Book Review: Tying Small Flies

All about flies Fly Tying
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Title: Tying Small Flies
Price: $34.95
Format: hardcover
Pages: 240 pages
ISBN: 0-8117-0082-8
Photos: 300 color photos
Publisher: Stackpole Books

Now, everyone likes to be on their favorite trout water and see a large size 14 or 12 dry fly being slammed by a gorgeous brown trout. Who wouldn?t?

But in most situations that is not the case when fishing more heavily fished rivers such as the San Juan River or the South Platte River. This is where this book shines. Mr. Engle?s approach to tying smaller flies to catch more fish solves this problem.

?Tying Small Flies? breaks it down for you in describing the hooks, materials and tools that are used, as well as, describing the different types of flies that can be tied to imitate these smaller insects. This book is filled with step by step instructions in tying some of the most popular small flies, with the highest quality pictures depicting each step of the tying process.

It may be difficult for you to imagine fishing or even tying flies is sizes 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 and yes, even the ultimate in small, size 32. For those that were worried about the infamous size 32, Mr. Engle has set aside a chapter specifically to cover this topic.

Mr. Engle?s philosophy is to tie simple flies that are durable and will catch fish. This is made even clearer with his section on tying midges. This book shows how important midge larvae are to any one who fishes the San Juan River. Ed shows some of the more effective patterns of San Juan River guide Gary Willmart. Although, Willmart ideal spooks in his words the ?pretty boy? fly tiers, he shows how easy they are to tie using his simple techniques with emphasis on tying thread flies, which work.

These and many other classic patterns are covered, as well as, fishing techniques used and the history behind the small flies. All in all, this is a great book for anyone who enjoys tying or learning more about the small flies that these imitations mimic.

Overall Rating (1-5 with 1 being “horrible” and 5 being “outstanding”): 4 out of 5

Review brought to you by Terry Will March 20, 2007. Terry is a web developer for Neiman Marcus and NOT affiliated with any fly fishing company. When not spending time with his family you will find him usually hip deep fly fishing for Rainbows and Browns in the Lower Mountain Fork River tail waters just outside of Broken Bow, OK.

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DarkKnight-

Thanks for the review— I’ve been putting off tying the real little 'uns… kinda intimidated by the combination of those little hooks and my fat fingers.

Sounds like the book will be very helpful.

peregrines

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Lol, I just got out of a flytying stage of my life where i was tying size 28’s, lol. One day i was searching around on the internet for a midge pattern. I found one and tied it, it was a size 26. Just after i finished it, a freind of ours came buy with some pink deer hair that i had asked for about a month earlier, and pink marabou, and pink bass bug hooks. So i went and tied a 5/0 wog. Talk about size difference!

JZ

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Maybe my priorities are bassackwards but the little flies seem to hold my attention right now. I really enjoy seeing how small I can get traditionally larger sized i.e # 14 Elkhair Caddis down to a#20 or less. Not much of a strech I know but you get the idea. Im a bit intimidated by the big fancier stuff (and cant afford some of more elaborate materials) but the “little guys” are a blast. When I get better(to read several hundred more flies under my belt)I figure on adding to my library and the little fly books will be there.
See you on the crick.
Pech

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I have a copy of the book and it is great!!!

CC

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I got the book a couple of years ago and had the chance to get it signed by Ed. I really use it a lot and I had tied hundreds of flies following his recipes. It is a must for those that want to tie small flies. And I’ll rate it 5 out of 5!

Martin

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I agree with the above posters about the usefullness of this book. Its companion volume, “Fishing Small Flies”
is also a great read. Ed Engle is considered to be the authority on these subjects.

Will

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  1. I have heard that it is impossible to catch a fish on a size twenty two, is that true?

  2. I Just went fishing with size 22 midge emergers, and caught 2 nice whity’s!

JZ

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I had both Ed’s books, fishing and tying the small fly. In one of them he discusses the fact that your hook is too small for the fish that you are targeting (in South Platte and San Juan rivers). But then he says something like he is ok with fooling the trout with the fly he is presenting and landing it is an extra bonus. Small hooks, and very light tippet in 18" and up trouts seems to be pointless. But again, it all depends in what brings you to the river and to chase those particular fish.
I have set my hook standard for midge patterns that I tye and fish in hooks size 20. I have some few 22s, and still fewer 24s and that is all. In Iowa we don’t have those clever trouts of Colorado’ South Platte or the San Juan river. It is enough for us to fool some few trouts during winter and that is all. :smiley:

Martitn

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I just got this book about a month ago. It is Well written and very easy to follow. I consider it one of the best books on tying that I have . I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to tie some of the small flies. When I got the book I went on a small fly tying spree and now have way more tiny flies than one man could ever need. I can’t wait till breakup to use them in the high mountain lakes this spring.

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While size #22 is generally as small as I go, I think that both of Engle’s books (Tying and Fishing) are excellent. I might even give the Tying Small Flies book a five since it is such an excellent reference for someone who wants to get started with this type of fly.

One thing that is really neat about tying small flies is that when you switch to bass flies or saltwater flies, you feel like you have an unlimited number of wraps to get the material on the hook and an unlimited amount of space to which you can secure it. 8T :smiley:

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My apologies for resurrecting an older thread. However, I thought people who like to read Ed Engle’s books would like to know that he produced a book prior to the so called Small Flies books, called Flyfishing The Tailwaters. I personally consider it somewhat of a a real anglers flytying bible. He discusses the flies he prefers to fish from top to bottom during the emergences of all the major insects such as midges, stoneflies, mayflies, caddis, terrestrials and baitfish. I would give the book a five-star rating in terms of content of information. This book was the precursor to the other two that now line the bookshelves of retail books stores and fly shops. Hope this was of benefit to those who are Ed Engle fans!

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If you are a bit scared of trying tiny flies, don’t be. I was for a long while, didn’t think I was good enough, then this book inspired me to try it and I was amazed with what I did. Tiny flies are easier to tie in many ways such as there are fewer materials in them and also mistakes can be less obvious… give it a go, it’s fun.