Rare Salmon Fly Pattern: The Barkworth

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Rare Salmon Fly Pattern: The Barkworth

The Barkworth is a fly with a history nearly as mysterious as the man whose name it carries. George M. Kelson published the pattern in The Salmon Fly in 1895, classified it as a “G.S.”—General Standard—and credited its invention to W. T. Barkworth. Yet Kelson supplied no first name, biography, or explanation of Barkworth’s place in the salmon-fishing world.

Kelson did preserve one interesting detail. A friend advised him to use the fly in dark-colored water, adding that its inventor fished it successfully on the River Wye when the water was “positively muddy.” Beyond that brief glimpse of Barkworth’s fly design, he largely disappears from the angling record.

I spent an entire day trying to find information about W. T. Barkworth and found no definite answers. One possible clue appears in the membership records of London’s Arts Club, which list a W. T. Barkworth as an artist and member from 1898 through 1909. The unusual name and appropriate period make me think this might be the designer of the fly, but that does not prove that the artist and the salmon angler were the same man.

The fly itself is nearly as elusive. Hardy’s Salmon Flies: Patterns from the Fly Tying Department 1883–1969 notes that the Barkworth was never included in Hardy catalogues and describes it as a rarely seen pattern. Its complicated mixture of orange, straw, black, blue, and richly marked wing materials nevertheless makes it a distinctive dressing.

Personally, I think it’s a beautiful fly, and finding obscure flies like this brings me great joy. I believe that Hardy’s Salmon Flies: Patterns from the Fly Tying Department 1883–1969, written by Martin Lanigan-O’Keeffe, may be the best book on the market for discovering forgotten patterns. The book has more than 1,000 dressings and 800 large color photographs, most measuring approximately 4 × 3 inches. I prefer these photographs of old dressings to the illustrations found in the classic works of Francis Francis, Kelson, and Pryce-Tannatt. The inside of the first editions has a author signed sticker. I purchased my copy directly from the publisher on eBay, but it can also be purchased from AbeBooks Here.

Dressing Notes: Kelson
Tag: Gold twist and dark orange silk. Tail: A topping, summer duck, and toucan from under-tail. Butt: Black herl. Body: In two equal sections. The first section is straw-colored silk, ribbed with fine oval gold tinsel and butted with orange toucan above and below and black herl. The second section is dark orange silk, with a dark orange hackle along it and ribbed with gold tinsel. Throat: Gallina dyed blue; jay for small patterns. Wings: Two tippets, back to back; light mottled turkey dyed dark orange; two strips of blue macaw; swan dyed straw color; golden pheasant tail; and two toppings. Sides: Jungle cock. Cheeks: Chatterer. Head: Black herl

Dressing Notes: Hardy’s Salmon Flies
Tag: Gold tinsel and dark orange floss. Tail: Topping, summer duck, and toucan. Butt: Black herl. Body: In two equal parts. The first is straw floss, ribbed with oval gold tinsel and butted with toucan and black herl. The second is dark orange floss, with a dark orange hackle over it and ribbed with gold tinsel. Throat: Jay. Wings: Two tippets; light mottled turkey dyed orange; two strips of blue macaw; straw-colored swan; golden pheasant tail; and two toppings. Sides: Jungle cock. Cheeks: Chatterer. Head: Black

When the dressing was reprinted in the second, 1919 edition of J. H. Hale’s book, claret replaced dark orange in the tag. The surviving example illustrated in Hardy’s Salmon Flies also has a claret tag and guinea-fowl feathers in the wing rather than Kelson’s orange-dyed turkey. The authors leave open whether this was a mistake or a deliberate variation—another uncertainty surrounding both the fly and the mysterious Mr. Barkworth.

Featured Fly Image

The fly image featured in this blog post is from Hardy’s Salmon Flies: Patterns from the Fly Tying Department 1883–1969 by Martin Lanigan-O’Keeffe. It is reproduced with permission from the author and the publisher, Coch-y-Bonddu Books. The dresser is unknown, but the fly was most likely tied by an employee in Hardy’s fly tying department.

—Mark Combs