A
Modest Fly Fishing Proposal
By Tom Dewey
Americans are collectors. In just about any field of endeavor or recreation there will be those who collect the tools and ephemera of the trade or sport. Indeed, the collecting mania can be so intense that the collector ceases to be a participant, and simply “collects.” I have seen, for example, bidding at various fund raising auctions for, say, an old fly rod, that approaches an almost messianic fervor. All out of proportion to the rod’s worth, either to re-sell in the collector’s market, or to use. But, it is great fun, and, for a while I, too, was smitten by the collecting bug.
In my case it started with an old, cheaply made, Sears and Roebuck grade Japanese fly rod abandoned by my father sometime probably in the late 1930’s. I chanced on it after it had been kicking around in the cellar and garage for some 50 years. It was a combination bamboo casting and fly rod, depending on how one put it together. The fly rod tip was missing. It was in terrible condition. Nevertheless, it intrigued me and gave me a chance to try my hand at rod restoration. I found another tip in a consignment shop, managed to mate it to one of the mid sections, re-wrapped everything, installed a new cork grip, salvaged the reel seat, finished it off and proceeded to fish with it for a season. At five feet six inches long it was a respectable midge or small stream rod.|
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In just about
any part of the country where
trout are pursued for sport there will be scores of old rods, wicker
creels,
and other items tucked away in attics, closets and barns.
From time to time an
heir or close friend of the original owner or owner’s family will
present these
to the local historical society. Rarely
are they accurately identified and usually end up stuffed into a corner
of the society’s display rooms. Just as
rarely
does it turn out that they are really valuable in terms of being a
prize
example of a famous rod maker; such rods almost always end up in
private
collections. The intrinsic value the
ordinary rods possess derives from the fact that often they have been
hand made
by the local fisherman and consequently provide an interesting
perspective on
how the sport was conducted many years ago.
Recently, I had the task of identifying six of these old rods at the Potter County Historical Society, four of which I had previously looked at in 1989 and two more recent acquisitions. They span, as it turns out, more than 125 years of local fly fishing tradition. The rods are on display at the Society’s quarters, Main St., Coudersport, Pa. |
The Lyman Rod is believed to have been made by Almeron Lyman, a great-grandson of Major Issac Lyman, variously credited with being one of the founding pioneers of Potter County. Almeron was born in 1864 and lived in Roulette, Pa. The rod is inscribed “Almeron Lyman, Roulette, Pa”. It is possible that it may have been made by an uncle, Almeron N. Lyman (1840) who died in the Civil War at the age of 24. But the earlier Almeron was consistent about signing his name with the middle initial “N.” on all documents (enlistment papers, etc.). The rod is about 10 feet, 2 inches long and includes an extra tip. The butt is marked off in increments of 6, 12, 18 and 24 inches, a pretty good indication that brook trout of that size could be caught as this was well before the introduction of brown trout to these waters. The wood used in the butt is probably ash or hickory; ash was almost universally used in this period. Overall, the rod is in very good condition and could probably be put into use today with a brace of wet flies.
Inscription on the Lyman rod
According
to the late Althea Ingalls Dudley, Almeron Lyman and her grandfather,
Issac J.
Treat, trapped and fished together as young men. Issac
Treat was also born in 1864 and we can only assume he found
time free from farming in the Jordon Hollow area of Roulette Township
to build
the second rod in the Society’s collection. The
Treat Rod is more crudely made, the grip, for
example, is
rectangular in cross section, and the tip is missing.
It probably measured about 8 feet 3 inches in length. It too appears to be made of ash.
The reel seat stamped “Rainbow” may be one
scavenged from another factory made rod. The
rod is inscribed “Issac J. Treat.” It’s
interesting to note that in 1913 Almeron Lyman
married for
the
second time, Dora Treat, a daughter of Issac Treat.
The Lyman and Treat rods, both dating back to about
1880-85, were acquired by Martin Fry, a Coudersport
businessman, and later donated to the Society.
Rectangular grip of the hand made Treat rod
While almost all of the early rods of the 19th century were made of ash, hickory, lancewood, greenheart or other exotic woods, experimentation with split bamboo rods was underway and before long rods of both solid wood and bamboo tips appeared. The third rod in the collection is of this type. Donated by Mrs. Weldon Welfling, The Welfling Rod is about 8 feet long and may have been intended to cast dry flies. The butt and mid-section are probably ash or another solid wood, while the tip is of split bamboo with modern snake guides, indicating it may have been rebuilt at some time. The grip is solid wood with a cork covering. According to Jerry Girard, a board member of the Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Museum Association, it may have been made by either the Chubb Rod Co. of Vermont or Montague City Rod Co. of Massachusetts and dates from between 1890 and 1900.
The
Carpenter Rod, used by the late Ernie Carpenter and donated to the
Society
by Emmett Carpenter, a relative from Ohio, completes the transition
from solid
wood to split bamboo. About 8 feet 6
inches long, it is a three-piece rod complete with nickel-plated reel. Butt section guides are tubular brass, the
upper guides are “ring and keeper” style. The
grip is cork covered. It
is
in good condition and could probably perform quite well in the hands of
a good
wet fly fisherman. It was probably made
by one of the rod manufacturers of the period.
Carpenter rod with unidentified
reel
When he died
in 1945 the Potter Enterprise obituary for Teddy Kiehle observed that
“the man
who owns either a Teddy Kiehle trout rod or violin is proud of his
possession.” Teddy (or Tedd) Kiehle was
a carpenter who in his spare time made violins and bamboo fly rods. Often his rods included a fitted case of
pine, as does The Kiehle Rod in this collection.
The rod was donated by the late Paul
Stilson, Coudersport. Only about a half
dozen Kiehle rods are known to survive. His
rods were characterized by the short (12 inch) butt
and
almost
always came with two tips: one for wets, one for drys.
This rod is 8 feet, 8 inches long and is in
good condition. While this rod has a cork wrapped grip, he also made
rods with
solid birdseye or tiger maple grips.
Short butt characteristic of
the Kiehle rods
Donated in 1993 by the late Phyllis Darrin, The Cox Rod is very similar to one donated to the Pa. Fly Fishing Museum by Sylvia Bashline, widow of the late L. James Bashline. It is a two-piece, 6 foot 5 inch delicate rod intended for small stream brook trout fishing. It is in good condition, except for the taped repair to the reel seat. Teal J. Cox was born in Potter Brook in 1894 and lived and worked as a carpenter in Coudersport from 1941 until his death in 1971. I remember him well as I used to pal around with his son, Hubert “Sonny” Cox. Teal was the one who showed me how to mix up and tint one’s own wood filler to seal nail holes in trim moulding.
The one thing missing from the PCHS rod collection are the stories that go along with the rods. It’s unfortunate that somewhere along the line, Issac Treat, or Ernie Carpenter, or Almeron Lyman and the others didn’t take time to jot down some of their adventures on these Potter County streams. When I see these rods all lined up in the Society’s display case I can’t help but wonder how many hours of fly fishing they represent. How many trout? What was it like? Clearly, it would be different from what today’s fishermen encounter.
I’d guess that the PCHS collection is just one of many scattered throughout the state. Certainly in the Cumberland Valley and Pocono Mountain counties there should be similar collections residing in local museums and historical societies that could be identified and described. Perhaps the PFFMA itself could undertake to canvas the state and locate these rods and then publish the results on its website. Such a project might do much to help younger fly fishermen connect to the rich heritage of Pennsylvania angling.
Sources:
American Fly Fishing, A History, Paul Schullery, Nick Lyons Books, New York, NY: 1987
1902 Edition of The Sears, Roebuck Catalogue, Bounty Books, New York: MCMLXIX
A Fly Fishing History, Dr. Andrew N. Herd, http://www.flyfishinghistory.com/contents.htm#
Girard,
Jerry, Pa.
Fly Fishing Museum Association, PO Box 541 Enola, PA 17025
Potter County Historical
Society
