Welcome to the
Houghton Fly Fishing Club

The Origins of the Houghton Fly Fishing Club

In 1873 Dr. T. C. Wickham leased 3 miles of the River Test, an English Chalk Stream, near the village of Houghton. In 1875 he formed the Houghton Fly Fishing Club consisting of 20 members with 4 in waiting when it disbanded December 31, 1892 after their lease expired.

In those 18 years of operation the HFFC became the inventors of Scientific Angling or Dry Fly Fishing, they studied the life cycles of insects for the purpose of angling for trout. Frederic M. Halford a member of the club published the first book on dry fly fishing in 1886 titled ‘Floating Flies and How to Fish Them’, followed by his second book in 1889 titled ‘Dry Fly Fishing – Theory and Practice’.

The HFFC was also responsible for inventing the forged steel eyed hook that replaced the looped gut leader snelled hook! They also were responsible for the floating fly line, use of long leaders and the development of the fly tying vise.

The new Houghton Fly Fishing Club came about in 2021 with the opening on the River Dog Fly Shop in Houghton NY. While sitting around tying flies in the shop Luke Radloff, Larry Ebert and Indrek Kongats formed the HFFC.

Join the HFFC as we go back to the Leaf River Estuary Lodge 2026

The advantage of fishing the estuary compared to the fresh-water section of the Leaf River is that the Arctic char, the Atlantic salmon and the sea-run speckled trout feed vigorously there on the abundant shrimp and small baitfish.

The char and salmon are strong swimmers and can readily avoid predation by the seals and beluga whales that enter the estuary. For this reason, char and salmon are generally caught in deeper water via fishing from a drifting boat. Flocks of gulls that hover above the feeding char give a clear indication of productive locations. Char will also come into shallow water at high tide in pursuit of prey, in which case shore fishing is highly productive.

The large sea-run trout in the estuary tend to hide close to rocks and are best caught at low tide. A fly that is particularly effective is the woolly bugger, which provides a good imitation of shrimp and readily fools the trout and char. Trout can also be caught on surface flies at low tide among the rocks at the edge of the estuary channel.

The estuary of the Leaf River is located between a large waterfall (about 10 meters high) located at approximately 58 deg. 47' N, 70 deg. 15' W and a minor waterfall at 58 deg. 47' N, 70 deg. 4' W. Above the large falls is the Leaf River, which is pure fresh water; below the falls the water is brackish with the salinity that depends on the tidal phase. The minor falls pokes above the water surface only in the final quarter phase of tidal swing. At the maximum tide the large falls disappears enabling one to boat directly from the estuary to the fresh water river without encountering any rapids. In August, seals and beluga whales swim up into the fresh water river chasing char and salmon in their annual migration. Beluga have been seen over 10 km upstream. Fresh-water seals inhabit the river and the headwaters at Lake Minto, 200 miles upstream. In addition to the Leaf River, three streams contribute fresh water to the estuary.