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Blacker's salmon flies were some of the most original patterns ever tied, and still present a challenge to the 
professional fly dresser. It is probably true to state that Blacker was largely responsible for the explosion of  
popularity of "gaudy" salmon flies. 
His first book, W. Blacker's Art of Angling, and Complete System of Fly Making, and Dying of Colours, was 
published in 1842. It was an extraordinary publication, the pages being interleved with dozens of flies, 
and no one copy being identical to another. The vast majority of copies only had trout flies, but a few had the 
salmon flies for which Blacker was to become renowned. He revised the work in 1855, producing an "ordinary" 
edition that was widely sold and featured detailed fly tying instructions, as well as copious illustrations.
The salmonfly illustrations on this page were scanned from a Portfolio of eighteen colour plates issued by the
Flyfisher's Classic Library which has been on my bookshelves since Christmas 1994.
All flies were tied by my good friend Marvin Nolte.
 Enjoy the trip back in history, and the splendid colours of "THE GAUDY FLY" !