cons of the two techniques. Indeed, Skues's second work The Way of a Trout with the Fly, which codified the upstream nymphing technique, was not published until 1921, well after Halford's death. The debates continued into the 1930s. The Halfordian school claimed that upstream nymphing, although effective, was unethical and bad for the chalk streams, even to the point of banning the use of nymph on some fisheries, while Skues's proponents claimed that the dogmatic dry-fly approach limited opportunities when nymphing was a more appropriate technique. A culmination of sorts took place in February 1938 at the Flyfishers' Club when the so-called "Nymph Debate" took place. Skues was present to defend nymphing techniques, while many others, chiefly Sir Joseph Ball, defended the Halfordian doctrine. The result was decidedly in favour of Halford's dry-fly techniques to the exclusion of all others, but no one denied the effectiveness of Skues's nymphing methodology. The debate helped cement both Halford's and Skues's seminal roles in the development of modern-day fly fishing. Influences on American angling Charles Goodspeed, in Angling in America (1939), his history of American angling, credits Halford's Floating Flies and How to Dress Them as having a significant influence on the introduction of the dry-fly method into America. In 1890 Halford exchanged a series of letters on the subject of dry-fly fishing with American angler, Theodore Gordon, to include a complete set of Halford's favourite dry flies. In 1892, Favorite Flies and Their Histories, by Mary Orvis Mabury devoted a coloured plate to a selection of Halford's dry flies, along with their method of use. Death Frederic Halford was wealthy enough to take winter vacations in Europe and the Mediterranean to escape the English winter weather. He was also an amateur photographer and liked to capture the people and places he visited during his winter trips abroad. Much of his work still survives today and shows that he visited Spain in 1908, Pontresina in 1909, Egypt in 1910 and Biskra in 1911. In February 1914 he was in Tunis. During the return voyage he fell ill with pneumonia on the P&O liner Morea. He died aboard on 5 March 1914 as the ship was arriving in London on the River Thames. He was 69 years old. After his funeral, praise for Halford in the mainstream British press as well as the sporting press was overwhelming. William Senior, editor of The Field, and