Theodore Gordon (September 18, 1854 – May 1, 1915) was an American writer who fished the
Catskill region of
New York State in the late 19th century through the early 20th century. Though he never published a book, Gordon is often called the "father of the American school of
dry fly fishing".
[Sparse Grey Hackle (alias for Alfred W. Miller), "The Quest for Theodore Gordon." in ''Fishless Days, Angling Nights'', The Globe Peqot Press: 1949, Quote: Gordon, "was in fact, the father of dry-fly angling in America."] He wrote numerous articles for the ''
Fishing Gazette'' from 1890 and published works in ''
Forest and Stream'' from 1903, sometimes under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
''Badger Hackle''.
Biography
Theodore Gordon was born in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, Pennsylvania on September 18, 1854.
Gordon had imported English fly-fishing tackle and flies. He altered the English flies to precisely match the insects hatching in the
Neversink and
Beaverkill rivers, and
Willowemoc Creek. Later he made his own flies from scratch.
Gordon taught himself to
tie flies by studying ''The American Angler's Book (1864)'' by Thaddeus Norris. He also read British fly fishing literature of the time and corresponded with notable British fly anglers
Frederic M. Halford and
G. E. M. Skues to perfect his fly tying skills.
Known as a consumptive
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...
, Gordon lived his final years and died on May 1, 1915, in the Anson Knight house in Bradley, New York.
[ This is one of the residences that had to be abandoned during the development of the Neversink reservoir, which flooded several former villages. It was developed to provide a water supply for New York City.][John McDonald (ed) ''The Complete Fly Fisherman'' New York: Scribners, 1947]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Theodore
1854 births
1915 deaths
Angling writers
Burials at New York Marble Cemetery
Writers from Pittsburgh
American male non-fiction writers
19th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
19th-century American male writers
20th-century American male writers