Tying the Founding Flies

Not having read "Founding Flies" I was a bit surprised that I hadn't heard of most of the flies in this book, despite being very involved in fly fishing for the past thirty years. I fully expected this to cover the most basic or influential flies of the 19th/20th century, like the Adams, Muddler Minnow, Gray Ghost, Coachman, Wulffs, etc. Instead this book is much more about "forgotten flies" -flies that were once well-known or influential but that have fallen off the radar almost completely. In many ways this is more about flies that had a 'cult' following or big influence in a specific area (generally in three regions: the Catskills, the Adirondack region of New York or the Battenkill in Vermont) but that never made it big in the nation as a whole or for very much time.Most of the flies is interesting in their own way, though some are very similar in construction and materials to the point where there was no need to have a full chapter on the fly. For example the Firehole and the Dark Coty are the same in construction other than the wing, the body of the Dark Coty and the Conover are more or less the same strange mix of muskrat and red yarn. The Whitecraft is an Adams with a quill body, Atherton #2 is a Gold-ribbed Hare's ear with a blue wing cover, etc.I'm not saying this is a bad way to put together a book (it's certainly better than a book that covers the same 30 canonical flies that everyone already knows all about) it's just the *title* that I think is way off, and could be misleading. It does make you think a lot about why does one fly become very popular (Adams) while a slight variation on that fly (Whitecraft) disappears? I'm curious if this book will have an impact on reviving some of these patterns, much like Dan Bastian's (and others) books have created a renewed interest in traditional wet flies and streamers, which had all but disappeared from fly catalogs, despite being very effective. In many ways they were much less "forgotten" than the flies in this book. As a big fan of forgotten flies and old-fashioned flies I think this book would have done well to have embraced the quirkiness of the selection in the title.I definitely recommend this book for someone interested in the history of fly fishing in the US and for advanced fly fishers who want to explore some nice patterns that are not part of the usual canon, but which would no doubt be very effective. My only gripe is that I don't think this is really a book for someone who wants to have the history and how-to-tie of the foundational flies.

Cool book

Good review of many of the old favorites. Fly recipes are brought up to date for the most part. An enjoyable read.

Concisely written and easily understood illustrations. This is a good background in the traditional patterns and tying techniques of the past, most of which are still used today. It gives some historical context to our current fly tying practices, and an appreciation of the evolution of this craft.

Good information by quality fly tiers.

Great book if you want to read a little about alot of the "old timers".Sparks your interest in finding out more of these pioneers.These flies still work fine up in Maine too.

The companion book to the Founding Flies, well written and easy to follow to tie up the founding flies by one of the leading authors in the industry.

I am happy with this book because it provides information I can use to tie these flies.

Well written with excellent descriptions and photographs for tying the 21 flies contained in the book.

History of flys

Great book for anyone looking to tie some of the classic flies or just read about them. Includes pics for tying and each fly includes a little history, notes on how to fish and notes for tying.

Great companion pice to the "Founding Flies". Definitely a book for a serious tyers and angling historians

pour mes montages