Certainly fishing with a dry fly had been mentioned before Gordon in some American books, notedly by Thaddeus Norris & others. Debate can still be had at what was meant by the term “dry fly” back then (mid-1800’s). Some believe that the early American writers simply meant a wet fly pattern literally fished dry, so it would float on top. Regardless, Gordon developed & began what we today consider to be dry fly fishing.
Sometime in the late 1800’s Gordon began to fish upstream. This was at a time in America when almost all fly fishing was done with a wet fly swung down stream. He probably got his upstream idea from the English angling author of the time, Frederic Halford. Gordon found this upstream tactic to be very successful & must have written to Halford in England.
It was around this time that Halford sent Gordon a number of English dry flies. Gordon soon discovered that there were two problems with these flies: 1.) they imitated English insects, not those he saw hatching on the streams of New York; & 2.) They were too delicate for the rough water of the Neversink, being made for the smooth waters of English chalk streams.
Gordon, believing in the theory of imitating a floating insect & fishing it upstream for a drag-free drift, began to experiment. He began to create different patterns to imitate his native insects. He used a wide range of feathers & hackles as well, all to find what would work best for the flies he envisioned. The result he eventually came up with was what we now call the classic “Catskills style” dry fly. Thus, he was probably the first to fish a true modern dry fly, as we think of them today, in America.
Today Gordon is best known as the originator of the Quill Gordon pattern, but that’s hardly his only contribution to American fly fishing. He’s considered in the history books to have been a hermit living along the Neversink, & indeed he was in many ways. He didn;t get out much mingle, except to fish & hunt, & had few close friends. He suffered from consumption (tuberculosis) & was frequently in poor health which is likely a reason for his lack of social interaction. However, he was one of the most read angling authorities of the time. From 1890 & on he wrote articles & reports for The Fishing Gazette & for Forest & Stream magazine beginning in 1903, sometimes under the name “Badger Hackle”.
In addition to his correspondences with Halford, Gordon also wrote many letter to G.E.M. Skues in England, an innovator of the nymph fly. The two became good pen-pals & had a friendship via post. This shows Gordon’s desire to learn as much as he could. You see, at the time in England there was great debate about the best methods to fish. Some anglers were dry fly purists & followed the ideas of Hlaford, while others felt that sub-surface was the way to go & took the theories of Skues as gospel. Sometimes the division between the two schools of thought was not casual, & some anglers were vehement about which way was better, wet or dry…...
…..And here we have Gordon, from across the ocean communicating, befriending, & learning from both men! So while Gordon is considered the father of dry fly fishing in America (& indeed he is), he didn’t limit himself to only one method of fishing. It would seem that learning about the fish, their natural world, & catching them were his primary concerns.
As you can imagine, he had a reputation as a very accomplished fly tyer. It’s known that later in his life he would derive his modest income from tying flies & it’s understood that he had many requests for his flies. His writings & letters are filled with his wish to find better feathers, hooks, & other materials.
In 1947, angling author John McDonald published a large collection of Gordon’s letters & articles in the book, “The Complete Angler”. Here we have the largest collection of Gordon’s writings in one place. To read this book is an enlightening experience. It shows how angling at the turn of the century, & anglers themselves, were not all that different than today. Gordon’s character & love of fishing come through the years in his writings in a very timeless way. To read his letters & articles (reports) we do NOT get the tone of a master angler expounding his knowledge. Instead we get an angler, for sure an expert, who is asking questions, wondering, & speculating about fly fishing. Down to earth & fascinated with the entire game - you won’t find a more dedicated student of fly fishing than Theodore Gordon was. At times he tells of how fishing was in earlier times (late 1800’s), which is interesting to any angling historian. Other times he makes speculations & theorizes about the future of the sport. It’s amazing how many of his speculations came to be true.
Theodore Gordon’s contributions to fly fishing are immense. We can look at the development of the sport by using him as a divider: before Gordon & after. Many of the tools & tactics of the sport have changed since his time, but in many ways we still fish with the methods he developed. His flies, techniques, & vision were ahead of his time. It would be a shame if he, & his contributions to fly fishing, were forgotten.