Welcome to Historic Angling Enterprises. We hope you will find us a "window" to our collective angling past, and that you share our interest in the history of fishing, the equipment available in different eras, and the techniques used by those who "angled" or coarse fished the waters in prior centuries.
We supply historically correct hooks, "antique" flies tied by us to reproduce historic patterns from earlier eras, horsehair and natural fiber fishing lines, and other original and reproduction fishing tackle from .... the 200's to the Mid-1800's.... for reenactors, historians, or anglers who just want to sample a bit of angling history.
Historic Angling Enterprises is dedicated to furthering a better understanding the history of fly fishing and coarse (bait) fishing. To that end this site will be constantly modified as historical materials are added over the coming weeks and months.
As a bit of background, one of the ways I practice antique angling is as a “reenactor.” To the modern fisherman that will make little sense, perhaps, but like many thousands of men, women, and children in the United States and indeed, around the world, I find great pleasure in attempting to replicate, in every aspect that is reasonably possible, life in earlier eras. I personally regularly engage in reenactment activities related the time of the French and Indian War, the Long Hunter era, the American Revolution, and the American Fur Trade. To that end I go forth, alone and also with other kindred spirits, to the mountains, forests and other wild places, fully clothed and equipped for an earlier era, down to the last detail, including the food I intend to consume. It is or should be a challenging learning experience and a great deal of fun.
And when one adds the element of fishing to the reenactment equation, it gives a one a very good education about what anglers and coarse fishermen living and fishing several centuries ago encountered in their pursuit of our finned adversaries. You will find, I believe, that the colonial angler, whether it be George Washington or some nameless urchin living with parents along a creek on the frontier; or the mountain man of the next century following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, had virtually the same motivation and used much the same approach as we do today. Believe me when I say that little has changed over the centuries when it is man vs. fish, other than the composition of our equipment, and that using gear and techniques from those earlier times adds immeasurably to the experience when one is trying to fish exactly as they did.
So come walk with us through centuries of angling fact and conjecture. Join us as we strive to understand and recreate, to the extent reasonably possible, flies and fishing tackle from eras ancient to reasonably modern: from the time of the Roman teacher Aelian’s writing about fly fishing as then purportedly practiced in Macedonia (circa 200 A.D.); the text of The Treatyse of Fysshynge Wyth an Angle (the printed edition of 1496 and the earlier form from about 1450); the chef Thomas Barker’s The Art of Angling, 1651; the immortal Izaak Walton and his fishing companion, Charles Cotton (Walton’s first edition of The Compleat Angler,1653/ and the fifth edition which included Cotton’s tying instructions, 1676); Richard and Charles Bowler (The Art of Angling (1750’s and later editions); and Thomas Best and Capt. Williamson and the Boston merchant John Rowe, and George W. Bethune (from his 1847 edition and marginal notes of Walton and Cotton’s text) and on and on and on--- the legions of angling authors: those of merit and those of fluff are seemingly without end!
Also, questions, observations and ideas are always welcome, so please let us hear from you. In the meantime, join us by the fireplace, as you consider our wares.
Fly and Coarse Fishing Products:
NEW ITEMS FOR SALE:
Horse Hair for Making Period Angling Lines and Snoods for Flies- Individual Hanks (about 31” long), $5.00 each; Bulk – limited quantities (about one pound, 21” long), $75.00 each.
Hook Wire- Packages of hook wire, fifty pieces in each pack, available in four sizes: For Trout, Sunfish & Other Medium Fish- 0.55 mm (hook sizes 10-14); For Trout, Sunfish & Other Medium Fish - 0.75 mm (hook sizes 6-10); For Bass, Catfish, Salmon & Other Large Fish- 1.50 mm (hook sizes 1/0-4); and For Bass, Catfish, Salmon & Other Large Fish- 1.65 mm (hook sizes 4/0-1/0). Written instructions about how to make period hooks included. Up to two or more hooks can be made from each piece of wire for the smaller sizes of wire, and one and perhaps two for the larger sizes of wire. $4.00 for each package.
Replica Pin and Template Benders for Period Hook Making. Pin Benders, $16.00 each, Template Benders, $24.00 each.
We are pleased to be able to offer the first German translation of Walton/Cotton, Part II, Instructions how to Angle for a Trout or Grayling, in a Clear Stream. 120 pages; 24 historic engravings b/w, 3 plates b/w, 65 colour drawings of all 65 flies; gilt stamped cover; ribbon marker from the German publisher, Verlag J. Schück, Nürnberg. For the very first time ever, this edition features beautiful color drawings of all 65 flies which Cotton described or sketched in 1679. In this volume you have precise reproductions of Cotton’s patterns. The fly drawings follow exactly the order of Cotton's descriptions, so one does not need to read German to fully understand these illustrations, especially if one has a copy of Cotton with which to compare his description with the drawings. This edition is a copy of the 19th century effort by one J. Schumacher to translate the third Ephemera edition of The Compleat Angler from 1853 for the P. Salomon & Co. However in 1859, just before the printed volume was released, a fire destroyed nearly the entire edition. Only about a dozen of the books survived the fire. Verlag J. Shück secured a copy of this rare volume, and obtained permission to reproduce it. So, some 320+ years after Charles Cotton wrote Part II and over 140 years after Schumacher's original German translation, we have this most excellent volume. The color drawings of Cotton’s flies are alone worth the price. $55.00 plus $2.50 shipping.< xml="true" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" prefix="o" namespace="">
Single and Double Quill Floats, period correct to the 1400’s, made in England. $5.00 for single and $6.00 for double.
Tin Container, (same size and shape of the brass container), Much like that used by George Washington for his coarse fishing tackle. $14.95 each.
Hard-bound and paper-bound copies of The Colonial Angler's Manual of Flyfishing & Fly Tying. $24.00 plus $2.50 for shipping and packaging/handling expenses. Paper bound copies are $16.00 plus $2.50 for shipping and packaging/handling expenses.
Period Fish Hooks (Eyeless):
The typical hook for fly and coarse fishing from the most ancient of times to at or just after the 1850's would have been eyeless. There were exceptions, even in antiquity, but rest assured they were VERY rare. Eyeless hooks were typically either "spade end" or "blindeye."
I have Greek hooks in my collection dating to 800 B.C., and Roman hooks dating from 100 to 300 A.D, of both varieties. Note the Greek hooks to the left. The hook on the far left is a very early example of a blindeye hook, and immediately to its right, a spade end hook from the same era. The hook in the photo to the right is Roman, and is a spade end. Note the flattened area at the top of the shank. Blindeye hooks are without a flattened end and were often tapered. Spade end hooks are those with a flattened area where an eye would be on the modern hook.
We furnish a knot sheet with instructions for tying line to eyeless hooks with each hook order. ***See link section below for our personal library and document collection, including two illustrations from 1780 showing hook connectins, Etc.***
Eyeless Spade End Hooks
Set of Seven, loose..... $4.00.
Set of Seven on brain-tan for kit..... $5.00
Single Spade End Hooks, sizes 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 each...................... .$0.60
Spade End Hooks, Snelled Hook, Coiled Silkworm Gut
Bulk Spade End Hooks, mix or match, minimum 50 hooks, $0.25 each.
Snelled “Bait” Hooks, sizes 4-12 spade end; with horse hair......$2.00 each, and with linen or other period correct line........$1.50 each; blind eye hooks with horse hair..........$2.50 each, and with linen line or other correct line........$2.00 each.
Early 20th Century Blind Eye Hooks, perfect for the fly or coarse fishing kit, $1.00 each.
Roman Bronze Fish Hooks, originals dating from 100 to 300 A.D., Supply extremely limited. Priced from $35.00 and up each. Serious inquiries only. Inquire as to availability and selection.
Horsehair Lines:
Made to order, Six to Eight Foot Tapered Lines "fly lines," with connecting loop on one or both ends (specify). $45.00 each. For longer lines, add $4.00 per foot up to an additional 20 feet. 
On special orders, we will make longer lines (up to 40 feet). Inquire as to pricing.
Period (1747-1840) "Antique" Fishing Flies:
Typically tied to Bowlker patterns, circa 1747 to 1829, otherwise generic to period. On special request we can attempt to duplicate virutally any historial antique pattern, whether Berners, Barker, or Cotton, or otherwise. All flies are tied with either horse hair or silk worm gut snells on eyeless hooks. Where the original dressings call for feathers from protected birds or fur from protected animals, reasonable substitutions in materials will be made.
Flies with Horse Hair Snell.........$5.00 each, five or more, $4.00 each.
For Flies tied on antique hooks, inquire as to availability of hooks and pricing.
Framed Flies
We offer our flies framed and matted. A framed set of 9 "antique" flies similar to the one shown here is priced at $60.00. Other sets are available, so please inquire if interested.
Silk Worm Gut Leader Material. While they last, antique gut leaders, 3 feet long, looped at each end, available in 10, 15, 20 and 25 pound (dry) test..............$6.00 for one; $5.00 each for three or more mix or match.
Sheepskin Fly Book (photo below), handmade with leather ties, correct to 1600's or earlier......... $24.00.
Oval Brass Fishing Box (photo above), 4-5/16" x 3", the perfect case for lines, hooks, snells and flies....$16.95. Tin Container (same size and shape of the brass container), Much like that used by George Washington for his coarse fishing tackle. $14.95.
Lead Strips for Weights***, $1.50.
Lead Shot for Weights***, assortment, $1.50.
*****Buyer Beware! Some States and/or jurisdictions prohibit the use of lead weights. Do not use in violation of the law. Seller expressly disavows any illegal use of its products.
Fishing Kits:
“Aged” Tin Box, contains linen line, 6 spade end hooks on brain-tan, 6 sinkers, and 1 period correct cork float. $15.00 each. Add $6.00 for one period fly on horse hair.
Oval Brass Box, contains line, 7 hooks on brain-tan, 6 sinkers, 1 float and 1 period fly. $24.95.
“Cast” Holders/Line Winders, Wood with brass or steel fittings. Ready Fitted with line, hook, weight and cork. One “set” holder (see photo on right for a one set and three set holder), $25.00; two set $30.00, three set $35.00, four set $40.00, five set $45.00. All come with blind eye hooks to silk, linen or hemp snells, silk, linen, or hemp lines, weights and one float. Add $6.00 for each fly with hair snell substituted for hook, weight & float, tied to silk line. Without hooks, lines, weights, floats , i.e. unfitted, deduct $5.00 from each size. SPECIAL ORDER ONLY!
Other Lines: Silk Line: $0.50 per yard. Linen Line: About 30 yards for $6.00. About 15 yards for $4.00. Catgut, $0.60 per foot, $10.00 for 20 foot roll.
Floats: Traditional English Quill and Balsa Floats, hand-made in England, $6.00 each.
Corncob float, $1.50. Period Correct English hand-made (in England) "Carved" Cork float, $2.00.
The Fly-Fisher's Craft: The Art and History (Hardcover)
By Darrel Martin
$29.95, including shipping via media mail
And as a special edition, Darrel has kindly made available to us an extra drawing of CharlesBowlker’s “Hackle Fly” and had it printed (by letter press) on watercolor paper. For the special edition these will be inserted it at the front of the book. He will water-color the drawing, and then sign it as a special addition to his book. These are available on a very limited basis for $49.95, including shipping via media mail.
From the back cover: “The act of deceiving a fish has beguiled mankind such that it became an art form passed down the millennia. When considering angling’s rich history, all anglers eventually wonder how we ever managed to fish without graphite rods, synthetic lines, and nylon leaders. But up until only the past few decades, we have gone a-fishing solely with a variety of painstakingly handcrafted devices constructed of natural materials: hand-wrought steel hooks, carefully selected furs and feathers, gut leaders, furled horsehair lines, and wooden loop-rods lashed together.
In The Fly-Fisher’s Craft, noted angling author Darrel Martin brings his decades of research, hundreds of color photographs, and years of experimentation to bear on the fascinating evolution of fly fishing contrivances, from the practical to the fanciful, from the dawn of written history until today. Martin shows where these technologies were first documented, why they came to be, and details how even today we can burnish our own handmade hooks, furl a horsehair leader, and fashion a functioning rod from readily available wood. He also documents the intriguing art and evolution of fly tying in particular detail, from the earliest documented methods and materials to some of today’s most modern patterns, which still inevitably draw on the pedigree of their ancient forebears. What’s more, all of these natural marvels still work today, just as they did when Izaak Walton retired to compose his classic treatise, The Compleat Angler.
In The Fly-Fisher’s Craft, we discover that everything old is new again, that good ideas never die, and that the surprising sophistication and wisdom of those who came before has never been more relevant for today’s practitioners of the gentle art of fly fishing.”
About the Author
Darrel Martin, is a retired teacher, and the author of The Fly Fisher's IllustratedDictionary, Micropatterns, and Fly-Tying Methods. He is a contributing editor to Fly Rod & Reel. He has fly-fished in over twenty countries, from Cape Town to Croatia, from the Amazon to Patagonia, from Mozambique to Zambia. He has also presented fly-tying and fly-casting programs in various countries and has designed various tying and trouting tools,including the Dubbing Whirl, the Anvil Signature Scissors, and hook models for Partridge and Daiichi. For several years, he has had a rod-share on the River Test in England, and is one of the few living anglers who has caught English trout on a loop rod with a hair line!
More Fine Fishing Books from Historic Angling and Friends: More Fishing Literature
Ordering Instructions:
First, please be aware that the prices for all of our products are subject to change without notice. We will immediately make any change in pricing on this site. We will honor pricing on pending orders, but not otherwise.
If you have any questions about your needs or your desired order, please e-mail us at historicangling@gmail.com .
Be sure to include shipping costs as described below. Make all checks payable to Paul W. Jones, and mail to Post Office Box 706, Arp, Texas 75750-0706. All prices subject to change without notice. We do accept Paypal! For Paypal payments, use our e-mail address of historicangling@gmail.com .
Shipping costs: All goods are mailed using U.S. Priority Mail, Signature Required. Minimum fee, due with order, is $7.00. If shipping charges exceed that sum, the balance will be billed to the customer.
We will gladly refund your purchase price, excluding shipping charges, if you are not satisfied with any product, provided, however, that you return the product(s) to me within 5 business days of delivery to you, post-paid, in the same undamaged condition as when it/they left my shop. If you prefer a replacement instead of a refund, it is your choice. Always include your day and evening telephone numbers, and if available, an e-mail address.
Thank you for your consideration of our products. If you have any questions or comments, please write to our post office box, send an e-mail to historicangling@gmail.com, or call (903 594-8844).
More Historic Angling Enterprises Links To Visit:
For some history of fishing and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, please consider an article I wrote several years ago. It has appeared in several venues, and most recently in The Backwoodsman. A Bit of History
And a link to some illustrations from our personal library and document collection. From Our Library and Document Collection
Links of our Friends and others we find of merit:
The American Museum of Fly Fishing. This museum is a treasure and the collections it maintains are priceless to those with an interest in the history of fly fishing. I urge you to support this fine institution by joining. http://www.amff.com/home.htm
Double Edge Forge. http:www.doubleedgeforge.com One of the finest Blacksmiths in the United States, Dennis Miles is the craftsman you need if you want a historically accurate reproduction, whether it be a knife or other edged weapon or antique tool or device.
Wilde Weavery. My friends Ed and CJ Wilde are two of the most talented craft-persons I know. I often carry my fishing gear while streamside in a period-correct bag made by Ed, and I have spent many a grand evening, camped next to that same stream while wrapped in one of CJ’s most excellent hand-woven blankets. For fine hand-weaving, leatherwork, period accoutrements and books I recommend them without reservation. http://wildeweavery.com
Cobb Creek. Larry and Kathy Ring at Cobb Creek supply much of the clothing I use for my reenacting, and I recommend them to you as quality purveayors of fine clothing. Larry also makes some of the highest quality reproduction copperware available in America.
Conde Trading. Tom Conde is one of the finest craftsmen I have met, and if you need the best of fingerwoven bags or sashes, you need to do business with him. http://condetrading.com
The Lewis and Clark Journals. http://LewisandClarkJournals.unl.edu/index.html
David Wright. He is my favorite “frontier artist.” His paintings are a true window to our historical past. http://davidwrightart.com
The
Your Humble Flytyer and Tackle Maker and his Snowshoes and A Fly Rod
Hope Springs Eternal, Even When the Trout Have Better Sense
Living History Resources. One of the best reference sources for Internet accessible resources on matters historical. http://www.geocities.com/livinghistoryresources/
Historical Trekking/Living History. My favorite “living history” site on the web. Something for everyone, including an active message board, excellent how-to-articles, and “the virtual round robin” where one can buy just about anything related to reenacting and living history. http://www.historicaltrekking.com/
The Flye & The Pen. One of my favorite sites when searching for angling books. Specializing in fly fishing and offering: Out-of-Print Favorites - Hard to Find - Signed & Inscribed - English Titles - Limited Editions and Derrydales. Owner and fly fisherman Bob Rumpf offers quality, value, and honest dealing. http://www.flyepenbooks.com/