FLYMPH FORUM

I just got my copies of Reed's book "The New Scientific Angling - Trout and Ultraviolet Vision" and have finally got to read the book. EXCELLENT!
I had become familiar with Reed's work through various posts on forums and through his website but never had the chance to sit down with the book. I would have to say that my on stream findings, independent from actually reading the book, coincide with the text in the book.Inspired by the brief knowledge gained from the internet, I set out to see if there was any truth to the theories that Reed had wriiten about . I found out that there was something going on. I then took a look at my go to fly, which was outperforming my experiments and was told that the key ingrediants were in fact UVR. And they were 100% natural i might point out.
Now the purpose of this post is not to disclose my go to fly, and no I don't want you to give me yours, let's just say out of respect. The point of this post is that there is a TON of useful information in this book and applying the information to your own tying iand your own discoveries is what makes tying fun. What becomes clear is that a lot the flies we already tie are in the UVR parameter, and a lot of the traditionally great flies are within the parameters as well. Leisenring dubbing loop? Bingo. Split Thread? Bingo.
I'm one NOT prone to making grand proclamations but I think this is one of the most important books on applied fly tying theory and design to come out in a LONG time. It is an absolutely must have IMHO and belongs in every serious fly tiers book shelf.
Reed has the book available on his website.
Jim

Nice review, sounds like a volume I should be adding to the shelves.

I have to fully agree with Jim. I bought the book when it was first released and what Jim had told me previously was confirmed in Reeds book. I know what Jim's secret ingredient is and I'll tell you this it works.... Reed's experiments prove it. Don't ask I won't tell.

... and here I thought the difference between this forum and others was the open sharing of information. Can we learn the "secret" if we purchase Reed's book or some of Jim's flies ?

You can learn the secret from Reed's book and a whole lot of others as well.
Buying my flies will not get you my secret

Guess I will go to my grave not knowing the secrets. OK, I'm good to go.

Jim Slattery wrote:You can learn the secret from Reed's book and a whole lot of others as well.
Buying my flies will not get you my secret

Jim ~ Good to know about the book; why have you not incorporated the info into your flies?

tie2fish ,
I have incorperated the info into my flies we sell but there are only a handful of these patterns in the bins. You just won't get the info if you buy my flies. I do share the info but not freely and not for a price. Some may call this paranoid or what they will but I have my reasons, mainly others who may want to blow their own horn with my work. Now being in the industry it is even more so, I want to protect my intellectual property. While the sport is altruistic their are those in the industry who are not, just as in any other business.
Just look at the latest issue of Fly Fisherman magazine and check out the article about the Stimulator. 30 years later and 15 years of me saying it was my bug and my tie that Kauffman stole from me ( we actually spoke over the phone several times) Kaufman is still blowing his own horn about my fly.
Jim

Jim, that sounds like a good book to have. It will have to be on the back burner for me. You came up with the Stimulator? I did not know that. I like that fly a lot! I did not know who was the originator. People should not steal other people's work, and call it their own. That is low. But if they made the same fly not knowing, that is a different deal. (that doesn't seem to be the case here, sadly) I have never tried to tie the Stimulator, but I have 2-3 I purchased a good while back. It is in my trout box.

Weird, every time I see the Stimulator, all I see is an upscale Sofa Pillow that was produced by Pat Barnes. Just my take though.