Author: MJT
Fly Fishing Tackle As A Collector’s Sport
Nowadays, the enthusiastic angler is able to purchase fly
fishing tackle not only to engage in fly fishing, but also to become a
collector of classic and antique fly fishing tackle.
History of Fly Fishing Tackle
The first account of the use of fly fishing tackle is
commonly credited to Claudius Aelianus, a 2nd century roman author and teacher
of rhetoric, who described how Macedonian anglers on the Astraeus River used an
artificial fly lure to capture fish.
Fly fishing as known today originated in the rivers of Scotland
and Northern England, and expanded to the rest of England,
the United States,
Canada, Scandinavia
and the Alpine mountain regions of Europe. The expansion
of fly fishing to such different parts of the globe resulted in different
styles and development of fly fishing tackle.
As is naturally expected, the advent of the machine age and
other advances in technology has also changed the nature and composition of fly
fishing tackle. A clear example of this change in the technology of the fly
fishing tackle is the rod: in its early history, the manufacturers of this type
of equipment made the rod of bamboo or wood; modern manufactures use
carbon-fiber, fiberglass, and steel to produce high-quality rods.
Finding Collectible Fly Fishing Tackle
The collector of fly fishing tackle must be prepared to
spend time and money in order to secure a significant and valuable assortment
of such equipment.
The first step is to subscribe to magazines that focus
exclusively on fishing collectibles, because these types of magazines will not
only describe the different kinds of collectible fly fishing tackle, but will
also provide information as to where to purchase the different models, who the
different manufacturers were, and give the history, use, and tradition of such
collectible equipment.
Another valuable source of information are books that can be
purchased at bookstores or researched in libraries, fly fishing clubs, the
Internet, and stores that specialize in collectible and antique items.
Old-fashioned hunting and fishing stores will prove to be a goldmine of classic
and antique fly fishing tackle, and the owners of such stores are also likely
to be a veritable source of anecdotes and other stories related to the sport of
fly fishing.
Collectors of this type of equipment should also invest time
learning about common defects, ratings on condition, monetary value, and
construction techniques, since knowledge of this type of information will
greatly increase the value and significance of the purchased objects.
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