Fly Cast School

18/09/2024

A black and white photograph of Joan Wulff leading a Fly-O demonstration for saltwater anglers, late 1970s.

Photographer Unknown
Gift of Bop Popovics
AMFF permanent collection
2024.035.025

21/07/2024

21/03/2024

"I want to be a professional fly fisherman."

17/02/2024

A young Lefty Kreh holds up one of his favorite fish to catch, the smallmouth bass.

16/02/2024

We are all saddened by the sudden passing of Cathy Beck. The fly fishing community, and the world, have lost … Larry Cooney needs your support for Cathy Beck

07/02/2024

Joan and Lee Wulff were a constant fixture at fly fishing trade shows around the world. Here is a shot of them at their booth in the mid '80s!

Photographer: Johnstone, Carl
Gift of Joan Wulff
2021.017.097

06/02/2024

Robert Robinson’s Fly Fishing was featured on the May 1933 cover of Motor magazine. In the spirit of the spring season, a mechanic is eager to exchange his oil-stained gloves for a fly rod and some time on the water. He seizes the moment when he is called out to tow a car that has broken down by a bridge in the countryside. Leaving his rig unattended by the side of the road, he heads down to the river. The mechanic’s scheme is interrupted by a passing police officer who calls to him from above, attempting to draw his attention back to the unfinished task.

On trend with early-twentieth-century American art, Fly Fishing illustrates an empathetic scene of working-class America. At the height of the Great Depression, the image of a mechanic longing to reconnect with the natural world would have resonated with viewers from all socioeconomic classes as the country became more reliant on machinery and nostalgic for nature’s simple pleasures. Robinson emphasizes these frustrations in his painting with allegory that plays on the contrast between the industrial and natural. Tucked into his scene, Robinson paints a beautiful and lively landscape in the distance; however, the full breadth of its brilliance is hidden by the concrete arch of the overhead bridge. Looking deeper, a nod to Izaak Walton can be found in the name of mechanic’s garage, displayed on the side of his truck and the back of his coveralls.

Robert Robinson illustrated covers of Motor magazine from the mid-1920s to the late 1940s. He also produced many memorable illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post.

Painting by Robert Robinson
From The Trophy Art Collection donated by Mike Monier
2019.051.057

30/01/2024

"I said, what are they biting on!"

29/01/2024

18/01/2024

Jose Wejebe and Flip Pallot walking side by side to the dock.

Photographer Unknown
Courtesy of Krissy Wejebe
2023.041.006

08/01/2024

Cornelia "Fly Rod" Crosby assembling fly rod. Fly Rod Crosby was Maine's first registered guide, but the story is as fascinating as it is true. Learn more about Fly Rod Crosby through the link below.

https://www.amff.org/portfolio/graceful-rise-yesterday/agr-cornelia-thurza-crosby/

Photographer Unknown
Anonymous Gift
2022.044.004

04/01/2024

Not many anglers are skilled enough to cast a fly line without a rod, but Lee Wulff proves here he is up to the task. A shot from 1983, courtesy of Joan Wulff.

Photographer unknown
Gift of Joan Wulff
2021.034.003

09/12/2023

“In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.” - Norman Maclean

01/12/2023

Charles F. Orvis German-Silver Trout Reel
The original 1874 patent Orvis fly reel is widely accepted as the “father” of all modern fly reels. The upright design, coupled with the narrow, heavily perforated spool, has been the basis of fly-reel design for more than 140 years. The earliest examples sold and marketed by C. F. Orvis of Manchester, Vermont, lacked a click, were constructed of German silver, and were housed in a fitted walnut box.

Courtesy of Tyler Thompson

Yearc. 1874
Accession No.L2022.003.006
Made byCharles F. Orvis

18/10/2023

13/10/2023

13/06/2023

Around 1940, Ernest Hemingway mostly gave up trout fishing. The museum has his Hardy Fairy rod on display, along with this accompanying note from his son John explaining why the iconic American author turned his attention to the salt.

"To Whom it May Concern:

This rod, a Hardy Fairy, one of only two surviving items of trout fishing tackle, owned by my father the late Ernest Hemingway, is the one with which he fished on the lower Cottonwoods section of the Big Wood River on the one occasion that he trout fished here in Idaho. It and another rod, a John James Hardy in poor state of repair, were the only items of trout fishing tackle he had with him when he first came to Sun Valley in the Fall of 1940 along with reels and lines and few flies. The other items have since been lost and the balance of his tackle a trunk full of flies and other tackle items were lost the following year by the Railway Express Company. (This date is to the best of my knowledge). He was very discouraged by the loss of his accumulation of many years and never trout fished again except for the one occasion mentioned above. The Hardy Fairy was always one of his favorites and with it he fished wet with Hardy Corona lines and a St. George reel, tapered gut casts, usually with two or three flies. His favorite three fly cast was a Woodcock Yellow and Green, for a dropper, Shrimp fly in the middle and a worm fly or Coch-y-bondhu for a tail fly. I hope that whoever bids on this rod successfully will give serious consideration to giving it, or having his estate give it eventually to the American Museum of Fly Fishing.

Very Sincerely, John H. N. Hemingway"