Introducing the Trey Combs Fly Fishing Archive

I created the Trey Combs Fly Fishing Archive to preserve the places, patterns, and people that shaped my life in steelhead fly fishing. Informed by photographs, published articles, and slides I began collecting in the mid-1960s, the archive draws from decades spent on rivers around the world — British Columbia, the Pacific Northwest, Russia, and Europe. Over time, I came to understand that certain anglers, waters, flies, and moments deserved more than memory. They deserved record.

The Archive is organized into three ongoing series: River Plates, Fly Pattern Plates, and Legacy Plates. River Plates reflect waters that formed me as both angler and writer. Fly Pattern Plates document the structure and proportion of patterns tied by some of the finest fly dressers in the world — craftsmen whose work represents the highest standard of the tradition. Legacy Plates preserve the anglers, historic flies, steelhead, and equipment that carried the pursuit forward.

Fly fishing is learned through observation. A river teaches through current and light. A fly teaches through proportion and restraint. Even an old reel or a photograph of a steelhead in hand can teach something about balance, posture, and intent. Each archival plate is presented in full resolution, available for download, and suitable for printing and framing — meant to be studied closely or displayed with the same care with which it was created.

In an era shaped by fleeting images and shortened attention, this archive moves deliberately in the opposite direction. It is not built for the eight-second scroll or the disposable moment. It is built for permanence. These plates are meant to be printed, lived with, and returned to over years — hanging in a tying room, an office, or a quiet corner where the tradition continues quietly on the wall.

New plates will be posted each month. Each entry will be accompanied by archival notes published on our blog page — providing historical context, tying observations, and river insights where appropriate. The intent is not only to preserve the image, but the knowledge behind it.

Rivers change. Materials change. Anglers come and go. The tradition endures. This archive is my effort to preserve a small part of it with care.