Victorian Salmon Flies and the Birds Used to Make Them
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Victorian salmon flies are tied according to recipes that are up to 150 years old and call for some of the rarest feathers in the world. Our show this week is the story of what may be the greatest feather robbery of all time, a million dollars in rare birds, stolen from a British museum.
The community of people devoted to tying these kinds of flies doesn’t fish with them—they’re just for show. Many try to use feathers from the same species listed in the classic manuals. But because so many birds have been killed for so many reasons over the years, a lot of the most coveted species are now endangered or protected.
Below are some photos of salmon flies—the Durham Ranger, the Jock Scott, and the Sherbrook—and some of the birds referenced in the recipes used to make them.
A Jock Scott salmon fly, tied according to the original T.E. Pryce-Tannatt recipe.
A Jock Scott salmon fly. Birds referenced in the classic recipe, clockwise from top: topping (golden pheasant), toucan, gallina (guineafowl), peacock, jungle cock.
(Ana Cotta, Bob Fabry, Drew McLellan; recipe from How to Dress Salmon Flies)
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A Durham Ranger salmon fly. Tied by Edwin Rist following a recipe written in 1840, but using more affordable substitute feathers.
Edward Muzeroll
A Durham Ranger salmon fly. Birds referenced in the classic recipe, clockwise from top: blue macaw, topping (golden pheasant crests), chatterer (Spangled cotinga); Indian crow (red-ruffed fruitcrow)
(Tambako The Jaguar, Francesco Veronesi; recipe from The Salmon Fly)
The Sherbrook salmon tie.
A Sherbrook salmon fly. Birds referenced in the recipe, clockwise from top: golden pheasant, Indian crow (red-ruffed fruitcrow), florican (Indian bustard), peacock, blue and gold macaw.
(Francesco Veronesi, Prajwalkm, Drew McLellan, Bernard Spragg)
A Jock Scott salmon fly, tied by Spencer Seim. Instead of using expensive feathers from exotic species as outlined in the classic instructions, Seim substitutes feathers made from dyeing plumes from game birds like turkeys and pheasants.
A Jock Scott salmon fly. Birds, clockwise from top: Asian kingfisher, used instead of Cotinga cayana; golden pheasant; Kori bustard, obtained through the Kori SSP (species survival project); canard (duck), the back feathers are dyed yellow and used in place of a toucan; ringneck pheasant, used in place of Indian crow.
(Winfried Bruenken, Mdf, Gary Noon; recipe from Spencer Seim)
