MAJOR JOHN POPKIN TRAHERNE
A Poster of his 28 Salmon Flies
History
The Danish Fly tier, Kim Rasmussen has compiled
all Major John Popkin Traherne's beautiful dressings into one poster. This is done in
memory of Traherne's death 100 years ago.
Today, Major Traherne is recognized as one of the best and most
innovative fly tiers ever. Having fished the best rivers in Ireland, Scotland, and Norway,
Major Traherne also held a number of records for salmon catches. In 1864 he caught 165
fish in fifteen days on the Namsen River in Norway. Still today it is said that this score
has never been equaled.
At the World Exhibition in London in 1883, Major Traherne won
the title with a box of 18 of his Salmon flies. These 18 flies became the beginning of a
series of articles written by Geo. M. Kelson in the Fishing Gazette. The judge at the
World Exhibition was the same G.O. Kelson, primarily known for his book entitled
"Salmon flies and how to dress them", which was first published 1895.
There are two major aspects of Major Traherne's fly patterns: First,
his use of only natural colored feathers and second his way of displaying whole feathers
in almost all his dressings, in stead of using strips or strands. Many of his creative
dressings are a result of leftovers from bird skins, where the materials for standard
patterns had been used.
Patterns like the Chatterer reveals the use of the small Blue
Chatterer feathers from the head of the bird that is a leftover. On the lapwing the large
blue Enameled Trush feather are a leftover. They were too small or too large for
traditional dressings, but Major Traherne created new patterns by using these feathers.
The only drawback now - as it was 120 years ago - is the
availability of the materials. For every Chatterer being tied correctly, you have to have
access to a whole blue Chatterer head. A Lapwing also needs a complete tail from an
Enameld Trush to be correctly tied. By using leftover we can determine how large his flies
were tied. The use of Golden Pheasant crests as wing material also tells us that the flies
were of a bigger size than the standard patterns.
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