THE ROD AND LINE: Or, practical hints and dainty devices for the sure taking of trout, grayling, etc. By Hewett Wheatley, Esq., Senior Angler. In five parts. Flyfisher's Classic Library De Luxe Edition.

(1849) 2002 de luxe FFCL edition. 8vo (160 x 240mm). Ppxii,157,ad. Nine colour plates. Fully bound in fine dark green leather, gilt FFCL motif to upper board, marbled end-papers, silk marker ribbon, three raised bands, all edges gilt, spine titled in gilt. Dark green gilt blocked silk-lined presentation box. Salmon fly (the Captain) tied by Bo Nielsen of Denmark and mounted within the upper board.

The Rod and Line by Hewett Wheatley is one of the most original books in the bibliography of angling. Wheatley fished upstream with both fly and minnow, was the first person to use the expression "fancy flies", the first to write of "fly-minnows" and, above all else, the first to recommend eyed hooks for trout-flies. He fished many of his artificial flies, including beetles, floating. When the fly was meant to sink, he made no doubt about it, and leaded the shank of his hooks - surely another 'first' for this remarkable innovator. In anticipation of nymph fishing, Wheatley observed: "Many fly-fishers must have remarked, that for a fortnight at least before the May-fly appears in any numbers, trout do not rise so freely as before that period. And I am satisfied, from personal observation, they are then feeding on the fly, at the bottom, as it quits the case in which it has passed its grub existence." Like almost all his predecessors, Wheatley lacked entomological knowledge and assumed that the may-fly comes from a caddis. Nevertheless, he was a most original thinker and a pioneer of wet-fly technique. His fly-dressings, in addition to the may-fly nymph, included caddis, maggot and wasp grub as well as "the young stone-fly." (Jack Heddon). The FFCL edition has a new Introduction by David Beazley. This is a copy of the de luxe FFCL edition limited to 25 copies only and long out-of-print. Each copy is fully bound in the finest leather and incorporates a 'Captain' fly tied by Bo Nielsen in the front board.