Working with tinsels, feathers, silks, furs, wool, and threads. Instructions from a master tier on all materials--traditional and modern--and how to use them.

The most complete collection of classic salmon fly patterns ever compiled.

Includes step-by-step, fully illustrated instructions on tying a variety of classic salmon patterns by the best salmon fly tiers in North America.

Ron Alcott is unquestionably one of the best classic fly tiers in the world, and in this book he shares everything he knows. Written for both expert and beginning tiers, this book is full of easy-to-follow tips and techniques for building these beautiful works of art. Alcott shares: their history; materials and substitutes for those components that are now illegal; silk, feather, and fur colors; metallic tinsels; types of wings; proportions; building classic featherwings; metric conversion chart; and more. In 81 step-by-step photos, Alcott builds five representative classic flies, and provides dressings for 32 more. Sixteen color plates illustrate many of the most renowned classic flies, as well as feathers, silk color, and antique tools, This book is a must for all tiers interested in classic-fly building.

The first edition of Salmon Flies became an indispensable reference soon after it was published in 1978 and went on to become a classic. This new edition builds on that legacy. With new photographs in full colour, it features more than 180 recipes in nine pattern styles -- from simple strip-wings and fully dressed feather wings to tube flies. Each chapter begins with detailed, step-by-step photographs and captions showing the tying sequence for a featured fly, followed by dozens of recipes for additional patterns in the same style.

The Definitive Book on Spey Flies Within fly tying, and within steelhead and salmon angling, Spey flies occupy a substantial niche. These flies are exceptionally popular in America, not only on the “steelhead coast,” but nationwide among fly tying enthusiasts, and they enjoy a substantial popularity worldwide; their popularity has gained renewed enthusiasm with the latest generation of young tiers and anglers (the private Facebook page “The Spey Tyer” has 3,600 members). The author is the world’s leading authority on the history and tying of Spey flies simply because they caught his fancy in the 1980s and over the years he has conducted more research on the topic by far than anyone else. His vision for this new incarnation of his original Spey Flies (Amato Publications, 2002) includes a tremendous upgrade from the original—an entirely new book, in fact—because he has uncovered so many historical facts, intrigues, people, and flies that have never been compiled in a single volume, or even presented in any form to the interested audience. The original Spey Flies was graphically rich; the new book is far more so.