Fly-Tying Season Arrives

With fly-fishing opportunities only a little more than two weeks away, the region’s fishers are scrambling to replace their depleted stocks of fly patterns.

Fly tiers know, for example, two winter lakes in the Spokane area, Hog Canyon and Fourth of July, should be ice-free early next month. And numerous Columbia Basin lakes, including Lenice, Nunnally and Lenore, will be opened to fishing on March 1.

For those who rely on books for details of new and old patterns, publishers have come out with several new books. Fly tiers will have numerous choices.

As usual, Frank Amato of Portland leads other publishers. He has published four books on fly patterns in recent weeks.

Fly fishers who fish a lot in British Columbia will be interested in “Fly Patterns of British Columbia” by Arthur James Lingren. The 103-page book, $29.95 softcover and $39.95 hardcover, contains detailed information about the most effective B.C. patterns for trout, steelhead and salmon.

Unlike most compilers of fly pattern books, Lingren established stringent criteria for including patterns in his book. Each pattern, he says in the forward, has been documented in writing, has displayed some original thought process and has been sold commercially or, for contemporary patterns, has been used about 10 years.

Lingren, a Steelhead Society of British Columbia director and historian for the British Columbia Federation of Fly Fishers, has included many patterns used extensively by Inland Northwest fishers when they fish the Canadian province. Among the best known are the Doc Spratley, Carey Special, Black O’Lindsay, Tom Thumb, Red Butt Chronomid and several variations of the Bill Nation nymphs.

Larry Tullis, a professional fly tier who has developed numerous patterns, includes details about a dozen well-known nymph patterns in “Nymphs, Tying and Fishing,” $12.95 softcover, published by Amato. His large, step-by-step color pictures make tying procedures clear.

He tells how to fish each pattern. He also lists tying instructions for numerous other nymph patterns.

Like many compilers of pattern books, Tullis includes information on tools, tying materials and hooks. He also has drawings of the improved clinch knot, nail knot and double surgeon’s knot, all used by fly fishers.

The publishing of “Smelt Fly Patterns,” $19.95, by Amato is a reflection of how specialized fly tying has become. A few years ago, no publisher would consider publishing a book on patterns for a single bait fish.

A professional guide and a collector of smelt fly patterns, Donald A. Wilson has included color pictures and tying specifications for 288 smelt patterns in the 62-page book. Inasmuch as fly fishers, including some in the Inland Northwest, are starting to fish saltwater along the Washington and Oregon coasts, the book should be useful to those who go after salmon, steelhead and bottom fish.

Robert H. Alley features what he considers the “40 Best Trout Flies” in his 5x8-inch softcover book by the same name. Also published by Amato, the book has color plates.

Alley divides his patterns into four categories: Nymphs, wets, streamers, and bucktails and dries. Inland Northwest fly fishers probably would agree most of the patterns should be on a list of top trout flies, but nearly all would pick patterns other than the Sheep Shad, Allies Chenille Coachman and the Black Nosed Dace. Furthermore, they’d consider all Woolly Worms as one pattern. Five of Alley’s patterns are variations of the Woolly Worm.

Two of the best and most useful books on fly tying and fishing published in recent months are the “L.L. Bean Fly Fishing Handbook,” published by Lyons & Burford, $18.95, and “Talleur’s Basic Fly Tying,” by Dick Talleur, $35, also published by Lyons & Burford. Both books were reviewed here on Dec. 11.

Two other books on fly fishing were published a week ago. They are “Everyone’s Illustrated Guide to Trout on a Fly,” by R. Chris Halla, $10.95, published by Frank Amato, and “Guide to Fly Fishing,” by Cam Sigler, $14.95, published by Stackpole Books.

At first glance, Halla’s book doesn’t seem to be a serious one on fly fishing. It’s filled with hundreds of drawings, some of them cartoons, and the text is hand-printed. However, a reader soon learns the book is filled with excellent, usable information.

Sigler was born in Louisiana, worked in Florida and other southern states then moved to Seattle to manage an outdoor store. He’s well known to Northwest fly fishers. His 197-page softcover book contains a lot of information on tackle, flies, tying, casting, strategies and fish species.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Fenton Roskelley by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 3814.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review