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SUMMER 2011 VOLUME 37 NUMBER 3

American

Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing

The

Fly Fisher

IMET STAN BOGDAN in June 2005 at thegrand opening of the museum’s newbuilding. We sat at the same dinner

table, and our mutual friend, the bamboorodmaker Fred Kretchman, facilitated ourfree-flowing banter. By the end of theevening, I had ordered a trout reel to attachto the 3-weight Kretchman rod I wasalready fishing. I figured I’d have at least ayear to save up for it.

A bit more than a year later—and withno reel in sight—Fred and Stan were onceagain in town, and I invited them over fora breakfast of my husband’s famous butter-milk pancakes (seriously—no one makesbetter). I was planning to run an excerptfrom Stan’s soon-to-be-published biogra-phy, Bogdan (by Graydon R. Hilyard; thechapter “Milestones” ran in Spring 2007).Frank Amato Publications had sent me afull-color page proof to help me choose achapter and photos, and Stan hadn’t yetseen a proof. We sat and looked through ittogether, the four of us, Stan telling storiesabout almost every photo in the book. Itwas a great day.

In 2007, Stan Bogdan received the muse-um’s Heritage Award for his unwaveringcommitment to quality in producing theworld’s finest salmon and trout fly reels.We honored him most recently on March10 at the annual Anglers’ Club of New Yorkdinner (page 24); he died March 27.Graydon Hilyard, Stan’s biographer, offersus his remembrance on page 22. ExecutiveDirector Cathi Comar, on the inside backcover, shares memories of a trip to theBogdan workshop. The museum hasindeed lost a great friend.

Stan is not the only friend we’ve lost oflate. Bill Salladin, who served on our boardof trustees from 2001 to 2007, recentlypassed away as well. Trustee Emeritus BillHerrick, on page 21, honors this generoussportsman with poetry and prose.

The feature articles in this summer issuetake you to Maine for some Americansalmon history. That state’s tradition ofsending the first Atlantic salmon caught onopening day to the president of the UnitedStates began in 1912 when Karl J. Andersensent the first one caught from thePenobscot’s Bangor salmon pool toPresident William Howard Taft. The tradi-tion was interrupted in the 1950s because

of pollution but was reinstated in the 1980s,lasting this time until 1992, when Claude Z.Westfall presented his fish to George H. W.Bush. Willard P. Greenwood visited ClaudeWestfall to discuss Westfall’s part in this tra-dition, traditional methods for fishing thePenobscot River, and the state of the rivertoday. “Claude Westfall and the LastPresidential Salmon” begins on page 2.

Karl Andersen was in fact known formore than beginning the presidentialsalmon tradition. An immigrant fromNorway, he brought to the task of salmonfishing a row boat like the faerings used inhis country of origin: a round-bottomeddouble-ender that turns quickly so that therower can swiftly move the angler to thebest salmon lie. Andersen peapods,designed to ride high in the water to makethem easier to both maneuver and holdposition, were very popular in the early tomid-1900s. Richard Jagels reports on therecent revival of Andersen peapods sprungfrom the restoration work of a few deter-mined Penobscot salmon anglers. “BangorPool Peapods: Reviving a Tradition and aRiver” can be found on page 10.

Our regular departments present infor-mation that should provoke a strike, par-ticularly Notes and Comment (page 16), inwhich Ken Cameron and Paul Schulleryreport the discovery of a new early date forAmerican fly fishing. Gordon Wickstrom,in “A Book of British Angling Prints: Sport,History, and Lovely Pictures” (page 18),reviews David Beazley’s Images of Angling:Three Centuries of British Angling Prints(Creel Press, 2010). John Mundt’s Keepersof the Flame series (page 20) highlights LesHilyard, the third proprietor of RangeleyFavorite Trout and Salmon Flies, the busi-ness originated by the great Carrie G.Stevens. And Museum News, as usual, willupdate you on museum events past andpresent (page 23).

Soon, when I purchase my no-felt-soleswading boots, I will head to the MettaweeRiver armed with both Kretchman rod andBogdan reel, the latter hand-delivered 41⁄2years after its order. Perhaps I’ll fish thatstreamer that Les Hilyard gave me at Stan’sfuneral. It will be another great day.

KATHLEEN ACHOREDITOR

Peter BakwinThomas Belk Jr.Kelly BoatrightRobert BruckerC. Austin Buck

A. S. CargillJace Day

Robert DiNozziDavid DiPiero

Domenic DiPieroHenry and Michelle Gasiorowski

Jon GibsonTom Gravina

Marc HembroughTim Hixon

James HoughtonFred KambeitzPeter KelloggSteve Lampe

Anthony LombardoRussel LucasSteve Myers

Grant E. NelsonRobert O’Hara III

John OliverJoseph R. Perella

Joseph and Usha RobillardBob and Mary Russell

Greg RussellEd ShugrueTim TigerPat Welsh

Ken Wilson

Catherine E. ComarExecutive Director

Yoshi AkiyamaDeputy Director

Michael BonebrakeDirector of Development and Marketing

Sarah MooreManager of Membership and Operations

Kim MurphyManager of Events and Events Promotion

Patricia RussellAccount Manager

Sara WilcoxDirector of Visual Communication

denotes additional levels of giving

F R I E N D S O F T H E M U S E U M

S T A F F

Reeling

We welcome contributions to the American Fly Fisher. Before making a sub-mission, please review our Contributor’s Guidelines on our website(www.amff.com), or write to request a copy. The museum cannot acceptresponsibility for statements and interpretations that are wholly the author’s.

Our Mission:

The American Museum of Fly Fishing pro-motes an understanding of and appreciation

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S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 V O L U M E 3 7 N U M B E R 3

the American Museum of Fly FishingJournal of

Claude Westfall and the Last Presidential Salmon . . . . . . 2Willard P. Greenwood II

Bangor Pool Peapods:Reviving a Tradition and a River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Richard Jagels

Notes and Comment:A New Early Date for American Fly Fishing . . . . . . . . . 16

Ken Cameron and Paul Schullery

Book Review:A Book of British Angling Prints:Sport, History, and Lovely Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Gordon Wickstrom

Keepers of the Flame:Les Hilyard: The RangeleyFavorite Trout and Salmon Flies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

John Mundt

In Memoriam: Bill Salladin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Bill Herrick

In Memoriam: Stanley E. Bogdan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Graydon Hilyard

Museum News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

ON THE COVER: Preparing to go salmon fishing on the Penobscot River inMaine. From the collection of Tom Hennessey.

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O F F I C E R S

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THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER

Michael BakwinFoster Bam

Pamela BatesPeter Corbin

Deborah Pratt DawsonE. Bruce DiDonato, MD

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T R U S T E E S E M E R I T I

2 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER

WHEN I WAS A novice fly fisher-man of sixteen in 1984, my par-ents moved to Orono, Maine,

from Hot Springs, Arkansas. My parentsbought a house that was two doors downfrom Claude Westfall, a notable localangler who would soon become morefamous. In the mid-1980s, I was justteaching myself how to fly fish withhomemade popping bugs on theStillwater branch of the Penobscot,which flows through downtown Orono.I mostly caught smallmouth and picker-el. I left Maine in my early twenties, andtwo decades passed before I learnedClaude’s story.

I return to Maine a couple times eachyear to visit family and to fish with oldfriends. My parents still live in the samehouse. Over time, the Westfalls and myparents became friends. A few years ago,I stopped by to talk with Claude Westfallabout our sport. As much as I enjoy ourconversations, I wish that our first meet-ing had happened twenty years ago.Claude has made it painfully apparent tome that I missed some memorableangling for Atlantic salmon. He said thatthe 1980s were a great time to fish forAtlantics on the Penobscot. At the time,he did not realize that he would play apivotal role in marking the end of asalmon-angling era on that river.

In 1992, Claude Z. Westfall became thelast man to catch a presidential salmon.He presented his fish to George H. W.Bush, marking the final year that a U.S.president observed the tradition of receiv-ing the first salmon caught on openingday. This tradition began in 1912 whenKarl J. Andersen, a Norwegian immigrant,sent the first salmon caught from theBangor salmon pool to President Taft. Acombination of politics, a love for salmonfishing, and a desire to promote the city ofBangor motivated Andersen to start thistradition. What Andersen began contin-ued, with occasional interruptions, until1992. In 1993, Scott Westfall, Claude’s son,caught a presidential salmon, but henever received a call from the ClintonWhite House (Figure 1).1

In spring 2010, I asked Claude if I couldinterview him for an article about the tra-dition of the presidential salmon. Claudeagreed, and we had a far-ranging discus-

sion about his life, the current state of thePenobscot River, the Veazie Salmon Club,and, of course, his presidential salmon(Figure 2).

Claude Westfall and theLast Presidential Salmon

by Willard P. Greenwood II

Figure 1. A list of all the presidential Atlantic salmon presented.From Ed Baum, Maine Atlantic Salmon: A National Treasure

(Hermon, Me.: Atlantic Salmon Unlimited, 1997), 66, with permission.

SUMMER 2011 3

TIME-TESTED METHODS

Fishing for Atlantic salmon goes backto the original inhabitants of this area ofMaine: the Abenaki. Fly fishing soon fol-lowed the arrival of European explorers.According to John Mundt, who hasextensively researched the Penobscot andits salmon, Atlantic salmon were beingfly caught as early as 1831. Mundt, in anarticle for this journal, examined the ori-gins of fly fishing on the Penobscot andhow the tradition of the presidentialsalmon began.2 Richard Jagels (who livesin the Bangor area) adds that KarlAndersen began the tradition as a way torevitalize the city of Bangor, whosedowntown, an area that included An-dersen’s painting business, had beendestroyed by fire.3 Mundt chronicles theorigins of fly fishing on the PenobscotRiver when Atlantics migrated in hugenumbers in the nineteenth century andin the early part of the twentieth. Begin-ning in 1912, the first Atlantic salmoncaught on the Penobscot was presentedto the president of the United States.

Even though fishing for Atlantics hasbeen put on hold because of the smallnumber of returning salmon, there is arenewed interest in building peapods, aboat designed by Karl Andersen. An arti-cle by Jagels in WoodenBoat magazine(and reprinted in this issue, page 10) dis-cusses Andersen’s boat-building innova-tion.4 Andersen, because of his Nor-wegian angling heritage, designed a boatcalled a double-ender (or peapod) specif-ically designed for harling, a long-forgot-

ten method of fishing for Atlantics on thePenobscot. In this two-person boat, aguide would ferry an angler back andforth across the river while the sportwould cast to salmon lies. A few years ago,the original models for these boats werefound in the attic of one of KarlAndersen’s daughters.

Claude Westfall has been fishing thePenobscot River since he arrived at theUniversity of Maine in 1952, where heworked as a professor of mechanical engi-neering for several decades. His expertisewith the material world can be seen inhis streamers, many of which becamestandards for catching Atlantics on thePenobscot (Figure 3). Recently, a collec-tion of his flies were auctioned at a bene-fit for Atlantic salmon restoration.

The dam above the historic Bangorsalmon pool broke in 1977, and this cre-ated more room for migrating salmon.Later, most of the remaining structurewas removed. With this obstacle gone,salmon began to congregate below theVeazie Dam. This is where Claude expe-rienced the Penobscot’s modern resur-gence, which began in the late 1970s.

Claude’s boat of choice is the GrandLaker, a design that originated in Maineon Grand Lake Stream. He designed andbuilt the 22-foot canoe himself (Figure4). He modified the classic design with afiberglass interior, ash trim, and a castingplatform in the stern (Figure 5). Claude’smethod of fishing for Atlantics from hisGrand Laker is not dissimilar to the oldmode of harling. Sometimes Claudeanchors and casts to lies.

Claude’s canoe winters in a detachedgarage built solely to house it. In earlyMay, Claude wheels out the boat, grabsthe trailer, and hooks up the boat to hiscar to go fishing.

Figure 3. Many of Claude Westfall’s streamers became standards forcatching Atlantic salmon on the Penobscot. Photo by Claude Westfall.

Figure 2. Claude Westfall and the author in Claude’s office, May 2010.

Rob Robertson


THE PENOBSCOT’S HISTORY

OF POLLUTION AND

RECOVERY

The small town of Veazie is about 20miles upstream from the mouth of theAtlantic and 4 miles away from Claude’shouse. During several decades over thepast 100 years, this section of the Penobscothas offered the best Atlantic salmonangling in the United States. Today, Ameri-cans have to travel to Canada or Europe tocatch Atlantic salmon.

Because of pollution from logging andother industrial activity, the first drasticdip in salmon runs happened in the1950s. Claude recalls that during thistime, there were very few, if any, fish inthe river. Claude was then a lake fisher-man; however, after he caught his firstAtlantic salmon—a bright 14-pound henin the Wringer Pool—he made the tran-sition to fishing exclusively for salmon.Claude caught this fish in the 1970s whenthe Penobscot began to recover thanks towater pollution legislation passed by thestate of Maine in 1969.

Claude still lives right across the streetfrom the Stillwater branch of the Pen-obscot. His attachment to the Atlanticsalmon of the Penobscot River exempli-fies the connection that we all shouldhave with our local surroundings. Forexample, in 1983, Claude fought andwon a dispute with the Bangor WaterDistrict, which had put some riprapalong the bank of the Penobscot.5 Thisstone structure took the flow out of theWringer Pool. Claude filed a complaintwith the Department of EnvironmentalProtection and won. The riprap structurewas removed. Westfall has helped to pre-serve the legacy of this fish, advance themodern ethos of fly fishing, and possiblygive future anglers the opportunity tofish for this magnificent species in theirown neighborhood.

Throughout the years, Claude has keptdetailed records about Atlantic salmon onthe Penobscot (Figure 6). His methodicalrecord keeping, some of which can beseen on his website, is a unique trove ofinformation.6 His charts are interesting,and there is a lot of scientific and envi-ronmental information concerning aqua-culture, the mixing of wild and stockedfish, predation, commercial fishing, sportfishing, pollution, and global warming.All of these variables make understandingthe plight of the salmon complicated andoverwhelming.

Claude says that despite these com-plexities, there is one major problem:dams. As soon as certain dams are re-moved and others are modified, thesalmon (and many other species) will

Figure 4. Claude Westfall (left) and Bob Enos in Claude’s Grand Laker. This photowas taken the day Claude caught, but released, a presidential salmon in 1987.

Figure 5. The interior of Claude’s 22-foot Grand Laker canoe. Claude modified theclassic design with a fiberglass interior, ash trim, and a casting platform in the stern.

Hazen NelsonR

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SUMMER 2011 5

have access to more spawning grounds.Increased spawning territory will help tooffset the effects of the aforementionedobstacles. Dam removal and modifica-tion are actually under way on the Pen-obscot. The Penobscot River RestorationTrust has raised $25 million and needsanother $25 million to complete their

work. How soon this will come tofruition is unknown. At present, there areplans to remove the Great Works andVeazie dams.7

Because of low trap numbers, thePenobscot was closed to salmon fishingin 1999, and in 2000, the Atlantic salmonwas classified as endangered on the

Penobscot. However, in 2006, with anincrease in trap numbers, there was someoptimism, and a brief fall fishing seasonwas opened. This was successful, and soanother experimental season was at-tempted in spring 2008. That year,Claude hooked ten (Figure 7), but he didnot land a single fish. Still, he recountsthat season quite fondly. He said that hehad a fantastic time just hooking the fishand that it was “a real joy” to be fishingfor his favorite kind of fish again, whichhe did at the Veazie Salmon Club.

THE VEAZIE SALMON CLUB

Before the current decline of this fish-ery, Claude and other area anglersfounded the Veazie Salmon Club in 1978(Figures 8 and 9). It is still in existence.Walking through the club and looking atthe pictures was clearly an emotionalexperience for Claude, who is now eighty-three (Figure 10). The passing of friendsand the possible end of a kind of fishingfor a kind of fish that has such a rich his-tory in North America and Europe is a bitmuch to fathom on a sunny spring after-noon in Maine.

The walls of the club are covered withpictures of famous (Ted Williams [Fig-ure 11], the last baseball player to hit .400for the season) and not-so-famousanglers, all catching beautiful Atlantics.Claude served as club president in1985–1986. The club and this stretch ofthe river established its own legends, witheach pool bearing a name (Figure 12).One pool is named for the club’s founder,Gene Guerin. Another is named for ajunked washing machine that had aprominent spot on the riverside formany years. The washing machine islong gone, but the pool is still known asthe Wringer Pool, and it’s the source forone of Claude’s most famous streamers,the CZ Wringer (Figure 13).

It was apparent that the naming of theriver’s pools was an important part ofthe Veazie Salmon Club’s culture. Whentalking about the river, Claude referredto all the pools by their specific names.Claude was fortunate to experience theresurgence of the Penobscot River. In themid-1950s, the tradition of the presiden-tial salmon was interrupted because ofpollution. In 1981, the tradition resumed,thanks to the effects of the Clean WaterAct. Once again, salmon were migratingin significant numbers on the Penobscot.

Claude wistfully recalled the heydayof this fishery, which for him was in theearly 1980s. He used to cut the grass, go tothe club, visit with friends, catch a salmon,and be home for dinner. In the 1980s,catch-and-release became de rigueur onthe Penobscot, an ethos that many of the

Figure 6. Penobscot River Atlantic salmon trap count at Veazie Dam.Note the up-and-down trends in this chart compiled by Claude Westfall.

Figure 7. An experimental Atlantic salmon season was attempted inspring 2008, during which Claude hooked ten fish, but did not land one.

Claude WestfallFr

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man


club members welcomed. This shift tocatch-and-release was hard for somelongtime anglers who fished to stocktheir freezers. The culture of the fisherychanged, which imbued Claude with adeep passion and commitment for se-curing a sustainable future for the riverand its salmon. In fact, Claude caught apresidential salmon in 1987. He decidedto let that fish go, because he did notwant to kill the fish.

The Veazie Salmon Club overlooks ariver in which salmon still migrate(Figure 14).

THE LAST

PRESIDENTIAL SALMON

On 1 May 1992 at 4:55 a.m., Claudecaught a salmon (Figure 15) on a CZSpecial (Figure 16). He was fishing fromhis Grand Laker and landed it in BeachPool. This fish was the last presidentialsalmon. He had no idea that it wouldmark the conclusion of a remarkableangling tradition. Claude received a callfrom Governor John McKernan’s secre-tary informing him that they would con-tact the White House. The governor’soffice arranged for Claude to present hissalmon on 25 May 1992, so, for the nextthree weeks Claude kept the fish in hisfreezer. Claude and his wife, Rosemae,met President Bush at Walker’s Point inKennebunkport, Maine. Governor McKer-nan was also there, as was his wife,Olympia Snowe, who is now one ofMaine’s senators. John Brennan, com-

Figure 10. Claude in May 2010 reminiscingabout the beginnings of the Veazie Salmon Club.

Rob Robertson

Figure 8 (above). The Veazie Salmon Club in May 2010.

Figure 9 (right). Inside the Veazie Salmon Club, May 2010.

Club photos by Rob Robertson

SUMMER 2011 7

missioner of Marine Resources, alsoattended the ceremony (Figure 17).

Claude still has fond and humorousmemories of the details that led up to thepresentation of the fish. He had to gothrough a road block on Walker’s Point,the site of the President Bush’s residence.The fish was taken from Claude and“inspected” by the secret service. In thepast, the presidential salmon was ofteneaten and was a distinctly Republicanpolitical gesture, but as times changed,the fish was graciously received as a cul-tural gift only (not eaten), and as anacknowledgment of the greatness of thefish itself.

President Bush also accepted some ofClaude’s flies and a Veazie Salmon Clubcap. Claude socialized with the presidentfor more than an hour. They both haveroots in Texas and found that they weredistantly related through an ancestornamed Henderson Bush, who fought inthe Civil War. Claude still has severalphotographs from the event, which weresent to him by the White House staffphotographer.

A PROMISING FUTURE

For the native Penobscot Indians andto those of European descent, theAtlantic salmon is a spiritual and majes-tic fish that confers sustenance, well-being, and prestige to those fortunateenough to catch one. The decline of thisfishery is a sad and familiar story inAmerica; however, there is real hope thatfishing for Atlantic salmon will, once

Figure 11 (left). A 1985 photo of SpencerKing (lower left corner), Paul Higgins,Claude Westfall, and Ted Williams hangsat the Veazie Salmon Club. From the col-lection of Claude Westfall.

Figure 12 (center). A map of pools of thePenobscot created by Claude Westfall for

the Veazie Salmon Club.

Figure 13. One of Claude Westfall’smost famous streamers, the CZ

Wringer, tied by Claude.

Rob Robertson

Cla

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Wes

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again, be possible in the Penobscot River.When the Penobscot began to recoverfrom the effects of pollution and log-ging, there was a renaissance of Atlanticsalmon fishing that began in the 1970sand continued into the 1990s. The detailsand scope of the dam-removal projectare fascinating because of the coopera-tion between industrial and environ-mental interests. It remains to be seenwhen and if the planned dam removalwill permanently change this fishery.

At present, it is illegal to fish forAtlantic salmon on the Penobscot River.When I was in Orono visiting Claude,there was a front-page article in theBangor Daily News about the returningsalmon.8 The trap numbers were encour-aging. In May 2010, 255 adult salmon hadbeen trapped as opposed to 109, thenumber trapped during the same timeframe in May 2009.

Despite their endangered status,Claude thinks restoration efforts wouldbe helped by a short season that wouldallow anglers to catch these fish. A fly-fishing-only season with strict catch-and-release regulations would maintainthe culture of the club and keep the fish-ery in the public consciousness.

That experimental 2008 season linkeda rich and distinguished past to an uncer-tain but promising future. Although eventhe highly regulated practice of catch andrelease for Atlantic salmon is controver-sial to some, to have people fishing forsalmon is crucial to maintain politicalmomentum for the improvement of theriver and for the maintenance of the fishpopulation, in Claude’s opinion. The tra-dition of the presidential salmon is onethat should still be alive. Without a rela-tionship between angler and fish, fish,ironically, lose their strongest advocates.Employing strict rules—such as usingbarbless hooks, not taking the fish out ofthe water, and limiting anglers to onefish per day—was very successful in2008. Also, a limited season would helpthe club create a new generation ofmembers and anglers in general whowould continue to act both as stewardsfor the river and as advocates for salmon.

At one point or another, there havebeen twenty salmon clubs in Maine,most of which were attached to a specif-ic river, such as the Penobscot, Dennys,or Narraguagus.9 This number testifiesto the fact that the Atlantic salmon is aremarkable game fish. What gets lost inthe political and cultural context is thefact that Atlantics, when they are in afavorable environment, may be the mostexciting freshwater fish to catch. Wildsalmon have the desirable qualities ofsize, speed, and power. Their flavor issuperior to hatchery or aquaculture

Figure 14. Claude Westfall and the author in May 2010 looking at thePenobscot River and Veazie Dam from the grounds of the Veazie Salmon Club.

Figure 15. On 1 May 1992 at 4:55 a.m., Claude caught the last presidential salmon ona CZ Special at the Eddington Salmon Club. From the collection of Claude Westfall.

Rob R

obertson

SUMMER 2011 9

salmon. These attributes, combined withtheir history, make them a singular quarryin the world of fly fishing.

At this time, it may be difficult to imag-ine a Penobscot that has a large run ofAtlantics, but with the legacy of Claudeand others like him, and with changesbeing made to dams, the Penobscot could

once again be one of the premier fisheriesin the United States. Ideally, the presiden-tial salmon tradition could be continued ifdam removal helps to reestablish salmonruns. Claude is proud to have caught apresidential salmon, yet he would prefernot to be the last man to have done so.

!

ENDNOTES

1. Ed Baum, Maine Atlantic Salmon: ANational Treasure (Hermon, Me.: AtlanticSalmon Unlimited, 1997), 66.

2. John Mundt, “The Historical Penob-scot: America’s Atlantic Salmon FishingLegacy,” The American Fly Fisher (Summer1996, vol. 23, no. 3), 2–9.

3. Richard Jagels, “Bangor Pool Peapods:Reviving a Tradition and a River,” WoodenBoat(January/February 2010, no. 212), 38–43.

4. Ibid.5. James Butler and Arthur Taylor, Pen-

obscot River Renaissance: Restoring America’sPremier Atlantic Salmon Fishery (Camden,Me.: The Silver Quill Press/Down EastBooks), 64. This book contains interviewswith many anglers who have fished thePenobscot. In Claude Westfall’s interview, heexplains his own theory of fishing forAtlantic salmon and how he originated cer-tain patterns, including the CZ Wringer andthe CZ Special (see Figures 13 and 16).

6. Claude Westfall, www.geocities.com/salmoczw/mypage.html. Claude’s websiteincludes some of the pictures that appear inthis article. The charts and tables that appearhere are the results of his research.

7. Madeline Bodin, “Freeing a River,”Nature Conservancy (Summer 2010), 32–41.

8. John Holyoke, “Salmon Return inRecord Numbers,” Bangor Daily News (27 May2010), A1, A4. Holyoke is an outdoor sports-writer who writes regular columns for theBangor Daily News. Many of his articles havefocused on the Penobscot’s Atlantic salmon.

9. Baum, Maine Atlantic Salmon, 63.

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Figure 17. On 25 May 1992, Claude Westfall and his wife, Rosemae, met President Bush atWalker’s Point in Kennebunkport, Maine, in a ceremony to present the presidential salmon.

Pictured are John Brennan, commissioner of Marine Resources; President George H. W.Bush; Claude Westfall; Olympia Snowe, now one of Maine’s senators; Governor John

McKernan; and Rosemae Westfall. From the collection of Claude Westfall.

Figure 16. Claude Westfall’s CZ Special, tied by its creator.

Rob Robertson


IN THE EARLY twentieth century, Bangor,Maine, was a world-renowned destina-tion for those who sought to fish for

Atlantic salmon by rod and reel. Legen-dary bamboo rod makers Hiram L.Leonard and Fred E. Thomas began theircareers in Bangor, custom buildingsalmon rods for the famous and not-so-famous who gathered from around theglobe each spring to fish the Bangor Poolon the Penobscot River. Specially de-signed double-ended boats, generallycalled peapods, allowed rower and anglerto cover all parts of the river. The devel-opment of the sport would depend onthe dedication of many, including thosewho formed the Penobscot Salmon Club,but perhaps no one had so profound aninfluence as a modest Norwegian immi-grant whose fleeting moment of glorysoon faded into obscurity.

The son of a carpenter, Karl J. Andersenwas born 25 April 1872 in Christiania (nowOslo), Norway. He spent his first twentyyears there, undoubtedly learning aboutsport fishing for salmon on Norway’srivers. One of the most popular rod-and-reel fishing methods in that coun-try, and one still used today, is known asharling, a method sometimes confusedwith trolling, but in fact, quite different.Harling requires a small, maneuverableboat that carries an oarsman and, aft ofhim, the angler. The boat is rowed outinto a river and, with the bow pointingupstream, is held in one location butshuttled from bank to bank. While theoarsman is performing these maneuvers,the angler casts downstream and lets outline until his lure or fly is over a salmonlie, a place where returning salmonbriefly rest while migrating upstream totheir spawning grounds.

A rowing boat that turns quickly anddraws little water is needed for this type

of fishing. In Norway, the ideal is foundin the faering, a round-bottomed dou-ble-ender usually less than 16 feet long,with rocker, considerable dead rise, andflare amidships. Such a boat has minimalwetted surface, making it easy to hold inone position in a river current that canbe quite strong. With an upswept bowand stern to reduce keel length, the boatis easily turned, allowing the rower tomaneuver back and forth across the riverto find the best salmon lie.

Karl Andersen’s father may have builtfaerings in Norway, but on this we canonly speculate. Almost certainly Karllearned about salmon fishing as a child,because after he came to Maine in 1892,he quickly became adept at catchingsalmon in the Bangor Pool. We don’tknow why he immigrated, but the late1800s was a time when many Europeansof limited means were setting their sightson the other side of the pond as the placewhere they could realize their dreams.

Bangor Pool Peapods:Reviving a Tradition and a River

by Richard Jagels

This article appeared originally in WoodenBoatmagazine No. 212 (January/February 2010).

Old photo showing popularity of early-run salmon fishing on the Penobscot in Bangor.

Tom Hennessey collection

SUMMER 2011 1 1

Very likely Karl was married to his wife,Otilla, before he arrived in Bangor. Theirchild, Esther, was born 10 April 1898.Because early April is the start of salmonfishing on the Penobscot, Karl may ormay not have been in attendance at herbirth. What is certain is that as soon asEsther could hold a salmon rod—and inthose days they were quite heavy—Karltaught her how to fish. At the young ageof ten, Esther landed a lively 10-poundsalmon in the Bangor Pool while receiv-ing instruction from her proud fatherwho was rowing the boat.1

All of Karl’s eight children were incul-cated into the art of salmon fishing. Aphoto from 1912 shows two of his sons,Ralph, aged twelve, and Edmund, agedthirteen, proudly holding a 22-poundsalmon they caught at the Bangor Poolwhile sitting in a boat built by their father.Most likely, they caught the fish by har-ling. Four years earlier, the Bangor DailyCommercial reported that John Doaneand Karl Andersen jointly landed the firstfish of the season, an 11-pounder, on 1April 1908.2 Which man was rower andwhich yielded the rod was not mentioned,suggesting that they caught the fish byharling—when both rower and rod hold-er are given credit for catching the fish.Seasoned Bangor Pool salmon fishermentoday still know about harling as a formof fishing because it was practiced formany years on the Penobscot. Althoughwe don’t know for certain, it is a goodpossibility that Karl Andersen introducedthis method of fishing to Bangor.

But Karl would gain even more promi-nence when on opening day, 1 April 1912,he caught the first two salmon at theBangor Pool and proudly decided to sendone, an 11-pounder, to President William

Howard Taft—starting a tradition thatlasted, on and off, for more than eightdecades. Karl, by this time a member ofthe Penobscot Salmon Club, provided thefollowing rationale for sending the fish:“As long as Bangor presented the Presidentwith its full quota of delegates to theRepublican State Convention, I thought itwould be more than fitting that I shouldcontribute to the city’s need of honor andrespect by sending him a salmon.”3

Karl’s statement has been interpretedby some to mean that he was honoringand respecting the president by sendinghim a salmon, but my reading of hisstatement is that he was hoping thatBangor would gain more recognitionfrom his gesture. As an immigrant, hemay have been expressing patriotism for

his adopted country, but he likely had amore urgent and calculated motive: thatof promoting salmon fishing in Bangor.Just one year before Karl sent the firstpresidential salmon, Bangor suffered adisastrous fire that wiped out almost allof the downtown (including Karl’spainting business)—a calamitous eventthat would take the city decades torecover from. Perhaps Karl was trying todemonstrate that although the city hadsuffered a great setback, the salmon fish-ing was alive and well.

Whatever his real motivation, the tra-dition of sending the first-caught salmonfrom the Bangor Pool to the sitting U.S.president continued without interrup-tion until 1954. Then, due to a scarcity ofreturning salmon, the practice lapseduntil it was revived in the 1980s. It wasfinally put to rest in the mid-1990s, andby 2000 salmon fishing was banned onthe river altogether because of extremelylow numbers of salmon returning tospawn. In 2008, a limited catch-and-release spring salmon season was permit-ted, but all angling ended in May 2009when the federal government listedsalmon in the Penobscot as endangered.

BANGOR POOL PEAPODS

The Bangor-to–Old Town region alongthe Penobscot River became renownedfor another reason: from the late 1800s tothe mid-1900s, it produced more wood-and-canvas canoes than anywhere else inthe country. Builders such as E. H. Gerrishand C. B. Thatcher in Bangor; B. N.Morris in Veazie; and Carleton, OldTown, and E. M. White in Old Town pro-duced thousands of canoes that were soldall over the world. In 2001, the Penobscot

Tom Hennessey collection

Ralph and Edmund, two of Karl Andersen’s eight children, learned how to fish thePenobscot River for Atlantic salmon from their father, who developed the wood-and-

canvas peapod pictured here in 1912 specifically for use at the Bangor Pool.

Ed Baum collection

Salmon fishing was popular sport along the Penobscot, and fishing competitions andsportsmen’s clubs were common. Boats were necessary to access the best fishing holes.


Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine,compiled a list of canoe builders inMaine. Of 145 listed, eighty were in busi-ness before 1910. Today, only one of theoriginal Bangor area companies, OldTown Canoe Co., remains, although theconstruction and restoration of wood-and-canvas canoes remains alive in thehands of a few craftsmen, such as JerryStelmok of Island Falls Canoe Co. andRollin Thurlow of Northwoods CanoeCo., both situated in the central Mainetown of Atkinson and both of whomteach at WoodenBoat School in Brooklin.

Into this wood-and-canvas canoe-building milieu came Karl Andersen,with his recollection of Norwegian faer-ings. Who first adapted wood-and-can-vas canoe construction methods to theserowing “double-enders” or “peapods,” asthey were variously known, remains amystery, but old-timers in the area gen-erally think that Andersen and Gerrishmade the best ones. Having now exam-ined several of the few remaining boats,my best guess is that E. H. Gerrish, whowas building canoes by the early 1880s,provided the canoe-building technologyand Andersen introduced the shape. EarlyGerrish peapods look like wide, shortcanoes, but later ones have the round bot-toms, greater rocker, and upswept bow-and-stern profiles characteristic of Ander-sen peapods. We have no record ofGerrish and Andersen collaborating, butboth lived and worked in Bangor.

Although Andersen peapods wereamong the most popular in the early tomid-1900s, Karl never listed himself as aboatbuilder. Examination of old Bangorcity directories from 1901 (when Karl’sname first appears) until his death in1943 reveals only that Karl was a housepainter (or, occasionally, carpenter).Even his obituary is unrevealing. He issimply described as a “well known Bangorpainting contractor.”4 When I mentionedthis recently to Rollin Thurlow, who hasrestored a number of Gerrish boats, hiscryptic response was, “Considering howwell boatbuilding pays, it’s a good thinghe had another business.”5 In fact, beinga painting contractor likely allowed Karlthe freedom to build his boats as a side-line (perhaps as many as a hundred,according to indirect information from arelative) and still raise a family of fourdaughters and four sons through WorldWar I and the Great Depression.

The significant role that Karl Andersenplayed in promoting salmon fishing in theBangor area—through his peapods, thepossible introduction of harling, and theinitiation of the presidential salmon tra-dition—is mostly unknown today. If itwere not for two neighbors of mine, Iwould not be telling this story.

Rollin Thurlow

Early peapod built by E. H. Gerrish that retains the flatbottom and upturned ends typical of classic canoe form.

A later Gerrish peapod after Gerrish moved his shop to Costigan. Theboat has lines that are closer to an Andersen boat, but with less sheer.

Rollin Thurlow

SUMMER 2011 13

ANDERSEN PEAPODS REBORN

Steve Forrest lives in Hampden,Maine, just south of Bangor on thePenobscot River, and is a neighbor andfriend of outdoor writer and artist TomHennessey. Both are Maine natives andavid salmon fishermen, and have oftenfished the Bangor Pool. Hennessey, whobegan fishing as a young boy in the1940s, owns a peapod that may have beenbuilt by E. M. White, and Forrest, whobuilds and repairs boats in his sparetime, has done some restoration work onit. In 1990, Hennessey learned that NinaAndersen, one of Karl’s daughters, want-ed to sell her father’s peapod-buildingjig, a form similar to the type used inbuilding wood-and-canvas canoes. Thejig was collecting dust in a barn behindthe house at 158 Fern Street in Bangor,where Karl and his family had lived.Ernest and Ralph, two of his sons, whonever married, had continued to live inthe house after Karl’s death in 1943.Ralph died in 1986 and Ernest in 1995(Esther, who also never married, died in1990 at the age of ninety-two, perhapsstill remembering that day when as aten-year-old child she had landed herfirst big salmon). Nina and her husband,Floyd Craig, both in their late eighties,were trying to clear out old items fromthe property. Luckily, Hennessey toldForrest about the Andersen peapod jig,and Steve struck a deal to purchase it. He

says that his wife thought he was crazy atthe time for paying $1,000 for whatlooked like a pile of kindling, althoughshe has since come to have a more toler-ant viewpoint.

After examining the jig closely, Stevenoticed that the steel bands that deter-mine the rib spacing were numbered andthat three numbers were missing from

the middle. He also could see that the jighad been cut in half and rejoined. Hebuilt a 14-foot boat on the jig in 1991, andhe still owns the boat. Steve knew thatmost Bangor Pool peapods were about 15feet, 6 inches long—so he stretched theform back to what was probably its orig-inal length and has built several moreboats since.

Compared with many other BangorPool peapods, Andersen boats were de-signed to ride high in the water, makingthem easier to maneuver and hold theirposition in a current. This high ride, Stevepoints out, lets the boat bob like a corkthrough rapids without taking on water ifthe rower should lose control—as Steveonce did. Hull shape, as previously noted,is one way of achieving a high ride. Inaddition, Andersen boats had wider ribspacing—5 to 51⁄2 inches, rather than themore usual 4 to 41⁄2 inches—helping toreduce hull weight. Their inwales and out-wales were spruce rather than the usualheavier hardwoods. Steve’s re-creations ofthis once-revered boat are showing us whyAndersen boats were so popular withsalmon fishermen on the Penobscot.

Other types of fishing boats of theperiod—such as Rangeley Lake boats inwestern Maine and Adirondack guide-boats and Saint Lawrence skiffs in north-ern New York—were set up with tworowing stations, with the oarsman sittingclose to the bow when two were aboardand sitting amidships if three. BangorPool peapods have just one rowing sta-tion placed just forward of amidships,and the angler’s seat is just aft of center.This provides for good stability and,

The basket-case peapod after restoration by Fred Kircheis.Note the typical close seat placement for rower and angler.

Fred Kircheis

This basket-case peapod was restored by Fred Kircheisand is now owned by an avid salmon fisherman.

Fred Kircheis


most importantly, allows for quick turn-ing, key to harling. In the rare case ofthree in the boat, a small bow seat is pro-vided but rarely used.

Spruce oars 8 feet long with leathersand stops were loose fitted to brass oar-locks of a style known as “patent swivel.”The oars were set up for “cross-hand”rowing, typical of small inland boats ofthe period. This maximized propulsion,but in the hands of the inexperiencedoften led to rapped knuckles. Most exist-ing peapods I have examined now haveeither shorter oars or relocated leathers sothat the rower’s hands are farther apart.

At the peak of their popularity, thesewood-and-canvas peapods found homeson many other Maine waters, often serv-ing as fishing platforms at camps on themany lakes throughout the state. In thesequiet-water settings, the basic canoe hullshape and flat bottom of many non-Andersen peapods were adequate andactually more stable, and this may haveled to the decline in demand for theround hull form. It appears that Karlmay have responded to this changingpreference; a close scrutiny of the build-ing jig reveals that he added wood stripsalong the bilge at some time to create awider waterline beam with less dead rise.Steve also removed from the jig a square-stern appendage that must have beenadded after outboard motors came intovogue. Even some faerings now bear atiny transom to hold an outboard motor.

Eventually, almost all of the BangorPool peapods disappeared, many of themrotting away at camps, although one ortwo may still be collecting dust in a barn

loft. However, a few dedicated salmon fish-ermen still use and maintain their boats.

Even rarer today is the person willingto attempt to restore boats that mostwould assign to the trash heap. One suchmaverick is Fred Kircheis, a former statefisheries biologist, who held the unenvi-able position of Salmon Commissiondirector in 1999, the year he had to tellPenobscot River salmon fishermen thattheir centuries-old sport would come to a

close in 2000. After surviving the scornheaped on him for making that decision,restoring a basket-case peapod must haveseemed like wonderful therapy. EvenSteve thought the boat was too far gonewhen he first saw it. Undaunted, Fredrestored the boat and eventually sold it toan avid salmon fisherman, then went onto rebuild other orphaned peapods.

A RIVER BEING RESTORED

The tenacity of salmon fishermen tokeep all the traditions of the sport alive,including the specialized boats, seems toalso give them the patience to wait forfish to return to the Penobscot in suffi-cient numbers that fishing could againbe a rite of spring in Bangor. But thesefishermen and hundreds of other dedi-cated folks are not just sitting idle. In2003, following preliminary meetings, theAtlantic Salmon Federation, AmericanRivers, Natural Resources Council ofMaine, Trout Unlimited, Maine Audubon,the Penobscot Indian Nation, the State ofMaine, the U.S. Department of Interior,and PPL Corporation (which owns theriver’s hydropower dams) crafted anagreement to remove two critical dams,bypass a third dam with a new riverchannel, and improve fishways at otherdams on the Penobscot. In exchange forlost power, PPL could increase electricityoutput on six other dams they own tomaintain virtually all of their currentpower production. These dam removals,combined with ongoing water-quality

Peapod builder Karl Andersen, who moved to Bangor, Maine, from Norway, may havebeen the person who introduced the fishing technique called harling, which Maine artist

and outdoorsman Tom Hennessey captures here. The technique is a partnership in whichthe oarsman plays the eddies and currents while the fisherman casts for the salmon lie.

Karl Andersen boat form suspended over a Grand Laker canoe form in Steve Forrest’sbarn. Note the added middle section restoring original boat dimensions.

Richard Jagels

SUMMER 2011 15

Steve Forrest with one of the boats hebuilt on an Andersen jig. Note therounded and flared hull with elegant,sweeping stem-to-stem sheer.

improvements, will significantly improveaccess to more than 1,000 miles of riverhabitat, potentially enhancing not onlysalmon-spawning opportunities but alsothose of two species of sturgeon, shad,alewives, blueback herring, eels, andstriped bass. As of July 2008, the $25 mil-lion needed to purchase the dams hadbeen raised from public and privatesources. Still needed is another $25 mil-lion to dismantle the dams.

In 2000, Steve donated one of thepeapods he built to the PenobscotSalmon Club to raise money through araffle. More recently, in 2007, with helpfrom a friend, Gary Arsenault, he builtanother “Andersen” boat that was auc-tioned by the Maine Council of theAtlantic Salmon Federation. That boatsold for $6,000 and was purchased by

Rick Warren, publisher of the BangorDaily News and a dedicated salmonangler. The sale price was doubledthrough a private challenge match to thelocal Maine Council campaign. All theproceeds went to support the PenobscotRiver Restoration Trust, the nonprofitentity created to purchase and removethe dams.

Within the context of $50 million,these are not large sums of money, butthe significance of the donations far sur-passes the dollar amount. Bringing backa river and a city to its former glory byrestoring its natural and material cultureis a valuable lesson that could be repli-cated elsewhere. Bangor Pool peapodsare just part of a community revival thatincludes increased recreational boatingon the river and the return of the

Thomas Bamboo Rod Company, resur-rected in 1999 by returning Iraq war vet-eran Steve Campbell. If Karl Andersencould be here today, I am sure he wouldbe pleased.

!

ENDNOTES

1. Ed Baum, Maine Atlantic Salmon: ANational Treasure (Hermon, Me.: AtlanticSalmon Unlimited, 1997), 62.

2. Bangor Daily Commercial, 2 April 1908.3. Quoted in Tom Hennessey, “Fins and

Feathers,” Bangor Daily News, 4 May 1992, 13.4. Obituary in the Bangor Daily News, 1

October 1943.5. Personal communication with Rollin

Thurlow, Northwoods Canoe Company,Atkinson, Maine, July 2008.

Steve Forrest in 2008 at the BangorPool, Penobscot River, in a boat he built

on an Andersen form. The remains ofthe Bangor Dam and Waterworks can

be seen in the background.

Photos by Richard Jagels


SPORT FISHING WAS popular in a vari-ety of American locations even inthe 1600s, but records of fly fishing

are rare before the early 1800s.1 A letterrecently acquired by the University ofVirginia Library appears to set a newearly date for fly fishing in the Americas,although by only two years. Its impor-tance lies as much in the location as inthe date; our earliest known American flyfisher enjoyed the sport in the Floridapanhandle.2

The letter, dated Pensacola, Tuesday,October 28th, 1764, is from a man identi-fied in the University of Virginia Libraryrecords as Rodney Home, written to a Mr.Blacket, presumably in England. Blacket’sname is assumed from a sentence late inthe letter: “Respectful compliments toMrs Blacket Miss Sally & your other Dearlittle child who I have not had the honourof knowing its Name yet.”3

Credit and congratulations for thisdiscovery go to Mr. Lin Respess, anti-quarian book dealer of Charlottesville,Virginia, who acquired the letter fromanother dealer and sold it to the Universityof Virginia Library in 2007. Respess listedthe Home letter in his catalog under theheading “1764 Letter from Florida, withan Early, Perhaps the Earliest, Mention ofFly Fishing There.”4

The first name in the signature on theHome letter is unclear. It shows only thefirst three letters,“Rod,” in normal script,and the rest of the name is in superscriptthat, when enlarged, appears to read “in”(see letter, next page). It is hoped thatadditional research will clarify Mr.Home’s identity and provide us withmore information about him.

For now we can say that Home ap-pears to have been a member of the en-

tourage of George Johnstone, the firstgovernor of the then-new West FloridaColony.5 This British acquisition was oneof the results of the Seven Years (“Frenchand Indian”) War; Johnstone had, in fact,been appointed in 1763 but necessarilytook his time getting to Pensacola. Homeapparently arrived with the governor(“ten days ago yesterday”6) despite about of illness in Jamaica. Short as histime in Florida had been, however,Home had already sampled the local

fishing: “We have plenty of salt [?] watertrout & fine fishing with fly in the freshwater Rivers of which we have a greatnumber . . .”7

We have no way of knowing what theflies or the fish were, except that theywere certainly not salmonids. Homeappears not to have been disappointedby that, however, having written that thefly fishing was “fine.”

The previous early certain date forNorth American fly fishing was Joseph

N O T E S A N D C O M M E N T

A New Early Date forAmerican Fly Fishingby Ken Cameron and Paul Schullery

A map of Pensacola Harbor based on the surveys of George Gault,who was among those accompanying George Johnstone when he

arrived in Florida in October 1764. Geography and Map Division,Library of Congress, digital ID g3932p ar165600.

SUMMER 2011 17

Banks’s diary entry of 1766 in the north-ern maritime provinces of Canada.8

Banks described fishing for tidewaterbrook trout. The evidence of Americanfly-fishing activity following Banks’sreport is slight but tantalizing. News-papers and manuscripts from the 1770sdescribed the sale of flies in stores inBoston and Philadelphia, as well as anapparent commercial fly tier in Phila-delphia as early as 1773.9 But our nextnamed fly fishers appear to be LondonerRobert Hunter Jr., whose diary describedsuccessfully fly fishing for bass on theCanadian banks of the St. Lawrence Riverin 1785,10 and British Colonel John Enys,who successfully fly fished for salmon inone of the rivers flowing into LakeChamplain at about the same time.11

Pennsylvania-born George Gibson, in aseries of articles on fly fishing publishedin American sporting periodicals between1829 and 1849, reminisced vaguely abouthaving begun his fly-fishing career onthe limestone streams of southeasternPennsylvania in about 1790.12 Intriguingconjectures of other early New-World flyfishers are just that—conjectures—andawait the discovery of more evidence.13

One thing that is noteworthy about allof these known fly fishers is that before

Gibson, they were British visitors, notlocals. The apparent geographical spread(Florida to the Maritimes), therefore, issomewhat illusory; it was the nationalityof the visitors, not the location, that ledthem to fish with flies. We can assumethat there were other visitors like them,including British and German militaryduring the Revolution, but what we lackso far is a record of specific individualswho were either resident in the Americasor born there, who fished with the fly atthe same time or even earlier than didthese visiting anglers.

ENDNOTES

1. Paul Schullery, American Fly Fishing:A History (New York: The Lyons Press, 1987),13–17.

2. Rodney Home Letter, 1764, Accession#13918, Box W/5624. Special Collections/MarionduPont Scott Sporting Collection, Universityof Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Virginia.

3. Ibid.4. Lin Respess, e-mail message to Paul

Schullery, 16 February 2011.5. General background for the place and

period provided by Robert V. Haynes,

“Mississippi Under British Rule—BritishWest Florida,” Mississippi History Now, Anonline publication of the Mississippi HistoricalSociety, http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/, postedSeptember 2000; accessed 25 March 2011.

6. Home Letter.7. Ibid.8. David Ledlie, “A Colonial Fly Fisher,”

The American Fly Fisher (Summer 1980, vol. 7,no. 3), 14–15.

9. Schullery, American Fly Fishing, 23–24.10. David Ledlie, “More on Sir William

Johnson,” The American Fly Fisher (Spring1984, vol. 11, no. 2), 2–6.

11. Austin Hogan, “Bob Fly, Dropper—Tail Fly, Stretcher,” The American Fly Fisher(Fall 1976, vol. 3, no. 4), 11.

12. Paul Schullery, Royal Coachman (NewYork: Simon & Schuster, 1991), 65–66.

13. Schullery, American Fly Fishing, 18–20,reviewed the cases of British angling writersRichard Franck and Richard Brookes, both ofwhom are thought to have visited America,Franck in the 1600s and Brookes some timebefore 1763. Ledlie, “More on Sir WilliamJohnson,” reviewed the as-yet-unsubstantiat-ed case made for Sir William Johnson’s hav-ing fly fished the Mohawk Valley of New Yorkas early as 1761.

Ken Cameron is a former registrar, andPaul Schullery a former executive director,of the museum.

Rodney Home Letter, 1764, Accession #13918, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Virginia.


SOMEWHERE OUT THERE in the vast fields of our collectiveimagination, there must be that great gallery, filled to over-flowing with glorious images of British angling from over

the centuries. Who but the excellent David Beazley could havecurated such a show and left us with its documentation in sucha catalog: Images of Angling: Three Centuries of British AnglingPrints (Creel Press, 2010)?

This is not a coffee-table art book, but a luxurious catalog,an account, a history, and a description of 353 prints from thegreat tradition of British angling. It is at once scholarly andexpert, genial and personal, with a complete apparatus for fur-ther study. Beazley obviously loves these pictures and is deeplyat home among them.

But me! I am appalled by what I did not know. I did notknow of George Morland—I knew a few of his lovely imagesof angling in the late eighteenth century but nothing of themercurial artist who created them. I did not know about thecrucial work of Walter Shaw Sparrow, who published the firstand definitive collection of British angling prints in 1923. I didnot know the provenance of pictures that I have long admired—not even my own Samuel Howitt original pencil drawing of apike. I did not know that David Beazley, distinguished librarianat the Flyfishers’ Club in London where I am happy to be calleda member, was at work on this project. Nor did I know that thatimminent publisher of some of the finest of angling books,Timothy Benn, was the one to urge Beazley to this importantwork and publish it.

I found myself “reading” the book in themes and tropes. Iwatched the pictures most closely in the first instance for thoselong rods, with a dead-off line, loop-tied to their tops. I lovethe way the anglers handled them, choking them up in end-lessly variable and elegant holds to meet the needs of the fish-ing moment. From the beginning almost to the end of thebook, those big rods swung, bent, rested, and exerted them-selves in graceful, lyrical ways that for me quite defined theideal English angling day.

Up to the last of these prints, these rods conduct their fish-ing, even musically, with a languor, an ease and restful poisethat in these difficult times I find highly appealing. And, dayafter day, in print after print, there is that companion angler,male or female, like Walton’s Venator, at rest, stretched out onthe grass, watching the angler working the rod. No hurry, norush, no agitation, gentled like the countryside itself.

I love watching how these anglers dress, from high fashionto work clothes—and their footwear for the stream fascinatesme. Another theme.

For all of the cant about solitude in the literature ofAmerican angling, the British, we learn from these prints,regard fishing more as a social event and one in which from thebeginning women were quite at home. One senses the eroticelement in these couplings of anglers.

And, oh yes, I am pleased to note how often the Britishangler sits down, not just to rest, but to fish.

B O O K R E V I E W

A Book of British Angling Prints:Sport, History, and Lovely Pictures

by Gordon Wickstrom

SUMMER 2011 19

This book is a sociology.These prints are data.I watch the changing focus of the prints, from the concen-

tration on the anglers themselves in the eighteenth-centuryEnlightenment way to the often dreamlike devotion to roman-tic landscape in the nineteenth.

I watch how, over time, the fish itself becomes more andmore carefully represented, and how, in the later prints, thedynamic of the angler’s attachment to the fighting fish can befelt sympathetically in the muscles of the viewer.

Beazley ends the book with a grand coup. His last chapter ison prints of angling humor, for which he has chosen the verylast print (page 228) with great care; it is Henry MayoBateman’s caricature “The Last Trout” (1922), showing exactlytwenty-six rabid anglers surrounding a single trout, each ofthem in a hilarious apoplexy of determination to kill that lastpoor fish. But the thing is that the long graceful rods with fixedlines, the handsome clothes, are gone—a thing of the past—and replaced here with angling goofs burdened down withgear, their short, stiff, fast, aggressive, single-handed rods bran-dished like weapons in front of them.

Angling has taken its turn into modernism, never to return tothe grace and relaxed lyricism of casting for trout as the ancientsknew it. Only Tenkara, lately from Japan, proposes something ofthose old values of the long rod and short, fixed line.

In any case, this wonderful book ends in a subtle lament forthree centuries of our angling past, lost now. But in these 353celebratory prints, its legacy remains full of pleasure and a tes-

tament to what we felt and thought and valued, how we didour fishing and gentled our lives in these olden times.

Is there a cloud over the scene of this fine book?Well, had it been structurally bigger, it could have sported a

point or two larger type and been a blessing to old eyes. Andsome of the prints are small enough that the reader wants thehelp of a glass to aid in the pleasure of exploring them.

Beazley asks his reader to choose his own favorite print andI have chosen mine, that ravishing thing of George Morland’s,A Party Angling (page 42), showing us two lovely ladies in theirsummer finest with three young gentlemen and a boyish blackboatman, all together, fishing in a rhapsody of pleasure andgentle occupation. Morland includes himself, leaning from theboat to net a fine perch—which goes to prove that the ladieswere not the sole attraction of these splendid young men inthis beautiful fishing picture.

!

Images of Angling: Three Centuries of British Angling PrintsDavid BeazleyCreel Press, 2010Chase Lane, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 3AG, United KingdomAvailable in the United States from Callahan & Company, BooksellersP.O. Box 505Peterborough, NH 03458(603) [email protected]$95, post paid, media mail

The author’s favorite print: A Party Angling by George Morland, 1789.


CARRIE G. STEVENS began her celebrated fly-dressingcareer in the Rangeley Lakes region of Maine in 1920.Her distinctive streamer flies were a major innovation in

the craft, and history proved them to be highly effective in thewater as well. Stevens’s Gray Ghost remains one of the mostpopular and recognizable patterns ever dressed.

There have been only three proprietors of Mrs. Stevens’sbusiness, Rangeley Favorite Trout and Salmon Flies. Upon herretirement in 1953, she sold the business to commercial tierH. Wendell Folkins of Tamworth, New Hampshire. After near-ly half a century of turning out Rangeley Favorites, Wendellscribed a handwritten note on 1 April 1996, passing the mantle toLeslie K. Hilyard. Les continues to produce exquisite examples ofthese historic patterns from his vise in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

In 2000, Les and his father Graydon published the definitivework on the subject, Carrie Stevens: Maker of Rangeley FavoriteTrout and Salmon Flies (excerpted in this journal in the Winter2000 issue). It’s a highly informative book about a remarkablewoman and the region, people, and fish that made her famous.Photographs, ephemera, insightful text, and known patternrecipes are all preserved for posterity therein. Casual readers

and historians alike can be thankful that the Hilyards put theirpassion and years of study into print; I fear much of this infor-mation would have remained undiscovered or lost to futuregenerations. Stackpole Books sold out the first edition withinmonths, and copies now command dear prices on the second-hand market. Subsequent second and third printings sold outas well.

Carrie Stevens is rightly listed among the greatest fly tiersthe sport has known, and whenever Les Hilyard sits down athis vise, the legacy continues. Les is a true keeper of the flame,and the heritage of our sport continues to be preserved andenriched by historians and fly dressers like him.

John Mundt is president of the Anglers’ Club of New York and aformer trustee of the American Museum of Fly Fishing. He livesin Simsbury, Connecticut.

For more information, contact Les Hilyard at Rangeley Favorite Trout andSalmon Flies, PO Box 358, Ipswich MA 01938; Telephone: (978) 356-1012; e-mail: [email protected].

K E E P E R S O F T H E F L A M E

Les Hilyard: The RangeleyFavorite Trout and Salmon Flies

by John Mundt

Above: Three generations of the Rangeley Favorite Trout and SalmonFlies. Gray Ghost by H. Wendell Folkins (top), Embden Fancy by Carrie

G. Stevens (middle), and Mrs. Stevens by Leslie K. Hilyard (bottom).

Left: Leslie Hilyard at his vise.

Photos by Annie Hilyard

SUMMER 2011 21

After a storm the leafy tree is no longer solidBut the pine still throws a full shadow.

It has found a place to be.For a thousand years it will not give up this place.

—Tao Yuan-Ming

HE WAS CHRISTENED William John Salladin II, but tofriend, employee, or passing stranger, he was Bill. Wemet some time ago in my wood-carving shop. He was

watching me coax a trout stream—complete with brown trout,rocks, and grass—out of a thick sheet of basswood. It was des-tined to become an angler’s coffee table. After I answered histwenty questions, none of which pertained to price, he said,“When you finish that table, ship it to my home in Maryland.”Bill Salladin had no trouble making up his mind. Family leg-end has it that it took about fifteen minutes for Bill to meet andpropose to his beautiful wife Lora.

A treasured memory is of the night he and Lora took mywife and me to see Cal Ripken’s Game 2,000, the thrill of a life-time. Not long after that, at my urging, Bill joined the board ofthe American Museum of Fly Fishing, on which he served untilhe took up his courageous battle with cancer.

Bill was born in Proctor, Vermont, the son of Mary Quilty andWilliam Dewitt Salladin. When he was fourteen, the familymoved to Baltimore, where his father founded an insurance com-pany. After his father’s untimely death, his twenty-nine-year-oldson took over All Risks, Ltd., a small company composed of a fewemployees occupying two rooms in a Baltimore building.

The computer changed everything in the 1970s, because itsolved an insurance industry dilemma in calculating the residualvalue of leased office equipment. Bill knew opportunity when hesaw it. His skills as a tough but fair negotiator soon led thecompany to the rapid growth that saw All Risks, Ltd. becomethe nation’s largest privately held wholesale insurance broker-age, a company that includes among its many clients Lloyd’s ofLondon and an insurance company that is part of the WarrenBuffett organization.

A sportsman to the core, Bill loved sailing, powerboating,fishing, and shooting. He and Lora won first place one year inthe Florida Keys McDonald Invitational Tarpon Tournamentand a third place another time. He caught and released a 900-pound black marlin off the Great Barrier Reef. Like many read-ers of this journal, Bill fished Alaska, Canada, Cabo, CostaRica, the Caribbean, and rivers throughout the United Statesand Australia. He loved shooting skeet and clays and frequent-ly joined his British friends for a bird shoot, a pleasure thatenticed him to Argentina, South Africa, Canada, the Dakotas,Vermont, and Maryland.

Bill was a passionate collector of motorcycles, classic cars,and boats. He did not tie flies, nor did he ever build a bamboorod, but he knew how to bring joy into people’s lives and sup-port worthy causes such as this museum. He cared about forestsand rivers. He worried about global warming. He could knit afriendship in a minute and make it last a lifetime. He loved hiswife and his family, cared for the needy, and not once, in all the

years of our friendship, did he ever boast of personal achieve-ment. It was a privilege to know him. My poem for Bill:

It seems like only yesterdayWe were swapping stories deep into night:

Tales of ocean sunsets and salmon river dawns,Sparkling morning dews and departing light.

Huge he was; he wore an eagle’s hair—A crown of winter’s white.

His appetite for life gargantuan,Ruled by what is right.

We spoke of guns and fishing rods,Of rising trout and grouse in sudden flight.Then had another drink—or maybe two—

Before we said good-night.

BILL HERRICKTRUSTEE EMERITUS

Bill Salladin, 1943–2011A Personal Remembrance

I N M E M O R I A M

Bill Salladin. Image courtesy of Lora Salladin.


AT THE HEIGHT of the great Spanish influenza pandemicthat claimed seventy-five million lives, on 16 December1918, Stanley Edward Bogdan was born and flourished—

defying all odds.Born in Nashua, New Hampshire, of immigrant parents

(Stanislaus and Sophia), Stanley graduated from Nashua publicschools and traveled the world in the company of royalty andcaptains of industry. Numerous publications chronicled hisprogress, culminating in a 2006 biography titled Bogdan and ato-be-released film by Canadian filmmaker Kathryn Maroun.

Bogdan’s acclaim and stature came as a result of his creatingand manufacturing a transcendent fly reel designed for thecapture of the mighty Atlantic salmon. Working in isolation,he crafted a handmade brake design so complex that patentprotection would never be required. The labor-intensive effortrequired a high price, was asked of a small market, and ruledout encroachment by interlopers. Later, trout and steelheadmodels would be added to the repertoire. Supported only byhis intrepid wife, Phyllis (whom he married in 1944 and whodied in 1995), he launched his fledgling business in 1947—defy-ing all odds.

Accolades for the Bogdan reel came quickly, but financialsecurity arrived only late in life. Happily, the years of financialsacrifice were tempered by invitations to fish the world’s greatsalmon rivers. In 1958, the U.S. Department of State requesteda reel for exhibition at the Brussels World’s Fair. In 1961, recog-nizing both its aesthetic and functional qualities, New YorkCity’s Museum of Modern Art requested a reel for exhibitionpurposes. Much later, the Smithsonian accepted a Bogdan

Model 100 into its permanent collection. Later still, the Smith-sonian Library accepted his biography into theirs.

Lifelong associations began with a 1961 membership in theAtlantic Salmon Association, which would evolve into today’sAtlantic Salmon Federation. Bogdan reels were the foundationof its many auctions, raising valuable sums for Atlantic salmonconservation. During the 1970s, Stanley served as a trustee forthe American Museum of Fly Fishing, again contributing manyreels for its endeavors. Perhaps most dear to his heart was theAnglers’ Club of New York, which he joined in 1981. Already thename Stanley Bogdan is being considered for inlay upon theirfamed Long Table, the highest recognition offered by America’soldest reigning angling club.

For ninety years, perfect health was Stanley’s constant com-panion. Not so the ninety-first. Despite the burdens, Stanleyremained relevant, involved with museum activities on twofronts and a research project on an obscure Maine reel maker.The fishing season found him on the Moise, Alta, and hisbeloved Grand Cascapedia, where the last fish he releasedwould be a 32-pound Atlantic salmon—defying all odds.

On the evening of March 27, Stanley Bogdan died peaceful-ly, attended by his son Stephen and daughter-in-law Sandra. Solong as rivers rush to the sea and salmon return upon the tide,the Bogdan surname will endure.

But for we privileged to have known him well, an element ofgrace has vanished.

GRAYDON HILYARDASHLAND, MASSACHUSETTS

Stanley E. Bogdan16 December 1918–27 March 2011

I N M E M O R I A M

Stanley E. Bogdan

Dav

e R

ust

SUMMER 2011 23

New StaffIn April, Michael Bonebrake joined the museum staff as

director of development and marketing. Michael, who began hiscareer at Sotheby’s in the nineteenth-century European paint-ings department, then spent twenty years in client services: as aprivate banker at Citibank, as an asset manager at Paine Webber,and in hedge funds at a small boutique firm in Manhattan. In hiscurrent position, Michael will focus on strengthening the muse-um’s donor base and increasing exposure.

Michael owns 500 books about fly fishing.“But most impor-tantly,” he says, “I love to fish. I spent most of my summersfishing on my great-grandfather’s property on the Pine Riverin Lake County, Michigan—which is where both Jim Harrisonand Ernie Schwiebert fished as young boys.” He is married andhas one child, and is a self-professed student of cooking. Wewelcome him to the museum.

Fit to Be “Tyed”The museum would like to thank our guest tiers and every-

one who braved Vermont’s extreme cold and snow on January15 to attend Fit to Be “Tyed,” one of our favorite annual galleryprograms. Visitors were treated to clown flies tied by YoshiAkiyama, nymphs tied by George Butts, and a menagerie ofcreatures tied by Paul Sinicki, including “Nemo” in his ownaquarium. We look forward to dusting off our vises with younext year when the weather gets cold again.

Vermont MemoriesEducation is one of the core principals of our mission as a

nonprofit organization, and hosting a gallery program is oneof our favorite ways to fulfill that part of our mission. Galleryprograms give us an excellent opportunity to meet membersand supporters, and we get to learn something, too!

For a program on February 12 called Vermont Memories,three guest speakers joined us to share theirs. George Butts pre-sented “Dwight Eisenhower and the Spirit of Pittsford Mills,”during which he showed us the famed Eisenhower fly created bya Vermont native in honor of the president, who fished on theFurnace Brook in Chittenden forty-five years ago. Butts wasjoined by Stephen Belcher, whose grandfather invented the fly.Bill Jenney of the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Sitein Plymouth discussed “Vermont’s Brigadoon: Calvin Coolidge’sPlymouth Notch” and presented information on the CoolidgeSite and President Coolidge’s life, career, and fishing experiences.Wes Hill of the Orvis Company took us back 150 years to talkabout the history of the Orvis family and discussed the lives ofCharles Orvis and Mary Orvis Marbury in Manchester.

The museum would like to thank all of the event speakerswho shared their day and knowledge with us.

Michael Bonebrake, the museum’s newdirector of development and marketing.

Jill

John

son

Phot

ogra

phy

Visitors gathered in the museum library for GeorgeButts’s presentation of “Dwight Eisenhower and the

Spirit of Pittsford Mills” during the museum’sVermont Memories event in February.

Kim Murphy


Auctioneer Clark Comollo hard at work duringthe Anglers’ Club of New York dinner on March 10.

Kim Murphy

The late Stan Bogdan sharing a laughwith fellow dinner attendee George Guba.

Kim Murphy

Anglers’ Club DinnerThis year’s annual dinner and auction at the Anglers’ Club

of New York on March 10 was momentous in many ways. Wewere there not only to commemorate fifteen years of hostingthis fund-raiser at the historic club, but also to celebrate thelegendary reel maker Stanley E. Bogdan. The museum washonored to have Stan make the trip from his home in Nashua,New Hampshire, and spend the evening with us, none of usknowing that it would be the last time many of us would seehim before he passed away on March 27.

The evening began with the cocktail hour, featuring aslideshow of Stan during his many visits to the museum and atour various events. Before dinner, an introduction and toastwere given by Dr. Jack Larkin, a former ACNY president, long-time member of the museum, and friend of Stan. This was fol-lowed by remarks from museum Executive Director CathiComar, who presented Stan with inscribed bricks to beinstalled in the museum’s sidewalk this spring.

Our sincerest thanks go out to Kelly and Caroline Boatright,who supplied the transportation and accommodations forStan while staying in New York, and, while working closelywith Stephen and Sandy Bogdan, ensured that Stan was com-fortable during his stay.

As always, we’d like to give a nod to our auctioneer, ClarkComollo, for donating his auctioneering services, and our auc-tion donors, without whom there would be no auction: KellyBoatright, Tim Bontecou, Debby Carey, Roger Clark, JimCollins, George Gibson, Luther Hall, Carmine Lisella, WalterMatia, John Mundt Jr., the Orvis Company, Kristoph Rollen-hagen, Dr. Gary Sherman, Dr. Mark Sherman, Ted Sypher, andRichard Tisch. Last, thanks to all of those who attended to makeit a very special evening celebrating this very special man.

Upcoming EventsJuly 30Angling and ArtBenefit art auction featuring David TibbettsPreview July 25–29The American Museum of Fly FishingManchester, Vermont

August 13Fly-Fishing FestivalThe American Museum of Fly FishingManchester, Vermont

September 13Heritage Award event honoring Paul VolckerThe Yale ClubNew York City

October 15Appraisal FairThe American Museum of Fly FishingManchester, Vermont

October 22Annual Members MeetingManchester, Vermont

October 27–28 (tentative date)Friends of Peter Corbin ShootHudson FarmAndover, New Jersey

December 10Hooked on the HolidaysThe American Museum of Fly FishingManchester, Vermont

Always check our website (www.amff.com) for additions,updates, and more information or contact Kim Murphy at(802) 362-3300 or [email protected]. “Casting About,” themuseum’s new e-mail newsletter, offers up-to-date news andevent information. To subscribe, look for the link on our web-site or contact the museum.

SUMMER 2011 25

Blue Star Museums ProgramThe American Museum of Fly Fishing is once again partici-

pating in the Blue Star Museums program, which offers freeadmission (with appropriate ID) for all active-duty militarypersonnel and their families from Memorial Day throughLabor Day. We look forward to seeing you at the museum!

Vermont Light Bulb GrantThe museum recently qualified to receive enough energy-

efficient light bulbs to furnish the entire museum gallery andgift shop. This go-green grant was offered as part of theEfficiency Vermont Program.

In the LibraryThanks to the following publishers for their donations of

titles that have become part of our collection: Frank AmatoPublications, Inc., sent us Greg Thomas and Gary Lewis’s IdahoRiver Maps & Fishing Guide (2010). Maine Folklife Center sentJoshua Gross Rich (1820–1897): The Life and Work of a WesternMaine Pioneer and Wildlife Writer (compiled and introduced byWilliam B. Krohn; 2010). And John F. Blair Publisher sent MikeMarsh’s Fishing North Carolina (2011) and the new edition ofCraig Nova’s Brook Trout and the Writing Life: The Interminglingof Fishing and Writing in a Novelist’s Life (1999, 2011).

CorrectionIn the Spring 2011 issue’s extensive list of museum donors,

we inadvertently omitted two names from the list of platinumcontributors: Gardner and Ellen Grant. We regret the error.

B AC K I S S U E S !

Vol. 22:Vol. 23:Vol. 24:Vol. 25:Vol. 26:Vol. 27:Vol. 28:Vol. 29:Vol. 30:Vol. 31:Vol. 32:Vol. 33:Vol. 34:Vol. 35:Vol. 36:

Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3Nos. 1, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 3Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3Nos. 1, 2Nos. 1, 2, 3Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4

Vol. 37: No. 1, 2

Vol. 6:Vol. 8:Vol. 9:

Vol. 10:Vol. 11:Vol. 12:Vol. 13:Vol. 14:Vol. 15:Vol. 16:Vol. 17:Vol. 18:Vol. 19:Vol. 20:Vol. 21:

Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3No. 2Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4No. 3No. 3No. 1No. 2Nos. 1, 2, 3Nos. 1, 2, 3Nos. 1, 2, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4

Back issues are $10 a copy fornonmembers, $5 for members.

To order, please contact Sarah Moore at(802)362-3300 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Vendor reservations are now beingaccepted for our Fly-Fishing Festivalon August 13. More information onthis exciting annual event is availableon our website at www.amff.com orby e-mailing [email protected].


I very much enjoyed your article on the history of weathervanes and the one that Warren Gilker and I donated to themuseum a number of years ago (Sara Wilcox’s “Up on theRoof,” Winter 2011). As you wrote, the Gilker vane’s silhouettewas copied from a model at Middle Camp [on the GrandCascapedia River] of the biggest salmon ever caught on thecamp’s water. (And I see that the weather vane was repaintedbefore it was positioned atop the new museum.)

By way of correcting the record, the great fish was caught bythe Hon. Victor Albert Stanley, R.N., on 23 June 1892. Victorwas one of the sons of Lord Stanley, of Stanley Cup fame; hebecame the 16th Earl of Derby on the death of his father in1893. At that time he left Canada, where he was viceroy, andreturned to England, leaving behind his house on the Casca-pedia and the Stanley Cup.

Since the weather vane was given to the museum, it hascome to light, through Victor Stanley’s memoirs, that the fish

was taken on “a nameless small yellow” fly and weighed 55pounds, not 53 pounds—making it not only the largestAtlantic salmon taken in Canada by an Englishman but thesecond-largest Atlantic salmon ever legally caught in Canada(the largest is R. G. Dun’s 56.5-pounder caught on theCascapedia in 1878). Victor Stanley was a sub-lieutenant in theRoyal Navy at the time and eventually rose to the rank of viceadmiral of the Reserve Fleet in England. In 1916, he captainedthe dreadnought HMS Erin in the Battle of Jutland, the largestnaval engagement of World War I.

If readers are interested in more information, it can befound in my book, Grand Cascapedia Giants (Meadow RunPress, 2006). I wrote it in 2003, and it details all the salmon of45 pounds or more caught on that great river.

Ronald Saarinen SwansonBloomfield Hills, Michigan

L E T T E R

C O N T R I B U T O R S

Willard Greenwood teaches American literature andcreative writing at Hiram College, as well as a course called“The Ethos and Practice of Fly Fishing.” He is chair of theEnglish department and editor of the Hiram Poetry Review.When waiting for spring steelhead season, he ties flies andplays Go Fish with his wife, Beth, and sons Robert andMichael.

Richard Jagels recently “graduated” to emeritus profes-sor, School of Forest Resources, University of Maine, afterthirty-one years of teaching and research. For even moreyears, he has been a regular columnist for WoodenBoatmagazine. An avid fly fisherman, he was recently elected tothe board of the Penobscot Fly Fishers and hopes to tradepen for fly rod more often as he enters retirement. He’s pic-tured here with a male brook trout in breeding color atNesowadnehunk Lake, Maine.

Dana Valleau Hank Metcalf

SUMMER 2011 27

BY ROBERT COCHRANECUSTOM LEATHER SPORTING CASES

For more information:[email protected]

Offering unique designshand sewn and cobbledindividually from thefinest in English leather,all made according tostandards last commonin the early 1900s.


A Graceful Rise examines the key roles women haveplayed in the history of fly fishing and how these pioneerscontinue to inspire new generations of female anglers to

engage in, advance, and promote the sport.

Brought to you in part by:

Media Support from: Black’s Fly-Fishing Directory

Through April 2012

STAN BOGDAN WAS a longtime friend and supporter of theAmerican Museum of Fly Fishing. As a past trustee, healso helped guide the development and the growth of the

museum during its early years. Stan, along with son Steve anddaughter-in-law Sandy, was an annual visitor to our offices,even surprising us with an appearance at the opening celebra-tion of our fortieth anniversary exhibition in 2007. So whenStan called the museum this past summer and invited us toNew Hampshire for a visit, we gladly accepted.

Our instructions were to meet at the Bogdan workshop inIpswich. Yes, the workshop. For some on this trip, it wasn’t theirfirst visit to the shop, but for others, it was their initial glimpseinto what one might consider a mystical and magical placeholding precious secrets—a place where only a few trustedsouls would be allowed. As the door opened, what laid beyondwas a functioning work space with old machinery and metalshavings everywhere. It wasn’t a sleek workshop with stainless-steel counters; it was a warm and welcoming—even cozy—

space shared by father and son for many, many years. Boxeswith reel fittings and parts filled most tabletops, but it soonbecame apparent that the real magic wasn’t in those boxes.

Stan asked if we had ever watched as a reel was assembled.Oh, yes, he had a glint in his eyes knowing what our answerswould be. Stan proceeded to spend the next hour patiently tak-ing us box to box, machine to machine, gathering the fittingsand demonstrating their construction. Different machines,most dating to the early twentieth century, buzzed during dif-ferent parts of the presentation, but at the end, Stan brought usto a cleared table and carefully placed each part into its properplace. When the assembly was complete, he stood straight, putthe reel to his ear, and said, “Listen.” By themselves, the partswere just pieces of shaped metal and plastic, but once assem-bled, they became a finely tuned piece of machinery. The truemagic, after all, lay in the hands of the master.

Some will remember Stan for his sparkling blue eyes, somewill remember him for his humble nature, some will remem-ber him for his precise craftsmanship, and some will remem-ber him for his innovations. If you ever get the opportunity toland a fish on a Bogdan reel, smile, knowing that the reel mas-ter himself felt fortunate to have the skills and knowledge tocreate works of art enjoyed by so many.

CATHI COMAREXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Only from the Hands of a Master

Above: Strands of shaved metal can befound all around the Bogdan workshop.

Right: Every part and fitting of aBogdan reel is crafted by hand.

Photos by Cathi Comar

The American Museumof Fly Fishing

4070 Main Street • PO Box 42Manchester,Vermont 05254

Tel: (802) 362-3300 • Fax: (802) 362-3308E-MAIL: [email protected]: www.amff.com

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF FLY FISHING, anationally accredited, nonprofit, education-al institution dedicated to preserving therich heritage of fly fishing, was founded inManchester, Vermont, in 1968. The museumserves as a repository for and conservator tothe world’s largest collection of angling andangling-related objects. The museum’s col-lections, exhibitions, and public programsprovide documentation of the evolution offly fishing as a sport, art form, craft, andindustry in the United States and abroadfrom its origins to the present. Rods, reels,flies, tackle, art, books, manuscripts, andphotographs form the basis of the muse-um’s collections.

The museum provides public programsto fulfill its educational mission, includingexhibitions, publications, gallery programs,and special events. Research services areavailable for members, visiting scholars, stu-dents, educational organizations, and writ-ers. Contact Yoshi Akiyama at [email protected] to schedule a visit.

VOLUNTEER !Throughout the year, the museum needs vol-unteers to help with programs, special pro-jects, events, and administrative tasks. You donot have to be an angler to enjoy working withus! Contact Sarah Moore at [email protected] tell us how we would benefit from yourskills and talents.

JOIN!Membership Dues (per annum)

Friend $10,000$5,000$1,000

Sponsor $500Business $250Benefactor $100Associate $50

The museum is an active, member-ori-ented nonprofit institution. Membershipdues include four issues of the American FlyFisher; unlimited visits for your entire fami-ly to museum exhibitions, gallery programs,and special events; access to our 7,000-vol-ume angling reference library; and a dis-count on all items sold by the museum onits website and inside the museum store, theBrookside Angler. To join, please contactSarah Moore at [email protected].

SUPPORT !The American Museum of Fly Fishing relieson the generosity of public-spirited individu-als for substantial support. Please contact us ifyou wish to contribute funding to a specificprogram, donate an item for fund-raising pur-poses, or place an advertisement in this jour-nal. We encourage you to give the museumconsideration when planning for gifts, be-quests, and memorials.

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The American Fly Fisher - American Museum of Fly · PDF fileBill Salladin, who served on our ... Karl Andersen was in fact known for ... We welcome contributions to the American Fly