By a Thread: A Retrospective on Women and Fly Tying

by Erin Block

In this retrospective on women and fly tying, author Erin Block uncovers a largely hidden side of fly fishing history. From the heart of the nineteenth century to the present, the work of fifteen famous fly tiers are outlined in this seminal work. From Carrie Frost, who built an empire on the Mississippi River, to Carrie Stevens, who built a legend in Maine, some of the most important names in fly angling are covered in detail. Portraits of famed commercial tiers like Elizabeth Greig, Winnie Dette, Mary Dette Clark, Elsie Darbee, Helen Shaw, Megan Boyd, and Frances Stearns are included, along with modern tiers Cathy Beck, Sharon E. Wright, and April Vokey. And historical figures, from Dame Juliana Berners to the mysterious Elizabeth Benjamin to the legendary Mary Orvis Marbury get their just due. Block also solves one of the enduring mysteries in American fly fishing history — what ever happened to Sara Jane McBride, the famed fly tier who was also America’s first entomological fly angler? The book is illustrated throughout and includes a bonus chapter on the modern women tiers whose beautiful work is available in most fly shops and who continue a tradition of nearly two centuries of anonymously crafting quality flies.

182 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Erin Block lives in the mountains of Colorado and is a librarian by day, writer by night, and avid fly angler on her days off. She is the author of “The View From Coal Creek: Reflections on Fly Rods, Canyons and Bamboo” (Whitefish Press 2012), is a contract fly designer with Umpqua Feather Merchants, news curator for MidCurrent, as well as a regular contributor to TROUT Magazine. Her writing can also be found on her blog, mysteriesinternal.blogspot.com.