White River with Davy Wotton
by Davy Wotton
Cascade Mediaworks, LLC
Portland, OR, 2007
DVD, 120 minutes, Color
suggested price $24.95 - DVD

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             This DVD is a bit strange to watch initially. The viewer is guided down the White River in Arkansas by a Brit, in a silly taco shell Cowboy hat. However, Davy does a nice job of describing the various portions of the river and how to fish them. He also explains how the river, and its fishing, is controlled by the Bull Shoals dam and how to work with the water release schedules to find productive water. Davy explains that the shoals or riffles are the prime fishing areas, where they are located, and how to fish them at different water levels. In all, 92 miles of the river are covered in sections. Because there is such a long piece of river to discuss the dialog does get a bit tedious after awhile. This DVD is best viewed in segments detailing the area or areas you want to fish so as not to become monotonous. Davy also discusses fishing techniques and types and patterns of flies that will bring you success with each technique. For anyone wanting to get a jump start on a visit to the White River this DVD will do that very well. The cinematography, sound, and editing are excellent. This is definitely a DVD to own if you plan on fishing the White river or wish to fish sections new to you.

© 2008 Bruce E Harang

Wotton’s Top Ties, vol. 1
by Davy Wotton
Cascade Mediaworks, LLC
Portland, OR, 2007
DVD, 120 minutes, Color
suggested price $34.95 - DVD

 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             Davy Wotton shares five of his best fishing fly patterns in this two hour DVD of fly tying instruction. The patterns are Davy’s Sculper (sculpin pattern), Wotton Bugger, “SLF” Transparent Caddis Emerger (an exceptional caddis emerger pattern), Wotton Shad, and the Black & Silver Spider (softhackle pattern). Because of the length of the DVD Davy has the time to teach the viewer now to select and prepare the materials, how to tie the fly, tips and tricks in mounting the materials and general tying tips that will allow the viewer to tie better and better looking flies. In addition, Davy takes the time to suggest alternative materials for each pattern as well as the attributes of the materials that are important for each pattern. This DVD is especially well done in that there are no forgotten, missed, or secret steps or procedures. If the viewer pays attention there is no way he will not tie a good looking, durable, and fish catching fly. The cinematography, sound, and lighting are superb. The viewing area of the vise and surrounding area is well presented without clutter and distractions. Davy’s pet parrot also presents a few choice comments and does a few funky dance moves. This is a very enjoyable DVD that does an excellent job of teaching these five patterns.

A Wisp in the Wind
by Jerry Kustich
West River Publishing
Grand Island, NY, 2005
240 pages, Hardcover, illustrated B&W drawings
suggested price $24.95

 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

            The author takes the reader on a journey that involves fly fishing, bamboo rod building, bull trout, and rivers. The journey is not about fly fishing, or rods, or trout. Instead it is about how a love of nature through fly fishing can bring joy and peace to each of us. These are stories you will enjoy reading and want to finish before you put the book down. You will not find how to make bamboo rods, design rod tapers, or fish for bull trout or any other trout for that matter. There are no secret rivers, nor silver bullet fly patterns. What you will find is a wonderful book of stories about how rivers can run through your life if you let them. How fishing can connect family and friends through a lifetime of living. And that keeping these aqueous treasures and their inhabitants, in the end, is critical to our own salvation. The writing is excellent as is the editing. The illustrations by Al Hassall are lovely and make the book even better.  For those who realize that fly fishing is not about the fish you will want to laugh, cry, smile, and chuckle along with Jerry. The rest of you really do need to read this book.

© 2008 Bruce E Harang

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River of Dreams
by Lani Waller
West River Publishing
Grand Island, NY, 2004
240 pages, Hardcover, illustrated B&W drawings
suggested price $24.95

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             Lani Waller has spent a lifetime living the dream. Now he has taken the time to share clips of this life movie with all of us. While he is best known as a steelheader and for his steelheading videos, he is truly an all-round fly fisher. From sunfish to billfish Lani loves to fish with a fly rod. His love of the sport and of the quarry and their habitat is clearly evident here. What makes this book such a great read is that the author shows the blemishes as well as the triumphs over the course of his journey. Fly fishermen will see something of themselves in these well written stories. Those that do not fly fish may well be able to glimpse the lovely insanity that drives fly fishermen. In the end this is a superbly written vignette of a life of fly fishing by a man that has lived it. Wonderfully written and edited with pencil sketches that add to the beauty of the words.

Striped Bass Flies
by David Klausmeyer
The Countryman Press
Woodstock, VT, 2007
150 pages, Hardcover, illustrated Color
suggested price $39.95

 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             This is an interesting collection of fly fishing techniques and personal variations of standard flies for striped bass by eleven professional striper guides and two non-guide professional fly tyers of striper flies. With one notable exception all of the flies are well known patterns that have been slightly modified by each guide to provide him with a better confidence factor in the fly. The real value of the book is the information of when, where, and how to fish these flies in the various areas these professional guides work. This area covers all of the areas where striped bass are found on both the east and west coasts. The one wonderful exception is the flat wing fly patterns of David Nelson. These flies are really quite innovative and different than the standard deep clousers and half & half patterns everyone else presents. The book is technically superb in that the layout, design, editing, and writing are excellent. However, it is not a pattern or tying book, though it does have some tying sequences and pictures of flies. What it is really, is simply a collection of information of others compiled into book form. Is this worth the price? Well if you are looking for a good starting point as to where, when, and how to fish for stripers it most likely is.

Prospecting for Trout
by Tom Rosenbauer
The Lyons Press
Guilford, CT, 1993, 2000, 2008
191 pages, Softbound, illustrated Color  and B&W
suggested price $22.95

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             This is a revised edition of an old standard. It is the best version yet and an excellently done volume in its own right. All trout fishermen dream of the perfect hatch. Whether it is green drakes, skwalas, or salmon flies, every fly fisher holds the dream dear, but these perfect hatches don’t actually happen for most even a very small percentage of their fishing time. Thus, this book presents the tools to catch fine trout during the vast majority of a fly fisher’s time on the water. Time when there are no blizzard hatches to match and the fish are not throwing themselves into your net. The author explains how trout feed, the differences between rich and poor trout streams, and how to read water. Next he describes the various forms of trout flies that are useful to the fly fisher when there is no hatch going on. These include streamers, nymphs, wet flies, and dry flies. The book concludes with a chapter on an approach to fly fishing that will allow the fly fisherman to have a starting point to his days fishing with maximum possibility of success. With the excellent color photographs and well designed black and white illustrations the learning is straight forward. This is an extremely well written book that is also well edited and designed to maximize the transfer of information to the reader. An outstanding presentation of how to fly fish for trout when there is no hatch. A must have book.

Steelhead Flies, Tying Classics
by Dec Hogan and Marty Howard
Reese Almond Productions
Heber City, UT, 2008
DVD, approximately 240 minutes, Color
suggested price $30.00

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             This 2 DVD set presents a course in tying most of the standard steelhead fly types in use today. While the title says “tying classics” and a few true “classic” fly styles are included, I believe a better descriptor would be “tying standards”. That is the flies patterns and styles that have become the flies found in most every steelheader’s fly boxes. The program opens with a very good discussion of the tools and materials most commonly used in tying steelhead flies, and a discussion of the anatomy of the typical steelhead fly. This is very practical information without unnecessary fluff. The viewer is then lead through seven “chapters” of actual fly tying covering standard wet flies, muddlers, steelhead dry flies, marabou flies, Spey flies, strip wing flies, and prawns. Dec and Marty take turns tying and explaining how to effectively tie each style of fly pattern. One real benefit of this is that you get to see two very accomplished tyers using slightly different tools and techniques to arrive at the same end result; a well proportioned, durable, good looking steelhead fly. Included in the instruction are tips and techniques for preparing materials and tying materials to the hook. The background is plain and creates an easy to see work area without visual distractions and the lighting is well done so the viewer can easily concentrate on the tying going on. For learning to tie the most styles of steelhead flies this is a great value and provides top notch instruction. There are however a few technical problems with the production. The sound levels between the fly tying sequences and the outdoor sequences is so different that to hear one is to have a silent movie during the other or have it blasting in your ears. There are a number of tying sequences where glasses, head, or hand block the camera and these should have been re-shot and better edited. Likewise, the break point between the two DVDs should not have been in the middle of a fly pattern. But even with this bit of amateurish editing, the program is superb and the lovely river/fishing sections between flies are a lovely bit of added fun for the viewer. This is only the second fly tying DVD I have ever seen that keeps your interest from start to finish. For a 4 hour production that is indeed quite an accomplishment.
            This is definitely a steelhead fly tying DVD production that should be in everyone’s collection and at $30 for the 4 hours of instruction it is a real value. Get it! You will not be disappointed.

Rotary Fly-Tying Techniques
by Al & Gretchen Beatty
Frank Amato Publications, Inc.
Portland, OR, 2008
116 pages, Soft cover, illustrated Color
suggested price $24.95

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             The use of rotary fly tying vises has become commonplace with today’s fly tiers, especially the hobby tiers. However, using rotary fly tying vise specific techniques in tying flies has not. To ably fill this void is a small but important volume by the husband and wife commercial fly tying team of Al and Gretchen Beatty. In just over one hundred pages of well written easy to read prose, and superb photographic tying sequences the authors have created a most comprehensive rotary fly-tying technique tool box. This excellent book starts out with a short history of rotary fly tying vises and fly tying, moves on to a chapter on relearning for those who started fly tying on stationary vises, and then illustrates tying flies on three different antique rotary fly tying vises, finishing with a short discussion of the two different types of rotary vises, the seeming wrong direction of rotation of the vise shaft in tying, and the importance of using a bobbin rest. These first four chapters provide the necessary background for the tying instruction that will follow. The final eight chapters each teach how to tie two or three different styles or types of flies such that a total 19 different flies are tied overall. One of the best parts of the book is that each chapter uses a rotary vise of a different manufacturer so that the reader gets to learn how to use all of the most popular rotary vises on the market. If you already have purchased a rotary vise you will most likely find a chapter using your vise giving you very specific help in utilizing the exact features of your vise. If you are looking to purchase a rotary vise this book is almost as good as trying each maker’s vise out in person. The book ends with a short Conclusion and a well designed and useable Index. The photographs are well done and excellently reproduced. For showing how rotary functions work in practice, it would be wonderful to have a DVD as part of the book or a DVD instructional program based on the book as an optional addition. The text is well written, edited, with top notch design. This book is an excellent instructional and informational guide at a very reasonable price.

Beyond Basic Fly Tying
by Jon Ronds, editor
Stackpole Books
Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008
121 pages, Soft spiral bound, illustrated Color & DVD
suggested price $29.95

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             This is a well written and very well illustrated fly tying instruction manual. A real added benefit is that there is also a fly tying instruction DVD included that covers 7 of the book’s patterns as an alternative step by step teaching aid. This DVD is very well produced with excellent visual clarity and good clear instruction by the presenter, Marvin Nolte. The photographic tying sequences in the book are likewise excellently presented and described. Michel Radencich ‘s photography and videography are extremely well done in this book and companion DVD. The book opens with a chapter on Tools and Materials which is nicely presented but really is not needed in a book aimed at those tiers beyond beginner status. There are 5 nymph patterns, 3 wet fly and emerger patterns, 10 dry fly patterns, 3 terrestrials, and 2 streamers presented in the book with 7 of these patterns selected from all of the different types presented on the DVD. Following the pattern chapters is an Appendix which teaches the hand whip finish and how to X-wrap wings onto a hook. The book concludes with a list of references which is not as useful as a good index which was not included would have been. Overall, the design, layout, editing, writing, and photography of the book is of excellent quality. The instructions are well thought out and well presented so as to be easy to understand and learn from. Likewise, the production of the DVD is superb and learning from it will be easy for the viewer. At the price the book alone or the DVD alone would be excellent value, but both for the price of one makes this one of the best buys in the trout fly tying instruction market. You will really like this instruction book/DVD combination.

Unnaturals
a practical guide to tying with synthetics
by David Klausmeyer
The Countryman Press
Woodstock, VT, 2006
152 pages, Hardcover, illustrated Color
suggested price $40.00

 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             The author has put together an excellent volume of fly patterns using synthetics in their construction. While the patterns are directed to trout patterns many of the patterns can be easily adapted to warm water and saltwater applications. In addition, the techniques and materials are easily adapted to use for fly patterns for species other than trout. The book starts with an introduction directed to why synthetics can and should be used in fly tying. The second chapter is a collection of the author’s favorite synthetic materials. Chapter three is directed to Dry Flies and there are 11 patterns covering most dry fly types used by the trout fisherman. These include Mayfly duns, emergers, and spinners as well as caddis flies, and terrestrials. Chapter four is directed to 7 nymphs and subsurface patterns including stonefly nymphs, chironomids, drowned spinners, several caddis forms. The last chapter is directed to 4 streamers covering several styles which have become standards. The book concludes with a list of sources for synthetic materials and a very useable index.
            Each pattern starts with a written recipe and a half page photograph of the finished fly. Following this are several pages of step by step tying instructions with clear and well produced photographs.  The photographs are of the excellent high quality one has come to expect from the author. The volume is well written in an easy to read style with good editing and fine design and layout.
            There are few books directed to tying with synthetics, especially in the area of trout patterns, and this is certainly one of the finest to date. If you are looking for information about using many of the currently available synthetic materials in your fly tying this book is an excellent resource. This is a great value and an excellent read.

The Complete Steelheader
by John Larison
Stackpole Books
Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008
228 pages, Hardbound, illustrated Color and B&W
suggested price $49.95

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             The author presents a steelhead discussion for those fly fishermen that count success in numbers and poundage. Not only are classic wet fly and dry fly fishing methods presented but so are the newer nymphing, twitching, and bobber and jigging methods. The book is directed to single hand rods with some lip service given to two handed rods. This is really unfortunate as the two hand rod has become a well established and appreciated tool for fishing steelhead across North America. There is a well presented photographic collection of currently popular flies for all styles of steelhead fishing presented in the book but there are no tying instructions or even recipes. The quality of the writing is excellent as is the quality of the photography. Although some of the photographs don’t seem to be pertinent to the captions and descriptions that surround them. The design, editing, and layout of the book are also of high quality. The book is seemingly directly solely to the Pacific Northwest steelhead fishery with just a few passing comments about the Great Lakes steelhead fishery. The knowledge of the author seems extensive in some of the topics and very spotty in others. As such a “complete” book of steelheading it is not. If you are a west coast steelheader that uses numbers as a measure of success this book will probably help increase your numbers. Otherwise, there is little here to justify the price of admission and the time required to read the book.

Fly Fishing for Great Lakes Steelhead
by Rick Kustich and Jerry Kustich
West River Publishing
Grand Island, NY, 1999
280 pages, Hardcover, illustrated Color and B&W
suggested price $39.95

reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             I first read this book in 1999 when it was first published while I was still steelheading in the Great Lakes region. The book impressed me then as being extremely accurate and well presented. I found the writing to be superb and the black and white photography reproduced in it reminiscent of Ansel Adams prints. They were and are some of the finest black and white reproductions ever printed in a book. The coverage of the Great Lakes is excellently done. It is objective, accurate, and done by authors who have actually fished the waters with the advice and aid of local fly fishermen who know their home waters very well. The book is comprised of three parts. Part I is directed to the fishery and contains six chapters covering steelhead in the Great Lakes region from the beginnings to present. Part II contains four chapters containing a comprehensive approach to fishing for Great Lakes steelhead including, steelhead behavior, reading the water, fly fishing strategy, and flies. The final Part III is a guide to the rivers which have the major steelhead populations and is broken down by Lake making therefore five chapters. This wonderful volume concludes with a well written epilogue and a bibliography. Now a decade later this book is still a true joy to read. The writing is a pleasure to view as are the stunning photographs. This is a book that you will not want to put down until you have finished it. Then you will feel the need to view the photographs over and over as you dream of polished chrome and beautiful flies. Interestingly, now a decade later the information on fishing strategy is as suitable as it ever was. Likewise, the predictions by the authors on the direction of fishing strategies and equipment concerning Great Lakes steelhead fly fishing have proven to be right on.

© 2008 Bruce E Harang

Essential Saltwater Flies
by Ed Jaworowski
Stackpole Books
Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007
124 pages, Softbound, illustrated Color
suggested price $21.95

 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             This is a lovely book dedicated to creating a box of flies for saltwater fly fishing anywhere there is saltwater fly fishing. What the author has done is create a smallish collection of saltwater flies which should provide at least a few suitable flies under any condition or location. The book opens with three chapters covering Innovation and Variation; Materials and Tools; and Techniques and Tips. Of these the third chapter directed to Techniques and Tips is particularly helpful to anyone wanting to tie saltwater flies. The final six chapters are each directed to a particular type of fly pattern class. Within each chapter each selected fly is illustrated and has step – by – step tying instructions including text and photos. These photographs are superb in every detail and very clearly show what is being discussed in the associated text. These are some of the finest saltwater fly pattern photographs in print today. The text is easy to read and to understand, very clear, concise, but with excellent attention to detail. The book finishes with a suggested reading list and an excellent fly pattern index. For the saltwater fly fisherman and saltwater fly tyer this book presents a well rounded collection of proven patterns to cover every saltwater angling situation. A must have for any saltwater fly tyer.

© 2008 Bruce E Harang

Fly Fisherman’s Guide to Saltwater Prey
by Aaron J. Adams, Ph.D.
Stackpole Books
Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008
206 pages, Softbound, illustrated Color
suggested price $21.95

 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             This is an interesting reference volume documenting in color a large number of saltwater prey species suitable for imitation with a fly. Included are numerous well photographed species separated into six categories making referral easier. These six categories are crabs, shrimp, bottom associated prey fish, midwater prey fish, baitfish, and miscellaneous bottom prey. Each of these six categories are broken down into chapters, each chapter is devoted to a genus of the main category. The photographs are well done and do show a great amount of detail in form and color of each specimen. This gives the fly tyer an excellent reference from which to design fly patterns. At the end of each chapter the author also presents patterns suitable for use to create the impression or imitation of each type of prey. Overall, a good reference work for those saltwater anglers desiring to design and/or tie their own saltwater prey imitations.

Trout Flies for the 21^st Century
by Dick Talleur
The Lyons Press
Guilford, CT, 2008
194 pages, Spiral softbound, illustrated Color
suggested price $24.95

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

             This is a fly pattern book of favorite fly patterns of the author and his friends. These are divided into seven chapters encompassing dry flies, parachute – style dry flies, wet flies, nymphs and emergers, general streamers, Northeast streamers, and special and novel patterns. There is nothing new or novel in this selection of fly patterns however. In fact most, if not all, have been published before by the author and many others. The selection of fly patterns is very eclectic and will in all likelihood present a few patterns that will catch the eye of most readers. Each pattern is illustrated by a very well shot photograph and the pattern recipe. Those fly patterns with commentary or several variations presented have photographs of a smaller size than those without. These smaller photographs while nicely done are a bit small for general viewing while you are at the tying bench. The fly pattern recipes are presented in a very small type and the constituent parts are run together so that following them at the tying bench is not easy. On the positive side each pattern is on a single page such that page flipping while tying is not required. Overall, the design and layout of this book is below average as far as reader ease of use. In fact, the best design feature is the spiral soft binding that allows the book to be laid flat for use at the tying bench and closed as a normally bound book for storage on a shelf.  The most interesting and best portion of this book is the first chapter explaining in the anatomy and desirable attributes of modern genetic hackle. You will want to check this book out carefully before deciding to put your hard earned cash on the barrelhead.

Essential Fly Fishing
by Tom Meade
The Lyons Press
Guilford, CT, 2008
142 pages, Hardbound, illustrated Color
suggested price $16.95

reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

        This is a revised edition of a book originally published over a decade ago. When it was originally released it was the finest printed fly fishing “course” available. Today with this revision and reprinting it remains the finest printed course of fly fishing. The writing is clear, concise, early to read, easy to understand, and tells the reader exactly what needs be learned without fluff or school book boredom. You are taken on an enjoyable journey from your first day to your first fish on a fly. The trip is taken in easy steps, each building upon the previous, culminating in instilling a passion for a sport that everyone can spend a lifetime practicing. If you are a beginner, you will find no better way to learn. If you use only this book you will learn enough to be successful and directed to where you can find more and more detailed information as you are ready to learn it. If you are learning from an instructor, or friend, your class notes are already typed so you can spend all your classroom time concentrating on what the teacher is saying. And as a real bonus, the artwork illustrating this lovely volume is truly art. The beautiful reproductions of original art by Bob White are absolutely stunning. This is the stuff of coffee table picture books. If you want to learn to be a better fly fisherman this book will also be of great assistance as it presents many hints and techniques that can be added to the reader’s “tackle box”. There are hints on how to make casts with good line speed and tight loops, strong knots, and watercraft. This fine little volume presents great information, using great presentation, and allows the reader to have great fun.

LaFontaine’s Legacy
by Al and Gretchen Beatty
The Lyons Press
Guilford, CT, 2008
135 pages, Hardbound, illustrated Color
suggested price $27.95

                                 reviewed by Bruce E. Harang

        From the end of the 1970’s into the early 1990’s a number of American fly fishermen changed the way the whole world looked at fly design and fly presentation. What they brought to trout fly fishing was both innovative and profound. So much so that their names have become legend. In the area of caddis flies that name is Gary LaFontaine. But Gary did much more. He moved forward into areas of fly design for all types of suggestive and attractor flies for trout. Fly patterns relying on “triggers” instead of attempting exact imitation. Presentations that mimicked real trout food mannerisms found through underwater observation. Whether or not fly fishermen liked how these flies looked or agreed with Gary’s theories, the vast majority of them report the fly patterns and presentation techniques work extremely well. Gary has left us now, but the authors have published the last patterns and ideas of this fly fishing innovator. Here are twenty six patterns presented with step – by – step photographic tying sequences as well as notes and thoughts of Gary. Fishing hints, theories, and the stimuli leading to each patterns creation. These patterns cover the full range of trout foods including Mayflies, Caddis flies, damsel flies, minnows, Stoneflies, crayfish, Shrimp, Sow Bugs, and even the common House fly. Also included are interesting and very effective tying techniques that allow every fly tyer to more ably create successful trout flies. These techniques alone are worth far more than the price of the book.
        The writing is well done, easy to read, and effective at transferring the information from the mind of one of the legends of fly tying. It also is effective in conveying to the reader a glimpse into the personality of Gary. The photographs are very well composed and reproduced making the text easy to visualize and the patterns clear to any tyer wanting to reproduce them. The authors have done the fly tying world a wonderful service by preserving for the future the wisdom of this gentleman of fly tying.
        If you tie flies to catch trout this is a must have volume.