Every day I scan through the various collections offered to us via our online “Sell to Us” forms. Much of it is fairly routine, but one recent submission from Gothenburg immediately caught my imagination:

“Would you be interested in purchasing 40 Hardy and Bruce & Walker rods,
40 Hardy reels including Perfects and Gold Sovereigns,
and 12,000 fully dressed salmon flies?”

Yes—12,000!

The rods and reels are our bread and butter, so valuing and agreeing a deal on those was straightforward. But 12,000 salmon flies? There was only one way to answer that. Within a few days I was waking at 4 a.m., ready to tackle the M25 and catch a flight to Gothenburg.

On arrival I was met by the vendor, Freddy, and his colleague Sami. They had made my job easier by laying everything out exhibition-style. I must admit, I had to catch my breath. Not only were the rods and reels superb, but there really were close to 12,000 fully dressed salmon flies—beautifully presented, with a detailed list of patterns and tyers. To see them all on display was astonishing.

The collection had been assembled by a Swedish fisherman and fly-tyer named Ulf Nordström. He was clearly a meticulous man; every fly was in mint, unused condition. When he passed away some 11 years ago, he left the collection to his closest fishing friend, Freddy Johansson, who has now decided it is time to sell. Sensibly, he contacted Thomas Turner.

But of course, there are salmon flies… and then there are salmon flies. The deeper I looked, the better it all became. The collection falls naturally into three distinct parts.

1. The Hardy Flies

First, there were 2,600 Hardy Fully Dressed Salmon Flies, some housed in Wheatley boxes but most in their original packaging. They were immaculately organised, with many arranged in sets of the same pattern across multiple sizes.

2. Flies by Noted Tyers

Perhaps the most fascinating element was the selection of flies tied by well-known craftsmen.

Among these was a remarkable set of 134 flies by Belarmino Martínez, presented neatly on cards in a dedicated folder. Martínez, who owned a fly shop in northern Spain, was a highly accomplished tyer. Joe Bates’s classic book on salmon flies includes examples from legendary names such as Megan Boyd—and also features both flies and commentary on Martínez. To find such a large, intact group of Martínez flies is exceptionally rare, if not unprecedented.

Next, in smaller quantity, came flies by the Finnish tyer Nils Lukkari. I have since learnt that there is a strong market in Finland for traditionally tied salmon flies, especially those by Finnish hands. Collectors eagerly seek the work of craftsmen such as Erkki Vaalama, Ervi Keränen, Wiljo Saaristo, Matti Tiitola, Jouko Lukkari, Erkki Honkavuori and Oskari Rönkä.

Jouko Lukkari was a professional tyer of great repute in the 1960s. Our flies, however, were tied by his brother Nils, whose work is also first class and very much collected.

We also had a selection of flies tied by Svend-Olav Hard of Sweden—outstanding examples, tied entirely without a vice. No surprise, then, that his book is titled Tied in the Hand. In the foreword, Hard is described as one of the finest tyers of the modern era—indeed, of any era. His work continues the tradition of the great classic fly-tyers such as Kelson, Traherne, and the renowned commercial tyers of Hardy Bros.

3. The Remainder—And Still More to Come

And there was more yet to discover. Hundreds of additional flies were tied by as-yet unknown (to us) tyers, and thousands more by Ulf himself—beautifully executed, but more on those later. They remain in Sweden for the moment, awaiting shipment to the UK.

This blog is the basis for an article written by Richard Hewitt featuring in the next edition of Classic Angling – out this month.