Reviewed by Eric Austin
In the interests of full disclosure I will suggest that I might not be the most
unbiased reviewer here. I know Charlie Craven. I buy materials from Charlie Craven.
I have, in the not too distant past, frequented Charlie Craven's web site, stealing
tips from his tutorials on more than one occasion. I admire Charlie Craven, and envy
him his incredible abilities. I like Charlie Craven. We could be cousins.
O.K., so I'm not really Charlie's cousin, it just seems that way sometimes. I'm a guy
who looks at fly tying much the way Charlie does, in a somewhat technical way, an
analytical way, and I always know where Charlie is coming from. Yes, I'm as biased as
biased can be, but I hope that in spite of it all, I can convince you that Basic Fly
Tying is the finest book I've ever read on the subject, and I will say with very
little modesty that I have "read them all." I'm not bragging here, it is what it
is. I love fly tying books and I've read a lot of them.
So just what is it that sets this book apart? It starts with Charlie's basic philosophy,
spelled out in this paragraph in the book's introduction: Please also promise that you will
never utter the terrible phrase, "The fish don't care." I most often hear this from
someone who ties ugly flies as a way of justifying their incompetence. ~ If you're going
to do something, do it right. Don't justify poor technique and ugly flies with the comment "It
will still catch fish." Of course it will catch fish--so do worms and cheese. If it was just about
catching fish you'd be reading a book on purse seining or long lining. Strive for excellent
flies and great technique and do not settle for less. When I take a fly out of my vise, I nearly
always say, "I can do better." And on every fly I tie, I honestly try to do that.
My sentiments exactly. It is precisely this attitude that has propelled Charlie Craven
to the top of the fly tying world. He thinks long and hard about every last thing
he does. Let me give just one example. Charley ties left handed, with the vise reversed.
For the last five or six years I've thought to myself, "It's all in the left hand". For a
right handed tier, the left hand is everything, the right simply winds materials around the hook shank.
The left hand sets the wings, strokes the hackle, sets the tail, etc. Why not have
your dominant hand do those things, while the less useful hand winds things? I've
often thought that if I had it to do over again I'd tie left handed, it just makes
so much sense.
There are the requisite chapters on tools, hooks and thread in the beginning of
the book, but don't be fooled. These are very in-depth, with names named
and preferences spelled out precisely. He doesn't just say he likes a certain style
of bobbin for instance, he likes the Standard Tiemco Ceramic and the Heavy Tiemco Ceramic. He
tells you WHY he likes these certain tools, and his reasons are invariably good ones.
Charlie tells you WHY he prefers the whip finish tool to the old hand whip finish.
Of course, in this one small area, the whip finish, an old timer like myself might have
some questions, but that's for another discussion. He is stunningly right on every other
thing in this book, so a small matter such as this can be overlooked. For beginners these
chapters are critical, but advanced tiers can learn a thing or two here as well.
The next chapter begins a set of building blocks, a progression if you will,
that builds technique upon technique throughout the book. The chapter is called
"Attachment Techniques" which include in-depth discussions of thread torque, pinch
wrap, soft loop, and Charlie's "cheater" technique. I've used this one for years,
not realizing I was cheating. The whip-finishing tutorial is exemplary, and I
felt that if I so desired, I could easily accomplish the whip finish with a Matarelli
tool after reading the steps the first time. However, I, a forty year devote' of
the hand whip finish, have no such desire.
I love the little chapter on dubbing. Charlie can really make sense out of
all those little packages found at your fly shop. The pictures perfectly
illustrate the points he makes, and the dry fly dubbing technique shown is
excellent.
Now the real fun begins with chapter six, the Brassie. The organization of the
fly chapters is so simple and effective. Each chapter has a header "Main Focus"
which details the techniques you will learn while tying this fly. There is also
a "Proportions at a Glance" blowup, near the recipe, which shows a large picture
of the fly with the proportions outlined. I like this so much because proportions
are critical to good fly tying. In chapter seven, the Black Beauty proportions are
described thus: Rib: 5 to 7 evenly spaced spiral-wraps. Head:
10 to 15 percent of the shank. Body 85 to 90 percent of the shank.
I never knew there WERE proportions for Black Beauties, but these
make sense to me.
And so the book progresses, through the RS2, to the
Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear (where I learned so much I
can't wait to do one), and on to the Pheasant Tail. I
won't tell you what I learned about mixing natural dubbing,
in the Hare's Ear chapter, but I will say it's better than the
coffee grinder. I know right now you're saying to yourself,
"But all the books do the Hare's Ear, all the books do the
Pheasant Tail", and they do, but not like Charlie does them.
Charlie breaks the mold on nearly every fly he does, freely
substituting materials that are in all cases better than the originals,
coming up with innovative tricks and techniques at every turn,
and generally making fly tying look ridiculously easy. He will have even
the most advanced tier scratching their heads thinking,"Why didn't
I think of that?"
Charlie even simplifies the Copper John. I very much like
that he saves hackled flies for the middle of the book, and
I loved the fact that he didn't start with either the Woolly
Bugger or the Adams. There have actually been beginning
fly tying classes that started with those flies. I never want to
see those Adams, a fly that I consider difficult to do well under
any circumstances, and I've done hundreds of dries. Charlie
ties the Adams the way I do, wrapping both hackles at once.
Not to sound dogmatic, but this is the right way. Other ways
are the wrong way.
Perhaps the best chapter in the book is Hair Selection.
In it, Charlie shows clearly and concisely how to select
hair for the given fly that you're tying. He doesn't relate
this to the area of the elk or deer from which the
hair has been harvested, rather he relates it to the
packages of hair you buy at the fly shop. HOORAY!
This was a chapter just crying to be done, and here it is.
I guess if you regularly shoot and skin an elk it might be
important to know whether the hair for a given pattern
comes from the flank or the hock. I'm not exactly sure
what the hock is, but I'm in hock up to my ears from
buying all these fly tying materials, so please relate it
to the packages in the store, thank you. After this section
come the Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, Humpy, Wulffs,
Goddard Caddis, Comparaduns, etc.
There is a spinner chapter in the book that contains more
than some people want to know about biots. Well, as one
who fishes Henry's Fork almost every year, and loves the flies
of Rene Harrop, for me the biot tutorial should be taught in
schools along with the Constitution. I've caught some big fish
out there with Flav spinners tied with well-segmented
smooth biot bodies. If you use biots from the wrong side
of the bird, you'll lose that high degree of segmentation.
I'm just sayin' …
I would venture to say that a beginner who went
through this book step-by-step, would be an excellent
tier in a year if he or she really paid attention. I would
also say that an advanced tier can learn something from
every single chapter. For me, this is the perfect fly tying
book. It's fundamentally sound at every turn. The pictures are
clear and demonstrate important techniques throughout.
There is highly detailed information on each and every step
of the fly, something very much lacking in many other books.
This is a book where you can't gloss over any step,
you'll miss something very important if you do. Charlie
relates the flies to the actual insects that they imitate early
in each chapter. This may seem like a small thing, but the
vast majority of flies were made with a purpose,
that is to say, they were an attempt to imitate something.
Charlie can tell you what insects the originators had in mind.
Some tying books simply fail to do this.
The last thing I should mention are the flies themselves, all
tied and photographed by Charlie. One look will tell you
that this is a gifted tier. These are flies to fire the imagination,
inspirational flies that will have you saying "I want to tie like
that". And so you shall, if you just buy this book.
Charlie Craven owns Charlie's Flybox, a fly shop in Arvada, Colorado. He has been a professional
fly tier for many years, supplying shops in Colorado and around the West. He has created flies
such as the Charlie Boy Hopper, Jujubee Midge, and many others. He has been associated with John
Barr over the years and did the photography for John's recent book. He has worn many hats and
has even done a stint guiding in the Cheesman Canyon on the South Platt. Charlie comes by it
honestly. ~EA
Charlie Craven's Basic Fly Tying
By Charlie Craven
288 pages, 8 1/2 x 11, hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-9793460-2-6
$39.95, Available August 2008
Published by: Headwater Books
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