reviews

Pocketguide to Western Hatches

Reviewed by Scott Richmond

Pocketguide to Western Hatches, by Dave Hughes. Published by Stackpole Books. 320 page in a 4 x 6 inch hardbound format; all color. $21.95 retail for print version, $10.98 for eBook PDF. Available online (google title), from the publisher, and in many fly shops.

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ow much do you want to know about aquatic entomology? How much do you need to know? And when do you need to know it?

There are fly fishing books that give you a Masters thesis about each and every insect you might encounter while fly fishing. And books that basically say, "It's a little brown bug; tie on an Adams and hope for the best." Dave Hughes' Pocketguide to Western Hatches fits neatly into the middle of that spectrum.

Content

Parts II and III of Pocketguide to Western Hatches cover moving water and stillwater, respectively (more on Parts I and IV in a moment).

In Part II--the Moving Water section--Hughes has chapters on mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, midges, terrestrials, crustaceans, sculpins, and aquatic worms. He devotes a two-page spread to each insect/stage. For example, there are two pages for blue-winged olive nymphs, two pages for bwo duns, and two pages for bwo spinners.

On each two-page spread, you'll find:

1. Common names
2. Latin (scientific) names
3. Size range
4. Distinguishing characteristics
5. Habitat characteristics
6. Emergence features
7. Behavior and tactics
8. A few places where hatches are famously important
9. Photograph of the insect/stage
10. Photograph of a fly or two that matches that insect/stage

That's a lot of information for a two-page spread, especially when you consider that those pages are only four by six inches (the book really fits into a pocket).

Similarly, Part III covers stillwaters, with chapters on mayflies, caddisflies, midges, damselflies/dragonflies, waterboatmen, alderflies, scuds, and leeches.

Pocketguide to Western Hatches is organized so that fly anglers can easily and quickly match a real insect to a page of the book and figure out which fly to use and how to present it. Hughes covers 90 hatches and includes 167 fly patterns.

The Bottom Line

This book is intended to be used while actually fishing, so the information is short and easy to find. If you want to know more, identify an insect while you're on the water then go home and read the nitty gritty in another book (possibly one by the same author).

I suspect that many people who buy this book will use it only as an on-water reference and will never get beyond Parts II and III. A few may get into the fly pattern recipes in Part IV. However, it would be a shame to limit oneself to just those sections, because Part I has simple yet practical advice about matching hatches. Do yourself a favor and read Part I first.

Pocketguide to Western Hatches is succinct and accurate. The photos are excellent. Hughes has packed the most practical details of each important western hatch into an amazingly small and easily comprehended space. If every fly angler carried this compact book with them when they're on the water, they'd catch a lot more trout. I know I'll be taking it with me, and I know this stuff fairly well already.

Bottom Line: Sometimes great things come in small packages. This is one of those times.

Bottom Line: Great things come in small packages 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 12/22/2011.

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