The dark side of fly tying
Reading the book "The Feather Thief" by Kirk Johnson. In 2009, 20 yr old Edwin Rist broke into a British Museum of Natural History and stole a suitcase full of rare bird specimens whose feathers were worth a fortune to the tiers of classic Atlantic salmon flies. He wanted to tie with a good supply of "authentic" materials and also raise money for his other passion as an accomplished musician. Johnston became engrossed in the crime, tracking down and interviewing all the people involved - Edwin, sellers, byers, tiers, museum curators, etc., - as well as the fate of unsold skins/feathers. No spoiler here 'cause I'm only half way through.
I tied a few such flies many years ago (with legal feathers of course) for steel heading on the coast, ala Haig-Brown, but too much work compared to hair wing flies developed locally.
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I fish, therefore I am.
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