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Fly fishing and fly tying books are a passion. Here you will find book reviews of books I have read covering fly fishing for trout, smallmouth bass, muskellunge, steelhead, and many other freshwater and saltwater species. You will also find fly tying books covering the same areas. There are also books on aquatic entomology, history of fly fishing and fly tying, hydrology, and great prose having fly fishing as its main theme. There is far more to fly fishing than casting a line, and there should be far more to a fly fishing guide service web site than just costs and services offered.
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang
This fly tying instruction book is somewhat on the order of the Benchside Reference volume by same authors. The title is a bit misleading in
that the book title would indicate a tying book for those wanting to learn
to tie flies or very novice tiers that want to improve. However, the book is
really not set up to teach fly tying for the most part. The pattern
selection is in many cases of patterns that are too advanced for beginners;
the patterns are not presented in a logical learning order. For example you
may tie a pattern with a dubbed body and the next pattern has a quill body
and the one after that a floss body, before you use the dubbing technique to
make a body on another pattern. Thus, moving from one pattern to the next
does not provide reinforcement of the previously learned techniques and
procedures. On the other hand, the tying sequences are extremely well
photographed and the accompanying text is well written. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang This book
chronicles a portion of the fly tying history of British Columbia through
documenting the history of the contemporary fly patterns and their creators.
As such it is a very important work and one every fly tier with an interest
in the history of the craft will want to acquire. The patterns are not the
latest and greatest patterns from the slick monthly fly fishing magazines,
nor are they presentation flies to hang on the wall. These are "working"
patterns by tiers that actually use them to fish and developed them to
answer particular problems they encountered in their own fishing. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang This is a truly
interesting volume. It isn't really a book, but instead a book of postcards
that may be kept in tack or taken apart and the individual postcards used or
framed. Each post card is a reproduction of a fly tied by the award winning
American fly tier Tim Trexler. There are flies designed by Tim as well as
flies designed by others and old classics in this collection of superb
images. What a great collection to take on fishing trips and send to friends
at home working, telling them all the appropriate lies -- ah, stories of your
fishing skills and successes. Or better still to frame and hang in your fly
tying room for inspiration and enjoyment. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
Two-Handed Fly
Casting reviewed by Bruce E. Harang
This is one of those instruction
books that actually explain every step and movement required to perform the
desired physical action, in this case making a well developed Spey cast with
a two-handed rod. The strength of the book is the well written, concise
text. The text is further supported by well choreographed and executed
photographs. The author starts the book by explaining how to make a "grass
leader" so you can practice some of the basic casting motions without the
need for being on the water. He then breaks all Spey casts down into seven
distinct portions so that the caster can practice very effectively either a
single portion of a cast or a complete cast effectively both with text and
photos. Next you learn about tracking the cast and the casting stroke
fundamentals. The forward cast portion of the seven part Spey cast is
further broken down into 3 sub-parts. Next the author explains the five
fundamentals of every good two-handed cast. The practice routine using the
overhead cast all one-hand casters are familiar with is used to teach the
idea of "flip the tip" which teaches the caster to develop a two-handed
casting stroke that utilizes the strength of the bottom hand and the use of
the upper hand as a pivot to allow the long rod to do the real work of
casting. This reversal of the normal one-hand casting upper hand dominance
which is detrimental to a good two-handed cast is turned into a teaching
asset making the transition easier. The bulk of the book is devoted to
teaching the mechanics and theory of fifteen of the most popular and useful
practical two-handed casts, important techniques such as off-should casting,
single haul, quickening, and how to fish using the two-handed rod and the
two-handed casts in a number of different water types. The book finishes
with three of the most important and useful chapters revolving around common
errors and problems in making two-handed casts and how to correct these
errors and problems. It is quit simply incredible that all of this very
lucid and useful information is in a book of only 79 pages. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
Spey to Z reviewed by Bruce E. Harang
This two-handed casting DVD may well
be a break-through production in that it clearly shows the connection
between one-hand and two-hand casting and how knowing the one can compliment
learning the other, as well showing the connections between the various
styles of two-handed casting. These connections between the various
two-handed casting styles include both the strengths and weaknesses of each
style thereby allowing the viewer to more easily choose both the best
casting style and the best two-handed cast in their own everyday fishing
situations. One of the pleasant features of this DVD is the fact that these
three world-class two-handed casters don't take any of the sport of fishing
or casting too seriously, but instead can stand back and smile and laugh at
themselves. They teach ideas, methods, and techniques giving the viewer a
toolbox full of methods to successfully cast and fish a two-handed rod. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
Active Nymphing reviewed by Bruce E. Harang
For most fly fishers nymph fishing means dead-drifting a nymph
below a strike indicator. While this method of fishing a nymph is successful
at times, as are the other methods of dead-drifting nymphs, there is a
better way. This better way is what the author calls Active Nymphing. Active
nymphing is a method and strategy of fishing a nymph with movement to help
provide the illusion of life to the fish. The method uses weight, specific
casts, and gear that allow the nymph to sink quickly to the desired level in
the water column and then become a moving, active fly to entice fish to
strike. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
Woolly Wisdom reviewed by Bruce E. Harang
If you thought there was a woolly worm and a woolly bugger and
other than the difference in the tail that was it, you are in for a
surprise. This book presents 400 woolly patterns covering numerous
variations. There are standard woolly worms and woolly buggers, buggers
without hackle, buggers without tails, buggers with bodies of yarn, fur,
hackle, ersatz, as well as the traditional chenille. There are buggers that
sink, and those that float. There are buggers with foam heads, foam bodies,
bead heads, cone heads, dumbbell eyes, foam eyes, as well as buggers with
short tails, no tails, extra long tails made of just about any material that
can be used as a tail material. If it can be tied bugger-like and used to
fish for any fish that swims in cold, warm, or salt water there is most
likely a pattern covering it here. So this is a pattern book of woolly
creatures of a vast variety. But it is also a book of inspiration for tiers
to create even more, and hopefully better, woolly buggers to meet even more
fishing situations. At once, both a history of what is, and a springboard
for what can be, in the world of woolly flies. Besides being a pattern book
it also teaches a whole quiver full of methods and tips that will allow you
to tie better woolly buggers. Flies that swim better, have more movement in
the water, and stand up to more fish before having to be retired. Also
included are fishing tips by the creators of many of the patterns and
explanations of how the particular pattern was developed. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang One of the real
pleasures of fly fishing is the vast amount of written history about the
sport. This book is definitely an addition of major importance to his
wonderful written history. The author has provided all of us with well
written biographies of twenty-three of the men of the 20th
century who have made major contributions to the sport. These contributions
were not only to fly fishing in their Pacific Northwest home, but to the
sport worldwide. For the first time you will be able to glimpse the men and
the times they lived in during a period of tremendous innovation in both
tackle and technique. While the impetus for all of these men was to more
successfully fish for the trout, steelhead, and salmon of their home waters,
what they did has echoed throughout the world. The double haul, one of the
great innovations for single hand rod caster all over the world for
saltwater and large river fishing was invented, developed, and presented to
the world by a pair of these men, for example. And there were the men who
entertained a worldwide audience by writing about these developments and
their use in fishing for large, strong fish in the Pacific Northwest, men
such as Zane Grey and Ted Trueblood. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang If you are a steelhead fly fisherman you have dreamed of taking a steelhead on a dry or waking fly. And you have heard of the Snake River Tributaries such as the Clearwater and Grande Rhonde. This small volume presents a history of this legendary Nez Perce country, its rivers, its steelhead, and its characters. The book is a beautifully written and illustrated oral history by those fly fishermen that lived and live it. A documenting of the oral history of twenty eight Nez Perce country steelheaders spanning the beginning of fly fishing in the area in 1938 to the present day. Also, included is a short informative fun read of the geological formation of the region and its now famous dry fly steelhead rivers. If you cast a fly for steelhead you will want to have this book in your library. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang This is a notebook sized spiral bound book designed to teach a neophyte how to fly fish. With the binding style it can be laid open flat on a table or other flat surface making referring to it while practicing easy. The uses of a large number of color photographs help the reader to visualize the textual information being presented. While the book is geared to fly fishing for trout, there are sections on bass and pike fishing which present several techniques of special interest to warm water anglers. The use of dogmatic absolutes to describe and define techniques and procedures is counterproductive and unnecessary, however. If you are someone that learns well from the printed page this book may be of assistance in learning to fly fish. And at the very low price this book clearly is one that will assist you to refresh your memory of lessons from personal instruction. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang The author has written one of the most informative and instructional volumes on modern nymph fishing for trout. The book is well written and easy to read. It is also well illustrated with excellent quality photographs as well as lovely watercolor artwork illustrations. The book includes an opening chapter on the history of nymph fishing which is a fun read. The trout, and more importantly, his habitat is described in chapter two which is followed by a chapter on tackle for nymph fishing. This tackle chapter covers not only rods, lines, and reels, but also indicators, weight, and rigging techniques. This is probably one of the best descriptions of modern nymphing tackle in print. The chapter on selecting the right fly pattern includes information on collecting "bugs" as well as how to take bug samples, and most importantly, how to interpret the resulting information. Chapter five is the real meat of the book presenting eleven nymphing methods using text, photographic sequences, and diagrams to clearly teach the reader exactly how to accomplish successful fly presentation under numerous habitat and water conditions. The final major section of the book is dedicated to the insects trout eat and the imitations that will successfully fool the trout. The insect information is very well presented with enough information to allow the angler to have enough of an understanding of the prey species he is trying to imitate without having to look to reference volumes. The pattern selection is kept short by providing a limited set of imitative patterns that cover a large number of insects without having to carry thousands of patterns to the river. Interestingly, the book also includes a DVD which presents a humorous, fun day on the stream with the author and his sidekick showing how and where to use the various nymphing techniques. This DVD is so light hearted that you can not help but learn while chuckling. The book is a rare combination of instruction and page-turner fun read. Such a well written volume deserves a place in every trout fisherman's library. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang Every so often novel using fly fishing as the basic plot is published. A few of them turn out to be good reads. This unfortunately, is not one of these. The story line is of a pair of longtime fishing buddies on an annual fishing trek to Montana. The events and tribulations of both a long term relationship and fishing together are portrayed in what can only be describes as a failed attempt at parody or a really bad farce. This book has a one page plot and 277 pages of unnecessary detail having little or nothing to do with the story line. This is definitely one book you can pass up. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang The Thunder Creek style of fly pattern is one that for some reason has not gotten the press it should. This revised and augmented edition of the author's original 1973 book is therefore very welcome. Along with the originally published patterns are new patterns for saltwater making this style of fly even more useful. The tying instructions and the history of the style and patterns is well written and beautifully illustrated by the superb photographs of David Klausmeyer. The book opens with a chapter on the evolution of flies for imitating baitfish, and continues with chapters on the history of the development of the Thunder Creek patterns, a chapter on designing Minnow flies, and a chapter on the fish the Thunder Creek series is intended to imitate. The book then provides a chapter describing how to tie these great flies in great detail in both text and picture. The book then concludes with a chapter on tackle for fishing baitfish imitations, fly selection and fishing techniques, saltwater Thunder Creek patterns, and the need for continuing stewardship of the habitat of fish. The especially designed end papers add a very nice touch. The design, editing, printing are all top notch. This is a book every fly tyer will want to add to his personal library and refer to often for inspiration and information. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang This is a
beautifully executed book on a very interesting segment of fly tying,
feather wing and hackle flies for Atlantic salmon and steelhead. The most
striking feature of this book is the computer generated color illustrations
of the flies. These illustrations replace the traditional photographs of
actual flies and while they are clearly more functional in showing detail,
they do lack the soul of a real fly reproduced photographically. From a
practical point they are excellent instructional aids however. The writing
is very well done and easy to read and the design of the book is also
excellent making for a book that will be read and re-read many times. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang This book is a manuscript that was written in the late 1940's by a native Oregonian about fly fishing from the 1890's to 1950. As such it has historical significance in that it presents the fishing, camping, and trekking of the time first hand. And it is so well written that it is a real page turner. While the history is documented it is done so in an easy to read manner that brings out the enjoyment the author got from the outdoors of his time. There are observations of fishing not only in the classic rivers of the Pacific Northwest but of Alaska, Singapore, Japan, Panama, the South Pacific, Japan, Mexico and more. Here are stories of strange fishing and funny fishing circumstances brought about by the much different travel arrangements of 50 to 100 years ago. The author also had produced all of the line drawings for the book and family members provide numerous period photos of the author and the fishing locations. For anyone with a curiosity about fishing around the world this is a must read. It is a book that can be given as a gift to any fisherman safe in the knowledge it will be appreciated. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
reviewed by Bruce E. Harang Dec Hogan is a
steelheader's steelheader. He is one of those rare individuals that have a
passion that has only grown with time and who never lost his sense of wonder
of it all. This book truly conveys this to the reader. The passion and love
of steelhead, their habitat, and the pursuit of them with a two handed fly
rod is so wonderfully presented the reader can not help but smile and start
packing for the river. This book is so much fun to read you forget you are
actually being taught an art by one its true masters. The illustrations by
Greg Pearson are some of the most enlightening ever printed to show the
reader exactly what is going on when we swing our flies to steelhead.
Likewise, his illustrations of the casting strokes are superb. The
photography of the rivers and the fish are of the high quality expected in
coffee table art books. The photographs of the flies are nicely done and the
large size of the images makes them excellent illustrations for the fly
tyer. It is, however, the writing style of Dec that makes this book a must
have volume. The writing draws readers beside a campfire to listen to Dec
tell tall tales of great rivers and great fish. It simply can not get any
better than this if you are fortunate enough to have the incurable steelhead
virus. And in every tale told there are lessons which can make the reader a
better caster, better fisherman, and better fly tyer. © 2006 Bruce E Harang
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