Customer Reviews

Wet Flies: Tying and Fishing Soft-Hackles, Winged and Wingless Wets, and Fuzzy Nymphs

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is THE essential book on soft hackled, wet and nymph flies for fishing. If you go after fish by fishing flies below the surface, this is THE reference book to have. Good instructions and photographs throughout with color plates of the flies covered in the book.

This is the best book available right now for learning general theory of subsurface fishing. Hughes codifies all the previous knowledge and techniques of famous fly-fishers of the past and compiles all of this into a book that is informative and very easy to read. The discussion of the patterns is worth the price alone. The techniques for fishing the patterns could be put in another book and would be a bargin itself. And his personal knowledge and friendship with Nemes, Hidy, and Rosenberg is demonstrated in stories of fishing with them. Really, this book is good read at any time of the year, not just the winter. Get it, read it, use it.

Hughes' writing is clear and concise. His distillation of work by earlier writers on the subject is lively. It appears to me that he is generous in acknowledging the innovations and achievements of others including his own contemporaries.
But this is more than a well-researched history by a modern practitioner. Hughes' own contribution is the convincing and clear demonstration of some tying techniques that I now use in my basic repertoire. The colour plates are clear and well organized, and the advice, as usual, is worth taking seriously.

This is an excellent accompaniment for Nemes and Liesenring readers...Dave Hughes is an excellent writer and educator!...The stories are entertaining and the message is clear...If you're a dryfly flyfisherman, you should read this book...It will change the way you look at your favorite hobby...

I have only recently starting flyfishing and am in process of learning with dries. Picked up this book in an effort to understand one more aspect of this wonderful sport. Dave Hughes has done an outstanding job whetting my appetite for fishing with soft-hackles, winged and wingless wets (flymphs, I love that word!) and fuzzy nymphs. The respect he has for those who opened his eyes to this area of the sport comes through in the elegant and simple manner in which he explains the material. This is clear, practical, and a whole lot of fun. Terrific!

This is really a nice textbook that you would find in a college book store for your classes. Author describes wet flies: its history, how to tie them, and how to fish with them. I DO recommend author's other publication: Trout Flies. This also describes the depth of fly-tying and how to fish with them.

I get to this book after a discussion in the fly fishing forum which I moderate. In the fly tying section a member started a thread about wets and its effectiveness on fly fishing down here in Chile (South America). So as everyone talks, uploads images of wets and so on I realized that I didn't give this type of fly a chance in my 21 years of fly fishing a river, lake or spring creek. So I came to Amazon and type "Wets". The resulting list have in it this one, I pick it up because I've already read other books from the same author and love them.
It's a superb book, not only because it teach you how to tie this flies, it also teach you how to fish them!
A pleasure to read, lots of insight in Dave Huges own experience.

I enjoyed the book and gained some helpful knowledge for my efforts on the bench and along the creeks. He covered tying each style of wets, plus how to use them pretty clearly, also gave me a better understanding of what the wet flies represent and alot of tactics I never thought about. I tied up some of the soft hackles and have been playing around with them, when I'm not working, has improved my fish catching abilities, especially around those bait fisherman, Ha, Ha. Good book. Good Luck.

The other people who reviewed this book were spot on. It's a great book. The tying techniques (which are based on Leisenring and Hidy) are clear and easy to follow. What was interesting was the fact that the techniques are different from Nemes but produce similar, and more durable flies. Fishing techniques were also included and valuable.

Wet Flies" by David Hughes is a must read and excellent reference manual for wet fly fishermen. I have read this book twice and each time I read it, I pick up tying hints and fishing tips that I overlooked. Great book.