Re: [VFB] Major Pattern Inventions

[Dr. Doug Miller]

Steve, Wes, et.al. If you will accept the opinion of one who is forced to read more and fish less . . .   I am finishing another of Dave Hughes' books, "Handbook of Hatches."  I wish I had read it before the "Essential Flies."   Here is my humble opinion on the writing of Dave Hughes.  He has the ability to take something a little mysterious to most of us and to reduce it to something so simple that the most novice among us can understand.  For example, in "Handbook of Hatches," Hughes describes the most common hatches - mayflies, caddis, stoneflies, etc.  He then builds a simple system based on size, shape, color, habitat and behavior.  His theory is - if you can match most of that, then the scientific name remains unimportant.   Hughes goes on to offer only one or two patterns which will represent each stage of the life cycle.   For the purist, it is a dramatic oversimplification; for the novice, it is an "aha" moment!   I sincerely believe that "Essential Flies" is an extension of Hughes thinking captured in "Handbook of Hatches."  I does not have the in-depth analysis of Gary Lafontaine's "Caddisflies."  It is, howver, immensely readable and a great primer for the novice.   Just a thought. . . Doug "Doc" Miller