 Ken
Coulson, Museum Attendant
Copyright © 2001 Ian Scott
|
If you are a flyfishing history buff, you owe it to yourself to plan a trip to
Vancouver, British Columbia. British Columbia has an excellent reputation for
great fly fishing opportunities. It also is home to the Canadian Sportfishing
Museum, a wonderful gem of a place that any die-hard angler will want to book a
whole morning or afternoon to see.
I discovered the museum by chance. On my recent trip
to Vancouver, I had heard about the quaint and charming Granville Island, and
thought it would be a good place to visit. I had no idea that I would discover
the Sport Fishing Museum, which houses an amazing assortment of antique rods,
reels, flies, personal collections, art, and more.
Upon entering the museum, I was greeted by the friendly and knowledgable
attendant, Ken Coulson. I noted Ken's charming Northern Irish
brogue and it wasn't long before we were talking about fly fishing, and after
describing some of the collections in the museum, Ken was providing advice about
where I was most likely to have some success fishing in the Vancouver area.
I began wandering around the museum and wasn't sure what impressed me the most.
Certainly, the fact that the museum can boast of the largest collection of Hardy
reels (approximately 600) is impressive! I was surrounded by very fine tackle
collections that have been showcased in an obviously well thought out manner.
It's obvious that museum owner/curator, John King, takes enormous pride in his
collections.
Whether it was the aforementioned Hardy reels, a supurb collection of Roderick
Haig-Brown's personal tackle, the varied antique cane rods, or the framed Ralph
Wahl photographs and other art that hangs on walls everywhere, I knew I was
experiencing history.
 Copyright ©
2001 Ian Scott |
A collection of over 1,000 (yes, that's one thousand!) beautifully tied flies,
mostly nymphs that were tied by BC.s Bud Jamieson during the first half of the
20th century. An exquisite mahogany locking salmon fly cabinet. Antique gut
leader and Salmon flies, tied c. 1840. Old line dryers that belonged to
Haig-Brown. The photograph of Lee Wulff and Haig-Brown while fishing Silver
Creek in Idaho together.
I found it all almost overwhelming. With only a limited number of hours to
spend, how should I spend my time inside this wonderful musem? I passed by an
1885 edition of 'Treatyse of Fysshynge With An Angle', printed in Scotland and
wanted to leaf through the pages. This book was the first copy of only 275 that
were printed.
Even the non-flyfisher will enjoy visiting the museum, with the collections of
spinning reels, old glass minnow traps, and assembly of "Lucky Louie" plugs. The
Allcock spin reel, apparently the company's earliest attempt at a stationary
spinning type reel, c. 1934 especially intrigued me.
The museum is part of the
larger Granville Island Museums which contains three museums in one. Housed
alongside the Sportfishing Museum are the Model Ships and Model Trains museums.
Every member of the entire family will find something of interest here.
Be sure to block off at least a complete afternoon to get the most from your
visit.
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Two Years Ago On All-About Flyfishing:
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