Out in the little village of Mayfield, Grand Traverse County, is Mayfield Pond and the Halladay Family Memorial Park. An annual June celebration in Kingsley, just south of Mayfield, honors a particular event that took place at the Pond in the 1920s.

Do you know what happened at Mayfield Pond? Your hint: Leonard (Len) Halladay, and his good friend Judge Charles Adams, were both involved… Len was the local guide, and Adams a visiting enthusiast of a particular sport. He practiced his sport most frequently on the Boardman River and Arbutus Lake.

Thanks to reader Beth of Kingsley, we have our answer! One of the world’s most famous fly fishing ties was developed and tested right in our collective backyard on the Boardman River, the Adams Dry Fly. Len Halladay put little Mayfield on the map when he created the fly at the request of his friend Judge Adams, and the popularity of the fly has skyrocketed ever since. Some anglers say if they were only allowed one fly for the rest of their life, it would be the Adams.

Visit the Kingsley Branch Library for their display on the Adams Fly, and take a peek at an original tied by Halladay himself! History Road Trip!