Thunder and Lightning

MIRAMICHI RIVER FLY FISHING - ATLANTIC SALMON

The moment when man first discovered that a feather-covered hook could be an effective fishing tool is shrouded in the mists of time. Archaeologists believe that the fishing hook was discovered sometime around 30,000 years ago in southern Europe. The hooks, which were eventually provided with barbs, were first manufactured of bone and probably also of different wooden materials.

Dame Juliana Berner is believed to have been the abbess of a Benedictine nunnery in Sopwell. Her article, on fly-fishing, was written in 1425 and subsequently hand-copied by monks until it was printed seventy years later. It is the earliest known printed work in English on fly fishing. It described, in detail how fishing for trout and salmon was conducted with artificial flies. She had discovered, among other things, a seasonal regularity in the insects which she observed on her fishing waters. Her conclusion was that the fish's choice of diet depended largely on the supply of swarming insects. With her observations of insect life as a starting point, she developed twelve different fly patterns, one for each month, which are so well described that a fly-tier today can tie them without much trouble.