Books
Tying Small Flies
- Midge larvae and pupae, tiny parachutes, floating nymphs, micro scuds, tiny ants
- Choosing the right hook, thread, wire, and amount of weight for small flies plus 75 patterns, including Brassie, RS-2, Renegade, Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear, Griffith’s Gnat
- Forward by John Gierach
Taking trout on lightweight rods with flies as small as size 20 and 30 is a challenge. Learn to imitate midges’ trailing shucks and drowned adults, tie tiny parachutes and white-winged Tricos, and create patterns that mimic microcaddis and micro scuds. Engle covers small-fly history, tying tools, and materials. Tips on fishing techniques come from Ed Engle’s 30 years of experience fishing small flies on the South Platte River.
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Fishing Small Flies
Most small-fly books concentrate on the fly patterns, but presentation and tactics are just as important as the pattern itself. Small-fly fishers must carefully observe the trout and constantly adjust their techniques as they go. Engle covers the difficulty of detecting strikes and how to best play trout caught on small flies and gives advice on the aquatic insect orders and how to fish the hatches, depending on the water and the stage of the hatch. Covered, too, are special considerations for rods and reels for small-fly fishing and tactics for light tippets. Engle describes fishing specific waters, including tailwaters, freestone rivers, and spring creeks.
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Splitting Cane
The old-school bamboo fly-fishing rod, with its irresistibly warm, natural, and romantic tradition, is explored through conversations with 16 bamboo rodmakers. Profiled in the book are Mike Clark of South Creek, Ltd.; Walt Carpenter; John Bradford; Jim Hidy; Homer Jennings; Joe Arguello; Jeff Wagner; Charlie and Steven Jenkins; Glenn Brackett and the R.L. Winston Rod Company; Ted Knott; George Maurer; Robert Gorman; Bernard Ramanauskas; Dwight Lyons; Don Schroeder; and Carl-Johan Anderberg. The author test-casted the rods and then interviewed the makers to get the story behind each rod’s making. The in-depth stories, along with clear, detailed descriptions of bamboo rods, and a chapter on rod-making basics make this an excellent read for all who appreciate a fine bamboo rod.
Fly Fishing the Tailwaters
Many anglers have mixed feelings about dams. On one hand, they disrupt the natural cycle of rivers, frequently with disastrous results to the ecosystem; on the other, they create phenomenal trout fisheries where often none previously existed. Because dams regulate flows (taming spring runoff in the process) as well as water temperatures (usually only the colder water from the bottoms of reservoirs spills through), the rivers below dams, called tailwaters, frequently contain huge insect populations and huge trout that feed upon the insects. Most trophy trout streams are now tailwaters, think of the Big Horn in Montana, the Green in Utah, and the San Juan in New Mexico. In Fly Fishing the Tailwaters, Ed Engle tells anglers how to approach these monster trout factories, with tips on equipment, fly selection, and fishing technique.
Seasonal, A life Outside
After graduating from the University of Colorado, Engle, a member of the Woodstock generation, tried his hand at various minimum-wage jobs – landscaping, quarrying – then found work as a seasonal employee with the U.S. Forest Service. This is his engaging account of his 12 years as a “timber beast.” Engle has manned visitor centers, maintained campgrounds, inventoried timber, supervised tree planting, fought forest fires. The work clearly suits him. He introduces readers to colorful characters hired by the Senior Community Service Employment Program and describes a mountain race – 11 miles up, seven miles down – that willl have the reader gasping. Engle writes that he finds time to fish, look at birds and other wildlife, enjoy scenery. Nature lovers will appreciate his attitude.
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