Essential Trout Flies (Paperback)

~ Dave Hughes (Author) "Individual trout patterns are almost all variations on a set of standard themes, called pattern styles..." (more)
Key Phrases: clip the excess butts, layer the shank with thread, neat thread head, Hook Standard, Thread Black, Thread Olive (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If fly-fishing were run like baseball, at the entrance to every river, stream, lake, and pond you'd find a vendor with a stack of Essential Trout Flies shouting, "You can't tell the flies without a scorecard." Since it's not, you'll just have to pick up a copy before your next outing on the water. Given that even seasoned sophisticates have trouble telling their pale morning sparkle duns from their cream sparkle duns without some reference, Essential Trout Flies is as essential as its title promises--both for fishing and for tying.

The author of numerous books on angling tactics and equipment, Dave Hughes has assembled a color-filled collection of what he calls the 31 pattern styles and the most useful variations that no fly-fanatic can do without. After a general section on fly-tying materials and techniques, he considers the flies themselves, separating them into three chapters: dries, nymphs, and wet flies and streamers. Then the fun starts. For each of his 31 basic patterns, he provides a history of the pattern and an entomological introduction, a photo of the fly followed by detailed instructions--via continuous text and an accompanying series of color photos--for tying it, pictures of six useful variations, and some notes on the best strategies for fishing them--e.g., when should you use a stimulator, a hopper, or a wulff?

For an experienced tyer, this is a terrifically handy and easy-to-use reference; with variations, the 31 patterns multiply to more than 200 proven trout flies. If you just like to fish, Essential Trout Flies is just as handy. It will help you identify flies, understand their entomological basis, sort them into easy-to-recognize categories, and select what you need to carry on-stream at different times of the year. Unfortunately, actually finding the fish is something you'll still have to do yourself. --Jeff Silverman

Product Description

323 color photos 1 drawing 8 x 11
* How to tie the 31 most effective trout patterns and selected variations-more than 200 recipes in all
* Step-by-step color photos and fishing notes "Essential Trout Flies will help you assemble, in just two fly boxes, the flies you need to catch trout anywhere. That makes it essential reading in my book."-Rich Ostoff, professional fly tier and author of

Fly-Fishing the Rocky Mountain Back-Country A core list of flies that will catch trout anywhere, in every season, this collection includes the most important patterns in a wide range of styles, from dry flies to streamers. The tying steps for each pattern are illustrated in step-by-step photos with detailed captions, followed by photos and recipes for the six most useful variations-217 patterns in all. Each chapter features a description of the insect the pattern imitates as well as expert information on how and when to fish the fly. Dave Hughes is among the most widely published authors in fly fishing. He writes a column for Fly Rod & Reel and contributes to all the major fly fishing magazines. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 92 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811727483
• ISBN-13: 978-0811727488
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,210 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Hunting & Fishing > Fishing > Fly Fishing > Fly Tying
  #8 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Hunting & Fishing > General & Anthologies
  #16 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Outdoor Recreation > Fishing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adds clarity and purpose, July 13, 2000

By	James Stripes (Deer Park, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This book has excellent instructions on fly tying, a selection of terrific patterns, and advice on how to fish the flies. All this is to be expected from a basic book on fly tying. But, this book is more useful than many others because author Dave Hughes organizes the patterns by styles and offers a primer for creating two basic fly boxes (one for dries, and one for wets, streamers, nymphs) that should catch trout anywhere in the world. The beginner can learn the basics of tying and fishing with this book. Intermediate fly fishers can strengthen the organization and foundation of their knowledge. And, although I don't consider myself an expert, I would imagine when I reach that stage, I'll still find myself referring to this book from time to time.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great reference for beginning tyers!, February 17, 2000

By	Eric T. Skinner (Concord, North Carolina) - See all my reviews

I'm an intermediate-level fly fisherman and fly tyer. As anyone who's gotten started in this wonderful sport can attest, knowing what to fish or tye can be very, very confusing. Mr. Hughes's wonderful book helps to take a lot of the guesswork out of this. He proposes a theory which states that if you can tye a representative of a style of fly, you can tye any fly in that style. For instance, if you can tye an Adams dry fly, you can tye any of the Catskill-style dries. He then suggests specific flies and sizes to tye for each style. This book does this for dries, nymphs, wet flies and streamers. Following his theory, you can have a box of dry flies and a box of wet flies to match whatever you come up against. I'm taking Dave's advice and am in the process of filling my fly boxes as he suggests. I can't wait for spring!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Handy Guide, August 22, 2000

By	Glen Spackman (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

A nicely structured book which makes it easy to get around. Each "style" of Nymph, Dry or Wet fly has a featured pattern with some background and comments on materials, plus crisp colour tying shots & the recipes for 6 variants of the style. In addition there are Fishing Notes for each style of fly and I found these particularly helpful. I also liked Daves ability to convey concepts. For instance, in describing nymphing a river, he suggests thinking of it in terms of " ... using the nymph to paint parallel brush strokes on the bottom of the river." Altogether, a highly recommended book for a fly tyers reference library.