Thursday, June 7, 2012

Thursday Review: The NFLCC Magazine (June 2012)

Well, the mail certainly brought an outstanding surprise -- the NFLCC Magazine for June 2012! Although it comes out every six months, it is my most anticipated publication as I am always in awe of the way that editor Dudley Murphy (with help from assistant editor Gary Smith) put this together. It's always a beautiful magazine.

This issue, I began a series on the history of fishing ephemera, concentrating on the collecting of fishing tackle related letterheads. This field of collecting has exploded and it was a blast putting this together.

Terry McBurney gives us the first part of a two-part history of Charles Helin. "Charles Helin's Extraordinary Flatfish" is a detailed and fascinating study of this titan of American fishing tackle. It includes some photos of the rarest of all Helins, the hand made models from 1934. It's an amazing piece of research.

Speaking of awesome articles, combining Jerry R. Martin and Jim Dorr. "Heddon Fly Rod Lures: Part I -- Morphing Patterns, Specials and Experimental Activities (An Archaeological 'Dig' Into the Past) is as fine of an article of this kind as has been published. Incredibly detailed, well written, and meticulously researched, it is a real delight.

As the magazine was going to press I got a call from Dudley Murphy asking if I had an article ready to go, as one that was promised at the deadline did not appear (these things happen all the time). I was in the midst of researching and writing on the subject of Dr. Arthur Howald, the inventor of the fiberglass fly rod, so I hurriedly finished the draft and sent it in. "Dr. Arthur Howald's Marvelous Invetion" hopefully offers some new insight into the origins of the glass fly rod, as well as fiberglass fishing rods in general.

As I mentioned many times, my favorite thing is the back page article by Gary Smith--it's a fabulous one again on the Keen Kicker frog.

All in all, this is a fantastic issue filled with great research.

-- Dr. Todd

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