Flies the best 1000

[Aqueous1025 0]

Does anyone have the book "Flies the best 1000". I have been debating buying this book wondering if it is a good pattern book or not. Any comments on it would be appreciated.

 

Thank you

[perchjerker 0]

I do not have a copy, and it has been years since I took a look at it. I was not overly impressed with it; but, don't take my word for it.

 

Unfortunately, one person's opinion of it may vary drastically from the next person's opinion. Therefore, I recommend that you get your Library to get it for you on "Inter Library Loan". Typically, you get to keep it for three weeks. This should give you ample time to evaluate it for yourself and then make your decision. This way, you should ultimately be much happier with your final decision.

 

Good Luck!

[fishingbobnelson 0]

I have the book. It is a handy index of patterns and has good photography. I bought it on Amazon as a used book for about $10.00. I don't think I would pay full retail for it. It does have some patterns I had not seen before. I agree with the previous comment, check out your local library and see if you can check it out first. I have done this on several books, some I bought others I didn't.

[flytire 0]

i had the book at one time but i dont see it in the bookcase anymore. must not have been that impressed by it and sold it online somewhere.

 

better books out there for sure.

 

do the library thing like perchjercker suggests and then come to your own conclusion.

[dreamcaster4639 0]

I bought this book from a book store a bit pricey $50 but has thousands of patterns , history of the art and other useful info. Fish Flies. The complete encyclopedia of the fly tyers art.

[flytire 0]

i wouldnt go so far as calling trout flies the "complete encyclopedia" but it does have a bunch of flies listed in it

[dreamcaster4639 0]

i wouldnt go so far as calling trout flies the "complete encyclopedia" but it does have a bunch of flies listed in it

I didn't call it that its the title of the book

[perchjerker 0]

The title on my copy reads: "FISH FLIES The Encyclopedia of the Tyer's Art". I definitely recommend this over "Flies The Best 1000".

[Jaydub 0]

Flies, The Best One Thousand is a decent book and shouldn't be too expensive. But it is almost twenty years old. It doesn't have newer patterns. It depends on what you are looking for.

[flytire 0]

i have downloaded books to my hard drive that were written in the 1800's that contain fly patterns that are still relevant today and are most likely the building blocks of today's fly patterns. a books age shouldn't really matter that much to an interested fly tyer. check out the patterns in fish flies and you'll see that there are a lot of patterns that are not 'newer' flies.

 

i have fish flies volume 1 & 2 by terry hellekson and i can assure you these books do not have 'today's newer' fly patterns. but the patterns are still relevant to today's fly tyer.

 

books by ogden, bates, leonard, bergman, grant, nemes, fogg, shaw, smedley, lafontaine etc were all written many years ago but do not contain 'today's' patterns but are very much relevant in any fly tyers library.

 

just my opinion, yours will be different.

[perchjerker 0]

I concur with flytire. A book's age, and the patterns contained therein, have nothing to do with the effectiveness of the flies. It should be remembered that our flies mimick the 'bugs' the fish feed on, and the natural bugs do not change from year to year, or even every 10-15 years. Thus, yesteryear's bugs will still catch today's fish.

 

The claim that the 'new' fly is deadlier than anything previously known is a very subjective claim, and just marketing ploy.

 

As a side-bar: Hellekson's "FISH FLIES The Encyclopedia of the Tier's Art" is simply a compilation of his Two Volume "Fish Flies" into a single book.

[flytire 0]

if you can find it, this is also a very good book. it was one of my very first books and i wish i still had it (although most of the patterns are in terrys later books)

 

[Jaydub 0]

My point about the age of the book was not that the patterns weren't still good. Just that if you are looking for flies that were developed or became popular in the last 20 years, you won't find them in that book.

[perchjerker 0]

flytire:

 

I still have my copy; plus the other two by Hellekson. A lot of good 'info' in all.

 

jaydub:

 

You are absolutely correct.