PRODUCTIVE TROUT FLIES FOR UNORTHODOX PREY - Book Review - Jul 30, 2012

[rtidd]

PRODUCTIVE TROUT FLIES FOR UNORTHODOX PREY


Books on fly tying are very numerous and, in recent years, most of the books that I have read that concern fly tying techniques have basically just been a rehash of material that is available in other books. Jeff Morgan's book Productive Trout Flies for Unorthodox Prey is a breath of fresh air. This is not to say that the patterns and techniques that are found in this book have not been previously covered in other fly tying manuals, but he opens up an area of imitation that has only been briefly covered in other books.

[djo]

I guess I am slow. First off it took me a while to understand that the title refers to bugs that are prey to the trout and not trout that are prey to the fishermen. Now that I have that down, I still am having trouble figuring out what is in the book. The only hint I can get is that it has the picture of a dragonfly on the front cover. So maybe it talks about how to tie and fish dragonfly imitations. But then those patterns pop up fairly regularly. There are lots of articles on beetles, ants, hoppers, cricket, and even cicadas so those are likely not unorthodox. It is an intriging title but I no idea what the content might be. Has anyone seen it yet? It is time to start accumulating books for the winter.
David

Aha - I looked it up on Amazon. Unorthodox is apparently everything other than mayflies, caddis flies, and stone flies.

[The Chronicler]

Indeed, the book has much more than dragonfly imitations. As I indicated in the review, without giving too much away, it is a book that is intended to make the anglers think about not just mayflies, caddis flies and stone flies. To quote from my review "In this book the author explores not only the different insects and other food items that trout consume, but he raises questions about why anglers don’t pay more attention to these food forms since they make up a sizeable portion of the trout’s diet." If you tie flies or if you are a fly fisher that is interested in exploring the things fish eat, especially trout, besides the regular insects found on a hatch chart you will find this book a very worthwhile investment.