Yes back to college for me as I will be offering a class at Colby Sawyer College on The History of New Hampshire and New England Streamer Flies.  I've been slowly researching this topic for a number of years.  It began when I was working on the Traditional Arts Grant and I headed to the State Library to find out some information on NH fly tyers.  I have a friend who is a town librarian here in NH and she was very helpful trying to point me in the correct direction to get started on documenting history in this area.  
My first find was an article that spelled out quite a bit about flies and fly tyers from back around the 1950s.  It had some patterns and names of the tyers who developed them and much of it was from a letter the late Game Warden Jesse Scott had written to the magazine.  At some point NHFG had a newsletter that came out on a regular basis and some of this history was included in it.  Jesse made note of that and when I went looking for the newsletters I sadly found out that all of the department copies burnt in the Bridge Street fire.
Shortly after I had gone to the library I was contacted by the historic fly tyer the late Ellis Hatch, he had a fly pattern he had tied for years and did not know who came up with the fly.  He basically sent me in search of this information.  It took me a while but I had seen the fly pattern on a visit to Ellis's and said that really looks failure to me.  As I began my search I connected with Rick Estes a retired game warden and good friend who shares a similar interest in the history of flies.  
After a few months of looking around I came up dry and kind of put things on hold.  Then I was discussing with a family member about a fly my Uncle Mike tied.  I shared that Uncle Mike and my grandfather would tell me all about their fishing exploits but it was always in french so I had to try to translate it to english and missed a lot of it.  Anyway during the conversation I mentioned that Uncle Mike would visit some of the local fly tying shops (usually a general store) and he would chat up with people in Errol what was working and what wasn't.  He was a very good fly tyer and he would see a pattern in the store and go home and tie some up.  Thats when I remembered him showing me the same pattern Ellis had asked about.
So a little more research and I was able to find the tyers name from the store and connect him to the fly pattern.  Thats how this whole thing really got going.  I went back to speak with Ellis and he was thrilled with the information and said much of this information has gone to the grave with fly tyers unwilling to share their patterns.
That day driving home I decided to start to look for more information on these patterns and tyers.  Sometimes would find one thing that would ballon into a whole load of information.  Other times I would find something that would document a tyers work by when he/she made modifications to a fly pattern.  I began to write this down and tie the flies all while sharing the information.  I try to share everything with the disclaimer So Far.  More and more I would uncover something and a year later obtain further information that I could add to the history.
Then people asked me to do something with all the information.....write a book...put together a presentation......I've written books and they get outdated fast so I opted for the presentation.  Thats why I'm heading back to college.  The folks at CSC Adventures in Learning welcomed the idea of offering this class and wanted me to do a tying demonstration as part of each class.  As you can see by the announcement there are 4 classes and I had this entire presentation completed when I fell into a boatload of new history so I am in the process of rewriting several of the sections.  I also expect that someone who might be in these classes will have information to add to these histories.

Black Ghost Streamer Recipe
Originator Herb Welch
Hook: Partridge Heritage Streamer Hook #2 9X
Thread: Black 
Tail: Yellow Ewing hen fibers short and sparse. 
Body: Black floss 
Rib:  Medium flat silver tinsel 
Throat:  Yellow Ewing hen fibers tied sparse 
Wings:  Four Ewing Scott Biron Signature Series white saddle hackles. 
Cheeks: Jungle cock eyes 
Tyers notes:  This fly is tied with the wings on top of the hook shank. The tyer should be mindful of the transition area where the wings get mounted.  If your body area is not smooth then it will kick your wings up at an undesirable angle.  This fly can be tied in many sizes.  I like the Partridge Heritage hooks because of the steel they are made with resulting in a very strong hook.  If you are looking for the Ewing Scott Biron Signature Series they are available at the North Country Angler in NH call Steve at 603-356-6000 or at the Rangeley Region Sports Shop in Maine call Sue or Brett at 207-864-5615

I grew up in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts.  The town of Acton was known for its part in the Revolutionary War.  One of its long-time residents was fly tyer Ray Salminen.  He lived 2 streets over from my home and I attended school with his daughter.  
 
Ray was known for his fly tying and friendships with many sportsmen and women, the likes included Joseph Bates, Megan Boyd and Leon Leonwood.  Known for his Red Ghost streamer pattern he also had a few other which he developed and fished.
 
I stumbled across one called the Belknap which was named after the Belknap region of New Hampshire.  Ray developed this after catching a small minnow while exploring streams in northern NH.
 
The pattern is documented in the first addition of Bates book “Streamers, Fly Tying and Fishing.  I was sent a copy of a letter Ray wrote a friend in 2005 that updated the pattern and described in great detail the flies history and how it became his favorite pattern for NH. 
 
The photo below is the Bates recipe with the 2005 updates.
 
Belknap Streamer
Hook:  Sprite S1800 #6
Body:  6 layers of flat gold tinsel
Wing:  2 layers of Artic fox, the first long and the second half as long
Topping: 2 strips of mallard
Eye:  Jungle cock eye
Head:  Yellow
 
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There has always been a lot of discussion about the fly called the Maynard’s Marvel here in New Hampshire. The reason is there are two flies that use the same name and they are very different. After some research, watching some tyers interviews and discussing some of the facts with noted fly scholars I’ve come up with this to share. The first photo is what I like to refer to as the Pittsburg NH Maynard’s Marvel. This fly is attributed to a guide from that area with the last name of Maynard. In Dick Surette’s Trout and Salmon Fly Index it mentioned it was popularized by Carl Stilphen from North Conway in 1931. My research has uncovered that our guide named Maynard was very popular and this was the fly he used while guiding. If one of the anglers wanted the fly at the end of the day he would take the one he gave them to fish with back and give them a slightly different version never giving away the real Maynard’s Marvel.  Fished near the bottom this remains a very productive pattern. In Surette’s book he also shares that it is used to troll on Lake Winnipesaukee. 


The next pattern is the Maynard’s Marvel that often is referred to as the Golden Marvel and which has been attributed to Keene, NH tyer Ora Smith. Good friend Bill Thompson one told me this fly was often called the Keene Fly by the locals. In an interview I saw of Ora speaking about this fly he tells the story that another tyer, Bill Zimmerman actually came up with this pattern and named it after Doc Maynard who owned Maynard’s Camps on Moosehead Lake in Maine. In fact Ora would by these flies from Zimmerman for his personal use and one day when he went to purchase some he was told by Zimmerman that he stopped tying them. Ora goes on to say he bought the materials and started tying his own. Maybe this was the beginning of Ora’s tying career. I have a number of Ora’s tied Maynard’s Marvels and they all have slight differences, over time he stopped using the GPCs and replaced them with a synthetic material. 

Mollidgewock Brook Streamer          
​Created and tied by Scott Biron
This streamer pattern is on a Partridge Heritage Streamer Hook using some specially dyed Ewing burnt orange streamer feathers. Named after a feeder brook to the Androscoggin River in the 13 Mile Woods area of Errol, NH.  The Androscoggin River is a historic river that holds Brook, Rainbow, Brown Trout and Landlock Salmon.  If one is lucky they can get one of each in one day resulting in an “Andro Home Run”.  
Partridge CS17-9X #4 Heritage Streamer Hook can be tied in smaller sizes also
Tag: Copper flat tinsel
Butt: Three turns of ostrich herl
Body: Copper flat tinsel
Rib: Copper ultra-wire small (leading edge) Black ultra-wire small (trailing edge)
Belly:  Sparse white bucktail beyond the bend of the hook, under the bucktail an orange dyed GPC almost to the hook point
Wing: Sparse black bucktail, over which are 4 burnt orange Ewing streamer feathers 
Throat: Black hen followed by white hen
Shoulder: Lemon wood duck
Eye: Jungle cock nail 
Topping: 2 Peacock herls curving over the wing
Head: Black 

I was asked to make a 24 streamer fly display for a friend of mine Danny Hashem, who wanted to give it as a gift.  Great project and it came out very well.  All of the patterns were New England based and several are some lesser know ones.  
On top of that I came across some Canadian postage stamps of historic fly patterns.  One of the stamps was the Cosseboom.  The Cosseboom is a very historic salmon fly pattern that is widely known as one of the more productive patterns.  The fly was developed by John Cosseboom back around 1923.  I happen to have a good friend who is a descendent of John Cosseboom and an avid fly angler and tyer.  I figured who better to get one of the first day issued Cosseboom stamps with a fly I tied to go with it.  After I tied the fly and posted a photo I was contacted by another fly tyer who said he had some of John Cosseboom's original floss that he used on the fly and send me some.  I re-tied the fly, re-mounted it and gave a bit of history to my friend Chuck Cosseboom.
This I have mentioned many times but I grew up fly fishing on the Androscoggin River in the town of Errol, NH.  My grandfather had one of the first camps that he build at the base of Bragg's Bay.  Its kind of cool but he was very friendly with the legendary game warden Harry Hurlbert and purchased the land for the camp from Harry.  I remember a few times seeing Harry visit the camp and my grandfather.  For me the river always was and still is a special place.  My dad his brother and many other relatives all fished the river and learned of its unique history.  When I came upon the Canadian fly stamps I also found one for the Androscoggin River and its first day issue.  I turned that into a gift for my friend Rick Estes, who like myself has a lot of history with the big river.  The challenge with this was to find some streamer patterns that were old and had some history to the river and or northern NH.  Several years ago I uncovered a few which I tied and then I developed one of my own the 13 Mile Special.  The plate now occupies a space in Rick's new fly tying room.

I have several new blog posts up on the main Partridge website.  Allan Liddle, Fred Klein, Umberto Oreglini and myself all have some excellent tying posts.  Worth a quick visit and you just may learn a new technique or find a fly that will work for you. Follow this link directly to the Partridge Blog page  www.partridge-of-redditch.co.uk/blog
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I received some great news yesterday that I've been placed on the Partridge of Redditch Pro Team on the United States side.  Honestly, I'm feeling lucky that they selected me for this.  Having used Partridge hooks for some time now I really feel they are superior and offer a wide selection that covers everything the fly tyer might look for.  

"Out of the mouths of babes", often reveals the truth.  Several weeks ago in a beginner fly tying class I was instructing we passed out hooks to tie on.  We were tying a small streamer using a Partridge Heritage Streamer Hook.  One of the students had arrived with his own tools and a box of materials.  He decided to use his own hook which unfortunately ended up breaking when he started tying.  His hooks were old and most likely were stuck in a box somewhere to begin to rust and weaken.  He said he had dropped the hook we gave him and didn't want to get behind so he used one in his box.  Often the fear of getting behind in a beginners class is the number one issue a new tyer faces.  We gave him a new hook and the first words out of his mouth was, "wow this hook is way better than what I was using".  I enjoy it when the students help reinforce the benefits of the products we use in class.

I love tying on the Partridge Heritage Streamer Hooks and you can see some examples in this blog.  However I don't limit myself to only their streamer hooks.  I use their wet fly hooks for tandem trolling flies.  When I began tying flies back in the 1960s I learned how to tie Catskill Dry Flies and for those I use both Partridge and Sprite hooks.  Recently I made a salmon fly plate using Partridge Hooks.  A friend of mine is a direct descendant of John Cosseboom who was the originator of the Cosseboom Salmon fly pattern.  I did a series of the Cosseboom's for him.

All but one of these fly photos in this blog were tied using Ewing Feathers.  They are superior and combined with the Heritage Streamer Hooks they look great and perform well.  Someone will ask about the one tandem that uses bucktail instead of feathers for the wing.  This is a fly that was effective on Lake Winnipesaukee, this was called the Winni Jock Scott Tandem.  The pattern was given to me by an angler who had outstanding results with it.  The Partridge Wet Fly Hooks in #4 & #6 work great when tying this.

Article that was recently published by the American Museum of Fly Fishing
www.amff.org/purple-smelt-history-lesson/
​

I get asked a lot about fall fly patterns.  There are a lot of great patterns out there that work in the fall.  However as my friend Rick Estes always reminds me..."in the end its up to the fish".  For me the fall brook trout like bright streamers.  Patterns with orange, yellow, red and yes often blue work.  The patterns that work are tied on #2-4 7x hooks.  I like the Partridge Heritage Streamer Hooks, they are stout and can handle the beating the spawning fish dish out.  I often share with tyers who ask me about the hook size, the larger patterns often catch the largest fish....at least in the fall. 

Two effective patterns are the Orange Sunshine and the Allagash Lake.  They fit the bill color wise with orange and on the Orange Sunshine I use a bleached grizzly over the orange.  The Allagash Lake uses a smokey grizzly.  All the feathers come from Ewing Feather Birds.  This month Ewing's Grizzly of the Month color is bleached grizzly and I can see myself using this on a number of patterns.  Off the subject a bit but recently while I was tying at the American Museum of Fly Fishing a friend was looking for that exact bleached color for some saltwater patterns.

​Good luck fishing this fall.  I'll post a few more patterns real soon.  If you need the recipe just email me.  [email protected]