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Old Washington Fly Tying Books

2458 Views 18 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  Squamishpoacher
I have been cataloging my fly fishing-related books, and came upon a couple old books:
  1. "Flies of the Northwest," put out by the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club.
  2. "Pacific Northwest Fly Patterns," put out by Patrick's Fly Shop
Are there any other books like this around? There are a lot of classics that I still use (Spruce, Tied Down Cadddis Buck were the first two I ever used as a kid. I plan on attacking a few of these patterns this weekend.
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I have been cataloging my fly fishing-related books, and came upon a couple old books:
  1. "Flies of the Northwest," put out by the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club.
  2. "Pacific Northwest Fly Patterns," put out by Patrick's Fly Shop
Are there any other books like this around? There are a lot of classics that I still use (Spruce, Tied Down Cadddis Buck were the first two I ever used as a kid. I plan on attacking a few of these patterns this weekend.
A couple of good ones right there...!!!
The Rainland Fly Casters club in Astoria put out a book several years ago published by Frank Amato.
Flies of the Northwest has seen several editions and I don't think any two are alike.
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Flies of the Northwest has seen several editions and I don't think any two are alike.
Mine's the second printing 1990, but still seems to be the first edition (it says originally published in 1986). It's a small book, about the size of a DVD box, spiral bound.

Bob, I just sent out an email to Frank Amato Publications - I'm sure they no longer sell that one, as it's not on their web site, but hope to find out a little bit more. The thought of these regional fly books is interesting to me.

The one by Patrick's Fly Shop is little more than a hundred or so mimeographed sheets in a comb binder, so I bet a lot of these are/were semi-amateur affairs.
Mine's the second printing 1990, but still seems to be the first edition (it says originally published in 1986). It's a small book, about the size of a DVD box, spiral bound.

Bob, I just sent out an email to Frank Amato Publications - I'm sure they no longer sell that one, as it's not on their web site, but hope to find out a little bit more. The thought of these regional fly books is interesting to me.

The one by Patrick's Fly Shop is little more than a hundred or so mimeographed sheets in a comb binder, so I bet a lot of these are/were semi-amateur affairs.
My Patrick's book is the Large Edition...same binding.
I also have the other book you mentioned and the Rainland Flycasters' book.
J. Shewey did a couple specifically for the area - "Northwest Fly Fishing Trout and Beyond" ; I have volume two and will be getting volume one in the future.
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Enos Bradner's book "Northwest Angling", published in 1949, includes several original Northwest patterns, including steelhead flies, nymphs, and saltwater salmon flies.

Tom
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I think the Pacific King out of Roy Patrick's book "Tie Your Own Flies" was the first fly I ever tied or at least one of the first.
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Flies of the Northwest has seen several editions and I don't think any two are alike.
I was in the club in the olden days and we weren't sure the project would sell. We overbought the first edition and it was gone within a few weeks to our surprise. It has been upgraded and improved over the years and is still a great product. I have 6-7 of the various editions. It is truly a product of the guys out there fishing.
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I have two editions of Flies of the Northwest, Patrick's book and the Rainland book. All good. There are also several fly pattern books by northwest based authors that, while not strictly northwest, include PNW patterns. Dave Hughes, Randy Stetzer, Randall Kaufmann, and Troy Bachman come to mind.
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Does anyone have my copy of Come Wade the River by Ralph Wahl? I loaned it out about 20 years ago and can't remember to who. It's not a pattern book but the photos in it coupled with excerpts from Haig-Brown's A River Never Sleeps, make it an area classic!
Though not exactly fly tying pattern books a couple that are important for regional fishing are, Fly-Fishing Coastal Cutthroat Trout by Les Johnson and River Journal Yakima River by Steve Probosco.

Dave
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Yup, I've got both of those, Dave!

Come Wade The River sounds interesting - and a used copy is not too spendy on Amazon!

I started reading Ray Bergman's "Trout," and in those pages are references to other, older works. Those lead me down more paths for fly fishing books. I find the same with other, more recent books, so I'm building a wish list of books. I've got 78 that are fly fishing or fly tying related now.
Not sure what constitutes 'old' but one of my early reference books was Hafele and Hughes "Western Hatches".
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I found Flies of The Northwest at a garage sale and bought it for $5. I never tried to see what it is worth. It is an old book, very well used.
Enos Bradner's book "Northwest Angling", published in 1949, includes several original Northwest patterns, including steelhead flies, nymphs, and saltwater salmon flies.

Tom
I found a signed copy of this book @ Powell's in Portland (best damn book store in the world), for $10.00
I found Flies of The Northwest at a garage sale and bought it for $5. I never tried to see what it is worth. It is an old book, very well used.
Probably not as much value as one would think monetarily... ;)
Just found an old, well loved copy with notes and book marks at Tacoma Book Center in Tacoma for 6 dollars. I immediately snapped it up, not awesome shape but with care it should last a few more years. This looks to be a 1970's copy, although I do not see any publishing information. Just recipes and some drawings, no pictures

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I saw a copy of Enos Bradner's Northwest Angling yesterday in my local tàckle shop. He also had a copy of Flies of the Northwest. Bradner's book was $25 Canadian. I'm not sure I can mention the store in the forum so if anyone is interested pm me and I'll connect you on where it is.
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