Have you ever wondered about the history of your favorite fly, or how it got its name? Maybe what the original ingredient list was compared to what updated materials are preferred by its originator now?
In addition to highlighting flies so famous non-anglers recognize their names, obscure flies unfamiliar to even the most seasoned fly fishermen will also be featured, along with some of the sport’s tools and equipment.
While each edition of Fly Lore will cover the original recipe for the fly being covered, the focus will be more on the lore behind the lure. It’s a fun play on words which fully embraces the idea of the series if you think about it. Normally when one thinks of lore in the context of outdoors, there is a trend of the mind wandering to entertaining stories told around a campfire involving fictional histories and mythical beings. Fly Lore reclaims the true definition of lore, focusing on the knowledge and traditions of the fly lures, tools, and equipment featured in each edition.
Fly Lore will be released in three unique formats:
A video format will be released on YouTube and also as a podcast. This format will include videos and images of the edition’s fly, tool, or equipment while the lore is being shared in a narration format. In some instances, instead of images and videos of already tied subjects only being shown, the narration will overlay a video of the fly being tied.
An article will be published for each edition on the Filled Quiver Outdoors website for anyone who prefers the written word over spoken. The articles’ contents will be very comparable to the videos, but there may be slightly varying, uncontradictory, information between the two formats.
A dossier cover sheet style printout will be available for free download on the Filled Quiver Outdoors Website. Taking inspiration from my longtime enjoyment of fictional spy and detective novels, I decided to design the printable posters for each Fly Lore edition to look like the cover page you may find in a dossier file. (It’s also fitting since I have actually been compiling my research for Fly Lore subjects in a stereotypical dossier file folder.) These printouts would be the perfect addition to any compendium including the articles for each Fly Lore edition along with the references I used to write each, plus any other printable resource you may have on the subject.
Some of the knowledge to be highlighted include the who, what, when, where, and why the fly was developed among other fun, useless trivia facts. Regarding the tradition aspect for each edition of the series there will be more in some and less in others depending on how much hard data can be found about each subject.
I understand there are more than four classifications of flies, along with even more sub-categories, but for the simplicity’s sake flies featured in Fly Lore will be placed in one of four general categories:
Dry – Designed to float (Zudbubbler)
Wet – Designed to sink (Copper John)
Streamers – Designed to be retrieved (Clouser Minnow)
Novelty – Designed more for whimsy than reality (Christmas Tree)
Something else you’ll notice with each new Fly Lore release is a small blue and copper seal. These are the “Tied and True” seals indicative of flies and tools which have been tied and found to be worthy of sharing with others. Most importantly, there is function behind the seals in sharing the timeframe in which each Fly Lore subject originated.
Modern Classics have been developed since 1975.
Old Timers were first developed between 1925-1974.
Timeless Legends were originated prior to 1925.
I’m not sure how long the Fly Lore series will last, but if it continues for another 5-10 years, or even longer, then the timeframes for these will naturally need to be adjusted or the names revisited. Who knows, they may even change sooner if there’s a better way to categorize by timeframe.
As I mentioned earlier, Fly Lore is not restricted only to flies. There will also be the opportunity to cover subjects including tying tools and fly fishing equipment.
Fly Lore is not intended to be an exhaustive collection of facts and legends about the subjects covered in each edition. Instead, the goal is to provide the basic information you’d find shared around a campfire by friends telling what they used to catch their personal bests.
As each new edition is released, I hope you enjoy learning the lore behind the lure.
Fly Lore: Introductory Edition
(You can print a blank copy of the dossier cover sheet at the bottom of this page.)
Clicking the image below of the dossier cover page will automatically download a pdf version of the image.