Revolution to Railroads:  Pennsylvania Fly Fishing in the 1700s and 1800s

Most of us are somewhat familiar with the significance of fly fishing history in Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. However, the role of Pennsylvanians in the history of fly fishing goes back much further. One only needs to skim the pages of Paul Schullery’s American Fly Fishing for references to Pennsylvania to get some idea of the State’s role in fly fishing during 18^th-century America.

Perhaps the role of the Pennsylvania’s influence in America’s fly fishing history dating back to this country’s colonial past is best summarized by the following quote from Schullery’s book:

I notice that Philadelphia, which has given us the most evidence of sport fishing in the Colonies, was by all historical accounts the primary port of entry for émigrés from Europe until near the end of the 1700’s, and that these people and their cultures flourished in the lush valleys and along the now-famous trout waters of south Pennsylvania, and that a high degree of personal freedom in Pennsylvania permitted great latitude in personal recreation. It was Pennsylvania that gives us the fullest record of fly fishing in the first years of the republic, to which we now turn, and it was in south and west Pennsylvania – not the Catskills, Adirondacks, Poconos, or any other famous fishing grounds – where in the next century a young Theodore Gordon grew to love the outdoors. American Fly Fishing, the Lyons Press.

The timeline listed below and the current PFFMA displays at the Allenberry Resort Inn document some of Pennsylvania’s influence on this gentle sport. These references to Pennsylvania’s rich fly fishing heritage provided by Mr. Schullery’s excellent history not only serve to confirm the need for the Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Museum Association, but also makes oneself wonder what other discoveries are waiting to be found.

1732    First Angling Club in the Colonies
The Schuylkill Fishing Company of Pennsylvania was the first angling club in the Colonies, established in 1732 under a treaty with the chiefs of the Leni-Lanape (Delaware) Indians.

1770s    One of America’s First Tackle Shops – Edward Pole, owner
In Philadelphia, Edward Pole advertised a variety of rods, reels, lines and artificial flies in Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet.  Pole was also the host to many an angler at his tavern, The Wigwam, on the Schuykill River.

1770s-1780s    Earliest Recorded Fly Tyer – Davis Hugh Davis
Davis, a Quaker and a Philadelphia Innkeeper, was a skilled tackle maker including “fly feathers”.  His flies very likely included Alders, Cow Dungs, and Olive Dunfly.

1790s    George Gibson – One of America’s First Fly Fishing Journalists
Gibson wrote for both The American Turf Register and The Spirit of the Time about fly fishing his home waters of Cumberland County – Letort, Silver Springs, and Big Spring.

Cumberland Valley Fly Tyers
By the 1800s, an assemblage of fly fishers were working the streams of the Cumberland Valley and creating their own fly patterns opposed to the common practice of using British fly designs.

1835    The Henryville House
One of America’s oldest fly fishing inns, the hotel in Henryville hosted such notables as Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill and Presidents Cleveland, Harrison, Coolidge, and Roosevelt.

1846    Split Bamboo Rods – Samuel Phillipe
Samuel Phillipe from Easton was one of the first, if not the first, American to build at least partial split cane fly rods.  This began the creation of the modern fly rod.

 1858-1860    Elizabeth Benjamin – Imitation Theory
An example of one of the first innovators of imitation theory, Elizabeth netted insects in Lycoming Creek near Ralston and tied flies to resemble the actual specimens that the fish were eating.

 1830s-1870s    Thaddeus Norris
Norris has taught many a fly angler with his classic, American Angler’s Book written in 1865.  This book is possibly the first American description of dry fly fishing.  Norris moved to Philadelphia in 1835 and was a tackle dealer, fly tyer, rod builder and author.

 1850s-1880s    Theodore Gordon – Fly Fishing Legend
Although well known as a New York Catskills fly fisher, Gordon was born in Pittsburgh.  As a teenager, he spent his summers near Carlisle and became an avid sportsman, collecting many of his fly tying materials from domestic game.

 1880s-1890s     The Influence of Railroads
By the 1880s, the railroads provided an economical way for anglers to travel, enabling them to fish a variety of waters.  In 1891, money was appropriated to the Pennsylvania Fish Commission to purchase and modify the railcar, Susquehanna, for the sole purpose of delivering fish raised in their hatcheries to those who requested by “making application”.