In my professional life as researcher, I spend a lot of time staring into a screen. Like most people, this activity eventually leads to a kind of mind-fog, and I need to take a short break from concentration. My preferred break is something short and with a defined period of time, so that I can get back to work without too much trouble. Most of the time fly fishing videos on YouTube fit the bill perfectly. The theory is that after one or two videos I can get back to work. This theory fell apart when I discovered Oliver Kite

Oliver Kite (1921-1968) was an English fly-fisherman, river keeper, author and television personality who aired regular short television pieces on fishing and nature in southern England during the 1960s. Some fine fellow has posted two sets of 8 of  videos, "Oliver Kite Master Fly Fisherman" and "A Tribute to Oliver Kite" YouTube. These 16 videos are apparently only a fraction of the hundreds he did for British television, and they are all gems.

To me, Kite represents everything a sportsman should be. He is acutely aware of the beauty of his surroundings (even when the fishing is off), his approach to fly fishing is typified by simplicity and joy. In an age where many fly fishing videos are scored with pounding guitar riffs, it's nice to watch one that reminds you that fishing doesn't have to be about being extreme, it can just be about spending time enjoying God's green earth.

--Posted by Eben

Starting this week, I'm inaugurating a new feature for the T&S. I'm calling it Historical Fly Fishing Media Thursday (HFFMT). [Note: This feature is now going to be called simply Historical Fly Fishing Media, and come out whenever I feel like it] Each thursday I will share some image or other tidbit illuminating the way we fished in days goon by. 

In trolling through old images I keep coming upon what seems like an oddly impractical bit of fishing paraphernalia, the top hat. It seems that gentlemen in the 1830s and 40s the better class of fly fisherman strolled along the riverside in col top hats.

Personally, I think the top hat should be limited to formal occasions and magic acts. If nothing else, It presents a large surface to the wind and I can't imagine that the guy in the third picture above netting the trout didn't loose his hat to the river. Which is why I always fish in the much more practical bowler.