Novice fly fisherman start fly tying with a predictable set of materials. Their benches are neatly arranged with small bags of elk hair, pheasant feathers, stray pieces of chenille and yarn. But eventually they find that not only are these materials more expensive than they need to be, they are also largely unnecessary. And so they starts making substitutions, using trial and error to gradually build up a bench of funky, personalized materials that work just as well as what the "experts" recommend. For the first time, here is a book that truly demystifies fly tying, making it accessible to any fisherman with a vice, a hook, a few dabs of glue, and a handful of twisty-ties. Tying legend Jay "Fishy" Fullum brings together a lifetime of substitution experience to give invaluable advice on appropriate substitution materials. He describes how to find them and make them tier friendly, and how to turn them into flies that are practically guaranteed to catch fish.

Author Biography

After working as a designer and graphic artist for over 30 years, Jay "Fishy" Fullum retired in 1995 to pursue his passion for writing, tying flies and fly-fishing. He still utilizes his art talent when illustrating his magazine articles or a new book. Fishy also established himself as an accomplished watercolorist shortly after retiring; selling many paintings that combine his art and fly tying talents.Fishy has been tying flies since the early fifties. During the past twenty years he has designed nearly a hundred and fifty productive, innovative patterns for everything from bluegills to bonefish.Many of these patterns are featured in his CREATIVE TYING column published in FLY TYER MAGAZINE. Other patterns can be found in Fishy's two fly tying books, Fishy's Flies and Fishy's Favorites and A Jar Full of Hoppers, a book of short stories on fly fishing and fly tying.Fishy is featured at fly tying/fly fishing events from Massachusetts to Florida, where he teaches and demonstrates the art of fly tying at the vise.