During the early part of the Twentieth Century in Maine, the featherwing streamer was developed and fished by a dedicated few, mostly in a small, relatively unknown area of Western Maine called the Rangeley Lakes Region. Herb Welch and Carrie Stevens pioneered the movement and both designed, tested and fished hundreds of patterns with much success at such famed locations as the Kennebago River, Rangeley River, Megalloway River, The Richardson’s, Mooselookmeguntic and of course the Upper Dam Pool. These names are synonymous with Maine, fly fishing, big trout and salmon, and of course, featherwing streamers. Around the state, other Maine tiers like Chief Needahbeh (a.k.a. Chief Roland Nelson) in the Moosehead Lake Region, Bert Quimby from the South Windham area, William R. Edson of Portland Maine and Dr. J. Hubert Sanborn of Waterville just to name a few, were also instrumental in the streamer movement. These are a few of the men and women who started the featherwing craze, and I’m one of the countless who fell victim to the featherwing bug at an early age.

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