360 patterns from Ireland, Scotland, the U.K., Iceland, Scandinavia, Canada, and the U.S. Shrimp and spey patterns have always been important to the history of Atlantic salmon fishing, and today they continue to be the most popular type of flies for salmon and steelhead. This landmark reference is the first book to bring together the traditions of Atlantic salmon flies on both sides of the Atlantic with the steelhead fisheries of North America.
This is the most comprehensive directory of salmon flies ever published. Respected international fly-tying author Chris Mann has been studying salmon flies and their inventors for 30 years. He has corresponded with countless expert tiers in the United States, Canada, the Nordic and Western European countries, seeking out all their popular and enduring salmon flies. Over 1800 salmon and steelhead flies ̄each one illustrated in color and with its full dressing provided ̄make this the definitive reference, the all-in-one volume for salmon anglers and fly-tiers throughout the world. Chris Mann¿s vibrant illustrations of the flies show them with great clarity, accuracy, and consistency. The flies are ordered alphabetically, making it easy for the reader to find the exact fly and to check the precise dressing. Mann gives a brief introduction to each fly, noting its originator when known, and the reputation it has achieved. Included are the most important and relevant examples of each type of pattern ̄dry, hairwing, featherwing, hackle fly, Spey, Dee, shrimp, skater, marabou, etc. Also included is a bibliography and three separate indexes make finding what you want quite easy. This beautifully designed and illustrated book is destined to be a classic, found on the bookshelves of salmon anglers and fly-tiers worldwide.
The most popular type of flies used by salmon and steelhead anglers today Over 500 different patterns with origins, distinguishing features, and tying details Catalog of flies with color photos and full dressings for each fly The world's leading fly tiers have contributed their own unique flies and fly-tying advice to this guide to the most widely-used flies for salmon and steelhead. Chris Mann's remarkable computer graphics convey the flies with clinical precision and color accuracy. He has selected over 500 of the best hairwing flies, based on those submitted by leading fly tiers from around the world. This book will inspire fly tiers to try a whole range of exciting new patterns, tying techniques, colors, and materials.
Steelhead flies represent the highest echelon of artistic fly-dressing. They enjoy a rich tradition as both a functionally designed lure for tempting the much-revered steelhead, but also as a creative expression of the aesthetic appeal of fly angling. John Shewey, author of the acclaimed Spey Flies & Dee Flies, has produced another well-written and researched book, rich in technique, method and innovation. Through concise text and hundreds of sharp, color photographs--including step-by-step and artistic individual fly plates--Shewey covers: materials for steelhead flies; basic tying techniques; hairwing and featherwing flies; Spey and Dee styles; Practitioners, shrimp and prawn patterns; dry flies and much more. This book is a must-have for all steelhead fly-fishermen.
Directory of old and modern salmon flies Companion to Shrimp & Spey Flies for Salmon and Steelhead (0-8117-1428-4) and Hairwing & Tube Flies for Salmon and Steelhead (0-8117-3176-6) The tradition of tying salmon flies with feathers is a very old one, recorded in Ancient Greece, but the Victorians instilled artistry into salmon fly tying with their elaborate built-wing flies using feathers from a variety of exotic birds. After a period in which featherwing flies were eclipsed by those made from animal hairs and man-made materials, the popularity of these versatile feathers is resurging. This international guide features dressings from North America and Europe. The origins of patterns, precise dressings, and superb color illustrations will inspire fly tiers to attain new heights of achievement.
The Definitive Book on Spey Flies Within fly tying, and within steelhead and salmon angling, Spey flies occupy a substantial niche. These flies are exceptionally popular in America, not only on the “steelhead coast,” but nationwide among fly tying enthusiasts, and they enjoy a substantial popularity worldwide; their popularity has gained renewed enthusiasm with the latest generation of young tiers and anglers (the private Facebook page “The Spey Tyer” has 3,600 members). The author is the world’s leading authority on the history and tying of Spey flies simply because they caught his fancy in the 1980s and over the years he has conducted more research on the topic by far than anyone else. His vision for this new incarnation of his original Spey Flies (Amato Publications, 2002) includes a tremendous upgrade from the original—an entirely new book, in fact—because he has uncovered so many historical facts, intrigues, people, and flies that have never been compiled in a single volume, or even presented in any form to the interested audience. The original Spey Flies was graphically rich; the new book is far more so.
The most all-encompassing compendium of truly valuable information on steelhead ever written. —Jack Hemingway There are exceptional chapters on the fish itself; the tackle and techniques used to pursue it under diverse circumstances in such great steelhead rivers as the Deschutes, the Dean, the North Umpqua, the Bulkley, the Rogue and the Babine, and memorable profiles of the modern masters and the fly patterns they developed.
Anders Halverson provides an exhaustively researched and grippingly rendered account of the rainbow trout and why it has become the most commonly stocked and controversial freshwater fish in the United States. Discovered in the remote waters of northern California, rainbow trout have been artificially propagated and distributed for more than 130 years by government officials eager to present Americans with an opportunity to get back to nature by going fishing. Proudly dubbed an entirely synthetic fish by fisheries managers, the rainbow trout has been introduced into every state and province in the United States and Canada and to every continent except Antarctica, often with devastating effects on the native fauna. Halverson examines the paradoxes and reveals a range of characters, from nineteenth-century boosters who believed rainbows could be the saviors of democracy to twenty-first-century biologists who now seek to eradicate them from waters around the globe. Ultimately, the story of the rainbow trout is the story of our relationship with the natural world--how it has changed and how it startlingly has not.
