reviews

A New Generation of Trout Flies

Reviewed by Scott Richmond

A New Generation of Trout Flies, by Scott Sanchez. Published by Wild River Press in an 8.5 x 11 inch format, all color. 160 pages, spiral bound. $39.95 cover price. Available at many fly shops and online (google title and author) .

rout flies are created in laboratories. Not in the ivory tower kind, with test tubes and bespectacled academics in white coats, but in the rivers and lakes frequented by fly designers. The features of that lab--the nature of the water, the insects and fish that inhabit it--dictate the kind of flies that will be designed there.

The northern Rockies are a unique laboratory for fly designers. While the Rockies contain a few famous spring creeks and a large number of small headwater streams, it's the large, fast-flowing freestone rivers and tailwaters that dominate the region's fisheries. The altitude is high, temperatures can be extreme, growing seasons are short. Insect hatches are compressed and intensified by these factors; often, several species of insects are active or hatching at the same time. Trout grow big and sleek in rich waters that are frequently pounded both by resident anglers and hoards of visitors from trout-forsaken places like New Jersey.

The flies that are created in this laboratory tend toward mixes of synthetics and natural materials. They are more often suggestive rather than slavishly imitative. The flies are frequently fished from a drifting boat; fish get one look at them and have to make a quick eat-don't-eat decision. Many popular rivers flow north, which presents special problems of visibility.

Scott Sanchez lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the heart of the Rocky Mountain fly fishing laboratory. His fly designs reflect the exigencies of that region: they are general-purpose, resembling key features of several insects while not imitating any particular one; dry flies often combine foam and hair for maximum floatation in rough water; nymphs are sparse and weighted so they quickly reach the bottom in fast currents; designs are simple and easy to tie so an angler can fish them in dangerous (to the fly) conditions and not feel bad about losing some.

Sanchez has gathered his most effective patterns into one book, A New Generation of Trout Flies, subtitled From Midges to Mammals for Rocky Mountain Trout. (It's a catchy subtitle, but I looked several times and couldn't find any patterns that imitate mammals; pick, pick, pick.)

Like it's sister book, Creative Fly Tying by Mike Mercer, A New Generation of Trout Flies is the creation of Wild River Press and the style is similar. Both books benefit from attractive design and layout, as well as Ted Fauceglia's excellent photography. Both have clear step-by-step instructions for each fly. The Sanchez book has less text and more fly patterns than Mercer's book. Patterns are grouped by order; for example, caddisflies are in one chapter, with one pupa pattern and two dry flies patterns.

Patterns look like a lot of things that may be drifting down a river. The Glass House Caddis, for example, looks like a cased Brachycentrus caddis, but it also looks like many caddis pupa. And it uses peacock dubbing, which trout have a hard time resisting no matter what it tries to imitate. Vary the size, and you cover a lot of water.

You probably won't do well with these pattern on the Conservancy water of Silver Creek, but if you cast from a drifting boat on the Madison or the Snake in summer, you'll catch a lot of trout. As Sanchez points out, most of these are searching patterns. You use them until you find a pod of receptive trout, then you might switch to a fly that has more exact color, size, and profile.

These are simpler patterns than those in Mercer's book, and any western fly fisher will benefit from putting them in his or her fly box. Don't just rush to the fly patterns, however; the discussion of materials in the first chapter is as succinct and valuable as any text written on the subject. The book is worth the near-$40 price tag. When combined with Mike Mercer's Creative Fly Tying, you'll have a handsome and useful addition to your library.

Bottom Line: Effective Western trout patterns that are easy and quick to tie. What more do you need? Reviewer Rating: 4

Scott Richmond is Westfly's creator and Executive Director. He is the author of eight books on Oregon fly fishing, including Fishing Oregon's Deschutes River (second edition).

Uploaded 09/30/2005.

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