"While of English origin, the Francis fly is typically
American.
Francis Francis was born in Devonshire, that delightful
trout country in Southwest England, in 1822. He was
the author of The Anglers Register and Diary
that went through three publications, 1858-60-61; and
Fish Culture, 1863. His most popular
writing was A Book on Angling, 1867, which
went through five editions before his death. He served
as angling editor of The Field from 1856 to 1883.
It was he who suggested the plan of the National Fish
Culture Association, which was carried out after his death
in 1886.
The writing of this author-creator are widely read and
approved in the United States. It was Francis who wrote,
"No one man, no matter how skillful he may be, will ever
know all that there is in fly fishing, for wherever he
goes he find new and interesting problems to tackle."
The fly may be described as: body, dark green bronze
peacock herl, with a spiral stripping of red; gold tip;
gray hackle top and well as under the head and forward
of a large, wide, dark gray wing; tail dark gray.
Call McCarthy...once said that when he was serving his
apprenticeship to his father in fly tying, A Book
on Angling always lay upon the work take and was
used as a text book to resolve any knotty question."
Credits: Text from Fly Patterns
and Their Origins by Harold Hinsdill Smedley,
Published by Westshore Publications. Fly photo from
Forgotten Flies. We appreciate
use permission.
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