TALK GIVEN AT THE BELLS LARGEMOUTH YELLOWFISH FESTIVAL (ELGRO RIVER LODGE 2007)

Malcolm Meintjes

SOME TALKING POINTS STRANGE PAST AND PRESENT IN THE HISTORY OF FLYFISHING

Flyfishing has a long history attached to it, thus it is unsurprising that it is has formed a strong tradition. In the modern era, however, with many flyfishers coming into the sport, most are unaware of the background and developments over centuries. It comes thus as something of a surprise to read that anglers of many years past discussed many of the same things in their flyfishing experiences that we do today. While centuries have passed, many of the posers still remain with us.

This article is not only to describe some aspects of flyfishing history, but also for you to find a place in your own flyfishing which you can share with those who have gone before and who have helped us to enjoy our pastime today.

The Flyfishers Club (London) has a maxim which goes " "Piscator non solum piscatur", meaning "it is not all of angling to fish", a saying best translated by Cleopatra who invited Marc Antony to fish with her (See Shakespeare "Antony and Cleopatra"). He, knowing she was a good fisher, decided to even the odds and employed a diver to impale live fish upon his hook, whereupon he would pull it up to much celebration. After the outing, she discovered this deceit and invited him to fish once again. This time however, she used a diver who, during the proceedings, attached a salted and, therefore, very dead fish from Pontus upon his hook. Clever? Remember that Cleopatra caught one of the most remembered braces in history - Julius Caesar and Marc Antony

The first recorded incident concerning flyfishing was written by the Roman rhetorician Claudius Aelian in the 5 century A.D. Here he described a Macedonian way of using a rod 6 ft. long, tying red wool around a hook and fixing to the wool two feathers from a cock's wattles (wax colour). He mentioned that the fish was attracted and excited by the colour, but enjoyed a bitter repast.

This tells us that, even then, anglers were debating what induced fish to take a fly, notions that today we still argue about - aggression or feeding - and today many of our flies are based on aspects of these two theories.

For a thousand years after Aelian, there is little or no information on flyfishing, but in 1455 Gutenberg invented the printing press which was a major breakthrough in information dissemination. Forty years later, the first book on flyfishing, called the "Treatise of Fishing with an Angle" was written by Dame Juliana de Berners and was contained in a bigger reference book called the "Boke of St Albans".

Not only was it surprising to many that a woman should have been the author, but the additional fact that she was a nun - a Prioress in fact. Interestingly, her Treatise included 12 flies which could be used at various times of the season, but one might also break these flies down into colours (red, dun, and yelow) as well as, seemingly, for natural insects upon which the flies were fashioned (waspe, stone and drake). Today you may hear also anglers talking of a particular colour being the critical factor; while others will strongly proposing that imitation of the natural is more important

Today, there is, amongst yellowfish anglers, some dissent at the numbers of flyfishers on the waters, it seems the Elizabethans felt much the same way. Thomas Bastard in a poem wrote:

But now the sport is marred and wot ye why?

Fishes decrease and fishers multiply

It was clear too that an appreciation was dawning that fish needed a more careful approach if they were to be captured. Today one hears of anglers minimising shine on their reels and rods An Elizabethan angler, John Dennys, also realised the importance of bankcraft and painted his rod a dark colour to camouflage it. He maintained:

Let your garments be russet and grey

Of colour dark and hardest to descry.

Of course, one need only look at the garb of most anglers. Apart from a red neckerchief, there is often only the merest hint of colour other than khaki.

During the Renaissance, anglers were equally ingenious in their tactics. Leonard Mascall (1590) tried to overcome the sinking of his flies, which were made of wool bodies. He tied them up with cork. John Taverner realised that one had to be able to present the fly further for more success. He used line twice the length of his rod and, just as modern day anglers discuss the merits of "going finer" with their tippets, he trimmed his horsehair leaders down to a suggested 2-3 hairs for trout. (Dame Juliana had suggested 6. )

In 1651, Thomas Barker developing this theme, maintained that if you were skillful enough to catch fish on 1 horsehair, you would catch 5 times as many trout to an angler who used two. How many times have you heard it debated that 5X leader will catch more fish than 3X?

Then in 1653, Isaac Walton wrote one of the best-known books of all time called The Complete Angler. He was a Royalist in the days of Charles 1, the latter being executed by Oliver Cromwell. Much of Walton's fishing seemed to revolve around singing ditties and conversing with milkmaids. This is, of course, one of the major changes of today - there is a definite paucity of milkmaids around and some anglers' singing leaves much to the imagination.

However, during this time, two major figures emerged Charles Cotton and Robert Venables ( while Cotton was a Royalist, the latter was a Colonel in the new model Army of Oliver Cromwell )

Cotton in fact wrote a piece about flyfishing in the final edition of The Complete Angler and coined the famous phrase "fine and far off". He fished the River Dove with rods of 18 ft. (made up in several sections) and his leader was also longer, but now they were tapered from 7 strands at the butt, to 2 at the tippet which was a great revolution in itself. It bears similarity with modern dry-fly anglers and their usage of tapered leaders, whether self-constructed or manufactured. He maintained that if you could not subdue a fish of 20 inches on two strands could not be called an angler. An interesting "point" in itself.

He also gave dressings of 60 different patterns which was astounding in an era in which few were capable of tying their own flies. He moved away from wool and used hair from cow, camel ,hare, bear, dogs and hog's ear. Thus the term "dubbing" came into use. More lateral thought was displayed when he instructed people that the only way to decide upon the true hue of dubbing, was to look at it in direct sunlight e.g. what looked black previously was found instead to show a reddish hue tint. Today we blend dubbing to introduce delicate hues into a pattern.

He also suggested that every fly should be modeled on a natural thus showing an understanding of a more imitative approach.

What of Venables? He tied his flies in palmered fashion and reversed the wings, so that the fly sat upside down… not unlike the modern day Clouser Minnow.

In the Victorian era, British armies moved around the world and trout too became more widespread throughout the colonies. In England a significant figure in the 1880s was F M Halford who was pre-eminent in the development of imitative fishing on the chalk streams of Southern England such as the River Test.

His rationale was that one should spot a rising fish and ascertain what it was feeding on. Then approximate as closely as possible the insect to which the trout was rising, cast at the fish and (hopefully) catch it. He could not identify the Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear closely enough to a specific fly and thus he deigned to use it. it goes without saying that he used nothing under the surface.

His disciples were perhaps more vehement than he and though he has his views, he also displayed a more modest side - he mentioned days in which he left flies in trees, in trout and he had days of discouragement.

In 1910 came the publication of "Minor Tactics of a Chalkstream" by G E M Skues. He also espoused exact imitation and upstream fishing, but with the ascended nymph. This cause a furore because he was not fishing on the top with an adult fly. He was neverthless, considered a great angler a with sense of humour - somewhat lacking in many then and now. At school he was known as the Marquis of Seaforth and Soforth and the Isles Thereof. To protest at the lack of payment for his articles, he wrote under the name of Val Conson (valuable consideration) and later as I Caunter Fordham

South Africa too inherited in the Victorian era, and in 1875 efforts were made to get trout to South Africa In 1902 The Transvaal Trout Acclimatisation Society was formed with Lord Milner as President and two esteemed writers, Percy Fitzpatrick and John Buchan being members of the committee.

Undoubtedly British officers flyfished for yellows near Potchefstroom, but this did not catch on. Yet, there is a report of a Col. Stanley who, in 1883, saw yellows being caught near Eshowe on fly. One wonders at the origin of the great fly - the Zulu?

In talking of early flyfishing for yellowfish, credit must be given to Bruce Bennion who, in the 1920s, wrote two books wherein he described catching yellows, barbel and tiger fish on fly as well as saltwater shad and mackerel. He used the Silver Doctor, Zulu, Coch-y-bundu, but he and his friends also fished dry flies - particularly mayflies - with success,. He caught yellows in the Klip River near Meyerton and once reported seeing a 19 lb. yellowfish come out of the Schoonspruit near Klerksdorp.

History, tradition and debate continues to unfold and the last 50 years has been no exception. We are as much part of "future history" - thus, when next you are on the water imagine the scene as though you were there 100 years ago and then imagine how anglers in the future will feel about us.