I guess you could call this article another in a series of "Flies from the Past". My goal is to pass along salmon fly patterns from antiquarian books that are no longer particularly easy to obtain, especially those which contain hand-colored plates of flies such as this one.

Hewitt Wheatley's little book titled The Rod and Line &c. was first published in 1849, just one year after Tolfrey's Pivotal Jones's Guide to Norway and was produced by the same printer (which also, by the way, published Ephemera's book The Book of the Salmon in 1850), i.e., Longman, Brown, Green and Longman of Paternoster Row, London.

This book contains nine exquisitely hand-colored plates, three of which depict a total of eight salmon flies (the rest of the plates depict trout flies, minnow lures, etc.). I feel that these salmon fly paintings rival in quality and color those found in Jones's Guide and, in fact, depict a number of rather interesting patterns which use some quite unusual materials that I, personally, have never seen listed elsewhere. These include feathers from the King Bird of Paradise and the Trogon, neither of which can be obtained today (at least not legally!).

In the introduction to the book Wheatley said:

Obstinacy is the vice of little minds; Credulity, the failing of little experience; and Prejudice, a villanous compound of both.

"The force of Nature could no further go: To form a third, she join'd the other two."

"Why do you persevere in using that fly, when nothing will look at it?" said I."

Obstinacy went on thrashing the water with greater vigour than ever.

"Why do you persevere in using that fly?" said I.

"I read of its being good," said Credulity.

"Why do you persevere in using that fly?" said I.

"I hate all your new inventions," said Prejudice.

"No doubt," said I, and took a copious pinch of rapee.

Here are the patterns: (Note: these patterns are paraphrased and clarified from the originals.)

Tag: Gold tinsel.
Tail: Two toppings.
Body: Equal portions of red, green and orange silk.
Ribs: Narrow flat gold tinsel.
Hackle: Black.
Throat: Grouse under the wing and Jay around the wing like a collar.
Wings: Argus tail, Bittern, Scarlet Macaw, Tippet and Summer duck.
Horns: Blue and gold or blue and red Macaw.
Head: Peacock herl.

Tag: Gold tinsel.
Tail: A pair of Indian Crow back to back with Toucan on either side of these.
Body: Equal portions of green and yellow Pig's wool.
Hackle: Red.
Throat: Argus Pheasant hackle.
Wings: Bronze mallard with two toppings over.
Head: Peacock herl.

Tag: Silver tinsel.
Body: Dark purple (material type not specified).
Hackle: Black.
Throat: Grouse.
Wings: Dark mottled Turkey or Bronze Mallard.
Head: Black Ostrich herl.

Tag: Gold tinsel.
Tail: Short, of one red and one yellow feather side by side or a single Parrot feather of the same colors.
Body: Yellow silk.
Hackle: Bittern.
Wings: Bittern wing.

Tail: Short, of one red and one yellow feather side by side or a single Parrot feather of the same colors.
Body: Bright red worsted.
Ribs: Black Ostrich and fine oval gold tinsel together.
Hackle: Golden Pheasant tippet.
Wings: 12 to 20 Peacock herl strands with a few Peacock sword strands over these.

Body: White or grey worsted chenille.
Hackle: Yellowish white.
Wings: Two sets: the main wing is of the tips of two white feathers set to stand almost upright with the outer set as finer and smaller tips of two white feathers lying somewhat flatter to show under the first set (see accompanying plate).

Tail: the point of a small Heron feather, to hang downward.
Body: The blue roots of Rabbit fur.
Hackle: Blue dun.
Throat: Blue feather from the Heron.
Horns: Two hackles with the fibers of each cut off close to the shafts and projecting straight out from the head to be about the same length as the body (see plate).

Body: Green silk.
Ribs: Fine flat gold tinsel.
Hackle: Green cock Trogon feather or a black-red feather.
Wings: Two King Bird of Paradise ruff feathers set upright.
Head: Black Ostrich herl.