Reuben Cross was born in Neversink, New York on March 16, 1896 and would become one of the legends of the Catskill tying scene. During his early teenage years Theodore Gordon was tying flies for a living and Rube claimed that he learned tying from Gordon, although this was never confirmed by anyone.
In 1927 Walt Dette asked Rube Cross, in exchange for $50, to teach him the art of fly tying. Rube told Walt to go to hell... Walt started to untie Rube's flies and mastered fly tying retying the fly. (1992 Eric Leiser, The Dettes, Willowkill Press).
Here are some of Rube's dry flies and pictures of Rube at his tying table from his book Tying American Trout Flies (1936 Dodd, Mead & Co). Did you notice how he ties without using a a bobbin holder? It's pretty amazing how tiers like Rube and Walt during that era (1920-1940's) managed to tie such wonderful flies using fly tying materials which were pretty hard to get and hardly the quality as we know now. Wonderful fly tying history. About my Catskill project:
Hmm... I still haven't had the moment to sit down and tie the Catskill dries... If I start tying, I just want to tie the whole project at once. But before I'm up and running I'll be distracted by the rush of the weekend. I also need to tie a bunch of flies for Ed (olive dahlberg diver) and experiment on some Zoo Cougars for my streamer box. I think I just promised Zach a lanyard. I just need a sunday afternoon without chores and phone calls!
Update Nov 22, 2025:
I found this issue of Outdoor Life December 1934 in the Internet Archive with an article about Rube Cross. Don't forget to scroll to page 63 for the final part.
Update Oct 24, 2024:
Check out the new book about the life of Rube Cross.
5 comments:
That's an interesting way to learn tying... No wonder Walt Dette was ready to pay $50 for it. And that probably was a lot of money back then.
Lee Wulff tied flies without using a vice. He just held the hook with his fingers. But that's probably because he just got used to it. I've tried that too. Fun!
Art of tying flies was quite a secret back then I've read.
When can we see the results of your Catskill project? It would be great to see it. But only when you have the time and inspiration!
I will try to get a start this week. I'm sure it will be great fun to tie them.
Maybe tomorrow a first couple of flies?
Why not. Right now?
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