Welcome to Just Old Flies

Welcome to 'just old flies,' a section of methods and flies that used-to-be. These flies were tied with the only materials available. Long before the advent of 'modern' tying materials, they were created and improved upon at a far slower pace than todays modern counterparts; limited by materials available and the tiers imagination.

Once long gone, there existed a 'fraternity' of anglers who felt an obligation to use only the 'standard' patterns of the day. We hope to bring a bit of nostalgia to these pages and to you. And sometimes what you find here will not always be about fishing. Perhaps you will enjoy them. Perhaps you will fish the flies. Perhaps?

Part Two hundred-eight

The Widow

The Widow

Compiled by James Birkholm
"Cotton, in his list of flies for April, suggests the Violet fly, "made of dark violet stuff, with the wings of the gray feather of the mallard." This is probably the same fly that later was called the Widow, from its subdued dress. Thad Norris, in his book of angling, writes with delightful enthusiasm of the alluring qualities of this favorite fly." Credits: Quoted text and photo from Favorite Flies and Their Histories, by Mary Orvis Marbury, published by the Lyons Press.

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