Good Flies: Favorite Trout Patterns and How They Got That Way

by John Gierach

John Gierach is a highly trusted and trustable opinion-maker in fly-fishing. People take what he says to the bank. While most of Gierach's writing is essay-style and reflective, here he gets down to the nitty-gritty: how he ties his favorite flies and why he thinks they work so well for him. There is, thus, an instant reader connection: "Gierach's patterns are good enough for me." Few anglers will skip knowing what a master angler and thinker prefers for his fly box. This title covers a gamut of patterns essential to trout fishing in a variety of circumstances: dry flies, wet flies and nymphs, and streamers. Gierach's legion of fans of his regular magazine column will be highly inclined to buy this title.

Genres: Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

John Gierach was an American author and freelance writer who lived in Larimer County, Colorado.

Reviews

[Chris Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best fishing writer. Making a book about fly patterns very readable, as a book, is wonderful.

[Dave Weller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Flies was a very quick read, and I enjoyed it, although it was not on the same level as his other collections of essays. In this installment Gierach provides his take on the many flies that consume space in his fly boxes. He is an avowed traditionalist, and favors the usage of natural materials over synthetics, although he is not a slave to this concept. Like me, he tends to battle an innate drive to overstock fly boxes for every possible eventuality, so it was reassuring to learn that there are other anglers in my position. Many of the pages in the book are filled with fly recipes, and since I am not in fly tying mode, I skipped through them rapidly, and this made the content of this book even leaner than I expected, when I saw that it was 160 pages. I am ready for the next book of essays from John Gierach.

[Ross Slayton]

Classic and insightful! Fly choice distilled to its essence!

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just to prove I read other books too other than historical!

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stories behind the flies that are mentioned. I'm not sure that I'd have chosen these particular flies, but they do work well, so who am I to judge?