best Affa-foetida ["a Gummy Juice of Laser, Laserpitium, or Sylphyon"], of each two Drams, Cummin seed finely powdered two Scruples, and of Camphor, Galbanum and Venice Turpentine, of each one Dram, Civet grains two, make according to Art, all into an indifferent thin Oyntment, with the Chymical Oyls of Lavender, Annise and Cammomil, of each an equal quantity." Chetham, a late contemporary of Walton, augmented his splendid patterns with various abhorrent ointments. Man's fat was procured from London chyrurgeons (surgeons) specializing in anatomy, and heron's fat from poulterers. Chetham "forbore (for some Reasons) to insert" the ointment in his first edition. Apparently, it was extremely difficult to keep a good jewel hidden. "But now, since it is divulged, [I] value it not the less, but esteem it as a jewel." To attract fish, the ointment was applied to the last eight inches of line near the hook. Other curious ointments included the marrow from a heron's thigh bone, grave earth, powder from the bones or skull of a dead man at the opening of a grave, and mummy powder. As John Waller Hills noted, "The older fishermen had some advantage over us."

Excerpted from The Fly Fisher's Illustrated Dictionary by Darrel Martin
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