The Butcher, Baker and Candlestick Maker Salmon Flies

Three original watercolor paintings of the classic salmon flies, The Butcher Baker and The Candlestick Maker tied by Eric Austin.

The Butcher, the Baker and The Candlestick Maker are three wonderfully named salmon flies from the 19th century.

The Butcher is by far the most famous of the three, having an incarnation as a wet fly as well, one that is still used today. Because of its importance, it will get its own treatment next week, and I hope to have both versions to show. It is a fly well-deserving of its own article.

The Baker was created by the Mr. Jewhurst, of Tunbridge, Kent, England, and was staunchly advocated by a man named Moon, our butcher. He was a fine fisherman, and the Butcher was originally called the Moon fly. When Blacker began selling the fly later, he called it the Butcher, the name evoking both the trade of its promoter, and the killing nature of the fly. Mr. Jewhurst also created the Baker. This fly was recommended by Francis Francis for the Welsh river Dovey. I've shown his version here, but there are variations by Kelson and others, which was typical for these flies.

The Candlestick Maker came a bit later and was credited to Mr. Holbrow. A much more sparsely tied fly, it was unusual in that it was popular on most rivers, not just one or two as so many flies were. Francis Francis liked it for the twilight hours, and found it to be "a fly to light the salmon to bed with." He writes, "I dressed one as a whim, several years since, and sent it to a friend, who reported favorably of it to me; since then it has done useful service." He goes on to say, "At dusk this fly will often show the salmon the way upstairs, when others will fail."
~ Eric Austin
Credits: Classic Salmon Flies by Mikael Frodin, Favorite Flies and Their Histories by Mary Orvis Marbury.