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Italian master fly tyer Stefano Farkas has tied a Carrie Stevens streamer in the style of his full dressed salmon flies.

I saw a post by Ted Patlen on a fly tying bulletin board. It was a simple post - a photo of a group of flies and a short statement stating his intention of tying the flies as close as possible to the way the originator tied the flies.

Back in 2002 a bunch of guys on the streamers@ mailing list decided to tie some flies "in the hand" without the benefit of a vise. This year a new crop took up the challenge with a different fly - Carrie's Favorite - and tackled the Look Ma, No Vise challange.

I have never used a vise; I have never seen anyone tie a fly and noone has ever seen me tie one. I have never read or had any fly tying instructions. Said by Carrie Stevens in a letter to Jospeh Bates. The words of a trailblazer. How fortunate we are to reap the benefits of a road paved by innovators before us, such as Mrs. Stevens.

This is a very unique and interesting little book. No fly patterns. No fishing techniques. It is basically what the title implies - a portal into the past of one of the most historically significant states in the U.S. with regards to fishing and in particular, fly-fishing.

The Rangeley Style of streamer tying is the style used by Carrie Stevens to tie her famous Grey Ghost pattern. This unique features of this style of tying are that the wing components are assembled and glued together before attaching to the hook, and that the wings are not mounted on top of the hook shank but slightly down the sides of the hook shank.

The three original Carrie Stevens Patterns on this page are shared with us from Mike Martinek's private collection with his comments.

No page featuring New England Streamers would be complete without a portion dedicated to Carrie G. Stevens, of Madison, Maine. Mrs. Stevens is the originator or the Grey Ghost, one of the most well-known and effective New England Streamer patterns to have been tied, and still a popular choice as a trolling and casting streamer today.