If you tie flys - get this book!
Regardless of how many other fine books on tying you may have,
nothing will come close to A Perfect Fish. What a rare
treat it is.
Full of little surprises, it is delightful, entertaining - and very serious
about tying flies. Visually A Perfect Fish is also constantly
varied. Fine paintings in a variety of mediums, by the author, are
a joy. A major surprise, is the inclusion of fine poetry, (some of
which can be found is this week's
Poet's Creek.
Even more than the R.L.S. Method of creating the Illusion of Life
in Fresh and Salwater flies, author Ken Abrames shares his soul
with the reader. Why are flys designed in such a way? Why do
they work? What part does "traditional" tying play in today's
creation of flies? Heady stuff! An excerpt of "What is Fly Tying?"
also appears in Old Flies. Check that
one
out.
"It is not how far you can cast that is the measure of your ability
as a fisherman, it is how well you fish the cast you make." That
is from the chapter, A Stick and a String (A primer of Non-spinning
Traditional Fly Fishing Presentation.) Rather an unusual concept,
but here is how to fish those precious flies! The author illustrates and
explains how to preform many salt water presentations. This is
terrific stuff! Now, for a disclaimer, the book in most part is
directed at fishing stripers. Living on the West coast, we don't
have the opportunity to fish stripers - BUT the vision of how to
see and tie flies, as well as read the water and fish it works anywhere!
Oh, one more little thing, there are a couple of chapters on specific bait,
Shrimp,and Squid. And how to tie the flies that give the illusion of
being shrimp or squid.
Put it all together, the flies, the insight, the visuals and A Perfect Fish
adds up to the most delightful, informative book of the year. Don't
miss it! ~ DLB
A Perfect Fish
is softbound, 110 pages. The price is $29.95 (U.S.),
ISBN: 1-57188-138-7.
