This is one of the many interesting bass flies shown in the
Mary Orvis Marbury book Favorite Flies and Their Histories.
Mary sent letters to all the well known fly fishermen in this
country and Canada in the late 1800s, asking them to send her
documentation of the flies they liked in their area, the hooks
and leaders they used, and any fly fishing techniques they liked
to employ. The letters she received back are shown in the book,
along with illustrations of many of the flies, and Mary's own
commentary and literary touches, which are not insignificant.
In fact, much of the beauty and soul of this book comes from
Mary herself, who was evidently a highly educated person with a
great love of poetry, the English language, and classical
literature. I never tire of this book, and it is a great
snapshot of the state of fly fishing in this country at the
end of the 19th century.
"Black bass" was the term used to describe the fish we know
as the smallmouth bass today. Mary received a letter from
Walter Greaves of Ottawa, Canada as part of her research, and
in it he lists the flies he likes for trout, black bass,
and two flies of his own design. The Massassaga is one
of these last two flies, along with The Lake Edward. Here's
what he said about The Massassaga:
"Designed by myself in 1885, merely as an experiment. Body
green, with gold tinsel; wings guinea-fowl dyed yellow;
hackle yellow; tail scarlet ibis. In fishing for bass on
the Bay of Quinte`, county of Hastings, I have found this
fly to take better than any fly I have used, and several
of my friends say the same thing. It takes particularly
well during the evening, say between six o'clock and sundown,
in the months of July and August."
As was the case with many of the flies sent to Mary, which
were personal inventions for a given local lake, the Massassaga
did not survive as a popular fly. But its beauty endures in
the pages of her book, and that's enough. One frustrating thing
I've found with Favorite Flies and Their Histories
is that many of the flies have no recipes. Fortunately, J. Edson
Leonard comes to the rescue in 1950 with his book Flies,
and lists recipes for all of them. If you have both books, you're
set. Surprisingly, Leonard lists this fly in the trout/wet fly
section of his book, but I think Mary had it right.
Credits:
Favorite Flies and Their Histories by Mary Orvis Marbury;
Flies by J. Edson Leonard. ~ Eric Austin
|
