Carrie's Final

[Jcrouse]

I spent a morning last Saturday at the Outdoor Heritage Museum in Rangeley. Thought you might enjoy this pic. This is the last fly Carrie Stevens ever tied, a Pink Lady.

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[Eperous]

Nice, and a great museum to visit dedicated to The Pine Tree State angling history....

Ed

[ibookje]

Very nice!

[jeffkn1]

Displaying a fly in that manner does a disservice to its maker. Fortunately, the rest of the Stevens flies in the museum are displayed flat. They did that with rods in a couple of instances. In what I call the big room there is an old rod mounted high on a wall in such a way that it appears to be playing a fish. It has an old, early Leonard raised pillar reel filled with line. Every time I look at it, I wince: the rod is a 140 year old Wheeler.
That was something I was going to address with Bill Pierce this month but his exit from the museum has put that off. Jerry and I are in limbo until we know who is to fill Bill's position, and that's a pretty tall order.

[Jcrouse]

A very tall order, Jeff. Ive got thoughts on the matter that Ive shared with Leslie.

I was very pleased with what Bill came up with for the new Carrie display, however I wish he had looked into ways of lighting the panels with LED strips or similar. It's still hard to take reference pics with those can lights on directly overhead. Like below.

It's going to be interesting to see how this is handled.

Justin

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[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, It's interesting that the fly is aimed 'the wrong way' yet it's beautifully tied.

Jay Edwards

[bearbutt]

Hi Guys, It's interesting that the fly is aimed 'the wrong way' yet it's beautifully tied.

Jay Edwards

Jay, she was left handed...and in any case tied without a vise, so it could be upside down and still look good!

I agree with Jeff that some of the displays could use work--there's a 7' one-piece K.C. Crocker mounted high up--and the lighting needs work (and UV filters). It's hard to cover all the needs of the museum at once, especially with limited resources--but I hope right now that a new priority will be protecting the collection--as most of it is irreplaceable--the threat of bugs and light damage is ever-present.

Hopefully they can find someone good to lead the museum--anyone who has an idea might want to contact one the Board members, who can be found here: https://www.outdoorheritagemuseum.org/who-we-are (not sure if this is up to date though)

bb

[quashnet]

Here is the other side of Carrie Stevens' Pink Lady, on display at the Museum.



While most of the Museum flies are displayed flat, these Carrie Stevens flies were shown in a fly wallet, as though ready to be fished (both photos were taken in 2017).

[jeffkn1]

Here is the other side of Carrie Stevens' Pink Lady, on display at the Museum.

Like most(?) people, I am right-handed and with regard to photographs of linear items, my preference is for the object to be facing from left to right. Otherwise, 'it rubs me the wrong way'. Rods, flies, cars, you name it, I prefer they face to the right. But, I will be eternally grateful that at least it doesn't trigger my vertigo.
Carrie tied on long shank hooks, longer than most, and to arrive at a smelt-like silhouette she generally went with long slender saddles, the kind that tend to sag when you hold them up in a horizontal orientation. Left that way they take a set because the stem of those feathers is very narrow and flexible. Wherein lies one of the two secrets to the effectiveness of her flies. They simply swam better. But, left on display like that, the hackle stems take a set, just like a long limber fly rod would. I suppose maybe you could steam it out but I've never tried it. Back in the Eighties, I gifted a shadowbox fly display of Bud Wilcox streamers to my dad. Naturally, it came back to me upon his passing. Guess what? Like Carrie, Bud favored the same fundamental materials but assembled conventionally. Bud knew Carrie personally and said she advised him a little with his flytying issues. But now, 40 years later, the wings on most of those displayed flies droop.
A trend today calls for wider saddles, wider cheek feathers, belly hairs combed out straight and neat, and a generally manicured appearance. It suits a certain market. The popular wall poster of Carrie's patterns is visually pleasing, with all those wondrous color patterns aligned in order with the same basic silhouettes everywhere, top to bottom. They couldn't have been presented more neatly, more uniformly. It's a commercially successful approach that ignores what some of us believe about Carrie's flies. I'm not generally a betting man, but I am willing to wager that none of those would swim like Carrie's.
Having said all that, Bill fulfilled his requirements as far as I know, and the museum seemed to be flourishing though his efforts. We were always glad to see him and we marveled at his energy. Doubtful that someone keen on displays could do what Bill did to grow the operation.

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, I forgot that she glued things together, one for each side, then tied them on. Unique...........

Jay Edwards

[jeffkn1]

Hi Guys, I forgot that she glued things together, one for each side, then tied them on. Unique...........

Jay Edwards

Jay

Carrie had a background in millinery which is undoubtedly where she got the idea to tie flies without a vice and to use feathers in layers (wing, cheek, eye) held together with adhesive. I think tying subassemblies onto a hook shank was her own idea. Guess I better go back to the Hilyards' book.
The Hilyards did a great article in AFF about the evolution of Carrie's technique.

[ted patlen]

Carrie's style is unique to the point that most tyers do not make their flies like hers. Why did she glue the components together? Good question. I do not know the answer but can only think that they were easier to tye is the most logical answer especially when tied in hand. That or she wanted to eliminate wing foul.

[Trout guy]

I have a bunch of streamer flies on Weber cards. I was told that some could be Carrie flies.

[roycestearns]

I have a bunch of streamer flies on Weber cards. I was told that some could be Carrie flies.

Weber was in Wisconsin, Carrie was in Maine. None of your Weber flies are Carrie flies. Rather then hijacking threads, post your for sale items in the classifieds .

[narcodog]

A few years ago I visited the Outdoor Center and I was disappointed in the fly display. I gave the Center enough $$'s to add LED's to the display, I guess they never did it.

[pgbuilt2]

In my generously humble opinion , the museum just pays a great tribute to the Heritage of the area and its Legends , in every respect , Bill did a stand up job being handed the reins way too early to continue with Mr. Palmers vision and tribute , just takes all of us back with paying homage to the good ole days of the area , and it’s timeless Fishing History , hopefully for an eternity , plus 1…

[hatch]

Here is the other side of Carrie Stevens' Pink Lady, on display at the Museum.



Something pointed out to me several years ago by bearbutt is that on all flies tied by Carrie Stevens incorporating tinsel wind, the slant of the tinsel is as if the wrap was started at the head and wound towards the back of the fly. A common mistake made by those replicating her flies is to get this slant backwards. This slant can clearly be seen on picture of the Pink Lady posted by quashnet as well as this Black Ghost.

As far as the quality of the new museum goes. Can you remember when the Rangeley museum was in that little square brick building (I think it was originally a bank) on Main street across from the grocery store? I think the building was about 30' x30 '? Things have come a long way.

[pgbuilt2]

Remember it Only after a classic breakfast at Doc Grants …. As a kid of course !!!