Two Centuries of Soft-Hackled Flies: A Survey of the Literature, Complete with Original Patterns, 1747 to Present FROM THE PUBLISHER
"First there is the spare body, dressed with tying silk only, with or without wire ribbing, or lightly dubbed with soft fur ... then a small and lightly dressed soft hackle, two turns at the outside ..." Thus did G. E. M. Skues, one of the giants of angling literature, define the soft-hackled wet fly in 1910. A venerable style even by the time of Skues, the soft-hackled fly enjoys renewed popularity among today's fly fishers, thanks largely to the work of Sylvester Nemes. In Two Centuries of Soft-Hackled Flies, Nemes traces the history and lineage of these old, effective, and deceptively simple trout flies. Drawing from nearly three dozen sources, Nemes follows the development of the soft-hackled fly through 220 years, exploring the best of trout-fishing literature from the mid-1700s to the 1970s. He finds soft-hackled flies and advice on their use in works as diverse as the Art of Angling, by Richard Bowlker (1747), The Practical Angler, by W. C. Stewart (1857), A History of Fly Fishing for Trout, by John Waller Hills (1921), and The Art of Tying the Wet Fly, by James E. Leisenring (1946). Although some sources quoted by Nemes are familiar to well-read anglers -- The Fly-Fisher's Entomology, by Alfred Ronalds (1856) or The Way of a Trout with a Fly, by G. E. M. Skues (1921) -- much of the material in Two Centuries of Soft-Hackled Flies comes from books typically known only by collectors and serious fly-fishing scholars.
While it will please those who love arcana, Two Centuries of Soft-Hackled Flies contains much more than trout-fly trivia and quotations from old books. Nemes sifts through two centuries' worth of fly-fishing wisdom and lore, most of it applicable to modern angling. Fly tiers will find more than 160 patterns from a range of soft-hackle styles including the spiders of W. C. Stewart, the delicate Yorkshire flies of T. E. Pritt, and the ultra-sparse "Clyde-style" dressings of John Reid. Every reader will meet notable authors from fly fishing's past and come away with a greater appreciation of the history and tradition of fly fishing for trout. Most of all, Two Centuries of Soft-Hackled Flies celebrates an elegant, classic style of trout fly that endures for the best and simplest reason: it catches fish better than most other kinds do. As James Leisenring, a 20th-century master of soft-hackles, wrote, "[T]he water will do all that is necessary to make a fly deadly if it is properly tied."
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