The Essential Fly Tier - Hardcover

"This is a marvellous and indispensable volume that belongs on every fly tier's bookshelf." - Nick Lyons

Cutting clean through the fog of irrelevance that so often surrounds the art of fly tying, the author, illustrator, tying instructor and fly-fishing authority J. Edson Leonard comes straight to the point: creating flies that will actually catch fish. Starting with the basics, this book thoroughly covers fishhooks and the relative merits of the various points, bends, barbs and styles for different types of fishing and all species of game fish. It also covers equipment for the tier's bench, including vises, tools and materials, with an in-depth discussion of fly-tying nomenclature and the fundamentals of the tying art. The book then delves into the rich area of specific flies for specific fish, offering dozens of patterns and tying instructions for drys, wets, nymphs, and streamers for catching trout, steelhead, salmon, bass, panfish, shad, pike and all saltwater game fish. Besides covering the standard flies, the book also presents a theory of pattern selection that enables the reader to construct new and original ties from a synthesis of the time-tested basics.