A lure for fly fishermen

Fly fishermen fit pieces of a watery puzzle together. Sometimes they don’t. That failure may be attributed to faulty fly selection. Thus, you gotta know your bugs to pick the right fly.

Entomologist Rick Hafele and angling author Dave Hughes have produced a book that belongs on every bookshelf of the fly-mad.

Unfortunately, it’s too large to carry on-stream. That’s where it would prove its literal weight in trout caught, and, of course, released.

The major and minor mayfly hatches of the West are detailed and described, with emergence tables and an easy-to-understand ranking table of this most ephemeral of trout foods.

The photos of the natural insects, in nymphal and adult forms, are macro wonders. There are also shots of rivers, lakes and streams to drool over.

And, perhaps most importantly, there are patterns from the giants of fly-fishing -- Harrop, Juracek, Mathews, Sawyer, Rosborough, Best, Swisher, Richards, Marinaro, Stalcup and others. Tie these patterns from the recipes, follow the instructions included and just add water.

-- Darrell Kunitomi