Museum Exhibits

Stream Blazers

Profiles of legendary fly fishermen, influential reel makers, rod makers, guides, fly tyers, fly creators, artists, authors, conservationists, and cold water resource leaders

Ray Bergman (NY - Special Exhibit) – writer who introduced fly tyers and anglers to the readers of Outdoor Life Magazine; wrote the book Trout: The Trout Fishermans Bible

Silas Walker “Cy” Blanton, Sr. (NC) – legendary storyteller and angler

Phil H. Bracewell (NC) – legendary angler, founding director of Trout Unlimited in NC and also the NC Nature Conservancy

Joe Brooks (MD) – outdoor editor of The Baltimore Sun, author, fly-tyer, fly creator

Mark Cathey (NC) – legendary angler, local guide and fly-tyer; known for "the dance of the dry fly"

Benny Joe Craig (NC) – master fly tyer; inventor of the "red head" fly series

Beverly “Bev” Dew Hairfield (NC) – active supporter of protecting the Catawba River & proponent of the development of the Morganton Greenway

Bernice Allene DeHart Hall & Fred Hall (NC) – husband and wife known as innovative fly tyers and creators of a number of fly patterns including "Thunderhead" and "Adams Variant"

Cato Holler (NC) – fly tyer, and fly creator best known for the fly pattern "Infallible"; early advocate for stream management, founding director NC Trout Unlimited

Don & Dwight Howell (NC) - brothers known for custom tied flies and hand-crafted rods

Tom Landreth (GA) – outdoors artist known for watercolors of mountain streams and wildlife

Joe Manley (GA) – first chief forester, Great Smoky Mountains National Park; author Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park & Adjacent Waters

Joe Miller Messinger, Sr. (WVA) – legendary angler, fly tyer and fly creator known for the fly patterns "Bucktail Frog" and the "Irresistible"

Ray Mortensen (SC) – long-time Trout Unlimited grassroots activist; the TU Ray Mortensen Conversationist Award is the highest honor TU bestowed to an individual annually

William Murray (VA) – legendary angler, introduced smallmouth bass to the eastern slopes of the Virginia Appalachians

Thaddeus Norris, Jr. (VA) – pioneer in the evolution of fly fishing and the developer of the American split bamboo rod

Ernest Peckinpaugh (TN) – first to manufacture commercially-tied fishing lures

Tommy Reese (NC) – honored with the National Trout Conservationist of the Year Award, founding director Trout Unlimited NC

Newland "Zip" Sanders (NC) – fly tyer and fly creator; inventor of the "Sheep Fly"

George W. Snyder (KY) – reel maker known for the first American-made fishing reel in 1820: The Kentucky Reel

Stanley Tuttle (NC) – legendary angler, fly tyer and fly creator

George “Cap” Weise (NC) – legendary angler and fly tyer, first president of Trout Unlimited NC

Frank Young (NC) – legendary angler, "Son of the Smokies"