Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”

by Rusty Dunn

Historians trace the cultural beginnings of recreational fly fishing and the ethics of “the gentle sport” to Isaak Walton’s 1653 master­piece The Compleat Angler. Indeed, the pleasant and convivial sport that we enjoy today descends from Walton. Early fly fishers in Amer­ica adopted not only Walton’s angling spirit, but also centuries of British methods, flies, and techniques. The angling literature of Great Britain is rich and deep, but American fly fishers developed an inde­pen­d­ent iden­tity and their own literature beginning in the late 1800s. The main archi­tect of that break from British tra­di­tions was Thaddeus Norris. He was to Amer­ican fly fishing what Thomas Jefferson was to American gov­ern­ance. Each authored a landmark Declaration of Inde­pen­dence. Nor­ris’ book, The American Angler’s Book (1864), established uniquely American meth­ods, flies, and fish­ing strat­egies.

Thaddeus Norris (1811-1877) was a Philadelphia tackle maker, businessman, and merchant. He is of­ten called the “father of American fly fishing” because of his influ­ence on angling this side of the pond. His 602 page book is en­cy­clo­pedic in scope. It gives instructions on all as­pects of fishing tackle and angling methods, but it emphasized fly fishing for trout and salmon. Many of Norris’ fly patterns were those of the Brit­ish lit­erature, but he matched those flies to specif­ic Ameri­can insects and instructed anglers on how to present them in Amer­ican waters, which are generally more tur­bulent than those of Great Britain. Norris ad­monished read­ers not to slav­ishly fol­low British meth­ods and tactics, but rather to adapt them to insects, fish spe­cies, and river condi­tions found here. The American Angler’s Book con­tained exten­sive instruc­tion on how to tie flies. It was the first Amer­ica book to do so, and even the great Theo­dore Gordon learned fly tying from Norris’ book. The Ameri­can Angler’s Book con­tains the first known refer­ence to dry-fly fish­ing in America. Norris described how to crack the line with false casts and whip moisture from a fly such that it floats. As he wrote, “the great desider­atum would be, to keep the line wet and the flies dry.” Nor­ris was a tal­ented rodmaker whose split-bamboo rods were highly prized for their quality of construction. His flies and rods were simply the best available at the time. Norris profound­ly changed the nature of Ameri­can sport fishing and he, arguably, had more influ­ence than any single American author since.

Thaddeus Norris was America’s first fly-fishing celebri­ty and media personality. He was an amiable and charm­ing fellow who, in addition to publishing a block­buster book, authored many articles in sporting maga­zines. Media exposure plus Norris’ natural cha­risma made him a beloved angling luminary. Fly an­glers affectionately called him “Uncle Thad”, for he seemed like everyone’s kind and favorite uncle. Au­thor Fred Mather described Norris in 1901 as “filled to over­flowing with humor, Uncle Thad was as charm­ing a man as one could wish.” No wonder Norris is often referred to as “the American Wal­ton”.

Norris was a presentationist, not an imitationist. He believed that only a modest number of fly patterns is needed any­where. One of his favorite flies was the Grouse Hackle, a British wingless wet fly dressed many different ways in the literature. The Grouse Hackle first ap­peared by name in Samuel Taylor’s Angling in All Its Branches (1800). Norris’ adaptation of the Grouse Hackle is most similar to the pattern of T.C. Hofland in The Brit­ish Angler’s Manual (1841). British versions are hackled with Scottish red grouse feathers, but Norris substi­tuted American “prai­rie fowl”. He did not identify the species, but Hun­garian par­tridge and sage, sharp-tailed, dusky, or ruffed grouse work ad­mirably.

Copyright 2024, Rusty Dunn

Grouse Hackle