Not exactly fly tying....

[djs12354]

But I thought there might be some interest in seeing these.

They were given to me by my niece and her husband. He has shoulder damage and can no longer comfortably fly fish; so passed equipment and flies given to him by his grandfather on to me.
I was very touched be the gift.

The flies are snelled and were made in Canada. Company was Allock, Laight and Westwood Limited of Toronto Canada. Also marked as "Made in England"

Seems like an interesting pattern to me. Simple and clean and likely to catch fish. When I'm feeling a little better, I am going to try and tie some up based on these flies.

 

[geebee]

djs12354 wrote:
But I thought there might be some interest in seeing these.

They were given to me by my niece and her husband. He has shoulder damage and can no longer comfortably fly fish; so passed equipment and flies given to him by his grandfather on to me.
I was very touched be the gift.

The flies are snelled and were made in Canada. Company was Allock, Laight and Westwood Limited of Toronto Canada. Also marked as "Made in England"

Seems like an interesting pattern to me. Simple and clean and likely to catch fish. When I'm feeling a little better, I am going to try and tie some up based on these flies.

S Allcocks were a well known tackle manufacturer in Redditch England, going back to the 19th century. their tackle is extremely valuable...a reel is $1000+

also in the Family was W Allcocks rod makers from the 19th century up to the 1960's.

I have one of their cane rods from the 1950's - trotting not Fly sadly. it was my grandfathers.

hooks to nylon, is also an English thing - still is in coarse fishing/warm water fishing competitions.

I googled this - Allcock, Leight & Westwood was an anglo-canadian joint venture between S Allcocks and the Canadian co's in 1854 through the 1950's to sell Allcocks tackle in Canada.

Allcocks became JW Youngs - another premier fishing tackle manufacturer in Redditch who still make fly and centrepin reels today.

I had a look on the classic UK forums for rods and reels and UK ebay and can't find any mention of hooks to nylon with flies 'snelled' on, but

so, what I think you have there is something very rare - they were probably used for either dapping from a boat or trolling.

either way, I'd frame them

 

[geebee]

update : I did find a private collector selling a single snelled A&LW wet fly for $15.

 

[djs12354]

GeeBee

Thanks for the information. Haven't framed them yet, but they are sealed in a plastic bag and occupying a place of honor on my tying desk.

Given that they were a gift that obviously meant a lot to my niece's husband, I will not sell them or fish them. I will certainly keep them around and appreciate them and the thought that went with the gift.

Again, thanks for the information.

Dave

 

[geebee]

no, for gods sake don't fish them - that 'line' is not nylon or silk, its literally cat gut.

its so old that on contact with water it would likely dissolve.

that collectors page said probably 1920/1930's, so 80/90 years old...a lovely gift imho and in 'immaculate' condition, they wouldn't be out of place in the Museum of American Fly Fishing I am sure.

 

[redietz]

geebee wrote:
no, for gods sake don't fish them - that 'line' is not nylon or silk, its literally cat gut.

No, it's not. It's not it's nylon -- it says so right on the package. That makes them post-WWII at the earliest. I could (and did) still buy snelled wet flies in the mid-1960's.

Snells were never made of cat gut. "Gut" leaders were neither cat nor gut/ The were made from the silk glands of a silkworm. And it hold up over time better than nylon.