Historical Fly Gallery

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Created by Tom Bosworth, carriage driver to Queen Victoria. Driving a two or four horse team made "Old Tom" a master with the buggy whip. A favorite trick of his was too snap the pipe from the mouth of pedestrians, with his whip, as the carriage passed. This skill with the whip translated perfectly when applied to the fly rod. His skill was legendary in Nineteenth Century England. For night fishing he developed this fly which has served as a dependable standard right up to present times. The Royal Coachman was not an Old Tom fly but a reinforced version of the coachman by John Haily.