Gentlemen Preferred Dry Flies is an interesting book of fly fishing history. The author, William C. Black, is a professor of surgical pathology at the University of New Mexico, which is hardly the type of person that you would expect to write a book on fly fishing history. However, he has fished with flies extensively in many parts of the world and he has taught a Fly-Fishing Basics class since 1978.
Starting with the very roots of modern fly fishing as it developed in England he traces the development of the dry fly and the ultimate evolution of the nymph. He traces the developing conflict between the advocates of the two forms of fly-fishing – dry flies and wet flies. The debate grew heated in England and ultimately spilled over into the New World.
I especially enjoyed the format of this book. The chapters are devoted to the historic individuals whose names are synonymous with the development the development of the dry fly technique as well as the proponents of wet flies and ultimately nymphs. Black follows the debate from England to America and his book has chapters devoted American anglers from Theodore Gordon to Swisher and Richards.
Throughout the book he quotes a variety of sources and I wish that he had provided footnotes but he did include a bibliography.
The book is easy reading and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you have any interest in angling history and the individuals that developed many of the techniques that we use today you will surely enjoy this book.
Review by Neil M. Travis
Gentlemen Preferred Dry Flies
William C. Black
University of New Mexico Press
302 pages, $19.95 paperback
ISBN: 978-0-8263-4795-4
Publication: June 15, 2010
Originally published September 20, 2010 on Fly Anglers Online by Reviewed By Neil M. Travis.