Caddisflies by Gary LaFontaine

Hailed as a classic almost as soon as it came out in the early 1980s, this combination of entomology and fly-fishing instruction puts a small insect--the caddis fly--under the microscope to help anglers get big results on the water. Misunderstood for years, LaFontaine explains why caddis should be an important part of any fly-fisher's arsenal of flies, and his arguments are very persuasive. With in-depth and anecdote-punctuated discussions of the insect's biology and life cycle, tactics for deciding at what stage in the life cycle caddis are being fed upon (nymph, emerger, or dun), and various methods of presenting imitations, the author provides a thorough and scientific approach to catching fish. Caddisflies is analytical fly-fishing instruction at its best.

Throughout fly-fishing history, says the author in his introduction to this important book, caddisflies have been treated as if they were less important than mayflies. They have been the drab sisters, disparaged or ignored, in the literature. On the stream they have been a puzzle that anglers have chosen to neglect...' But, as Caddisflies points out dramatically, this aquatic insect is of the highest importance to fly fishermen at various times - and the errors of the past have now been corrected. This book is a major study of this immensely important and often misunderstood trout-stream insect - and it was sorely needed. The book - which is the fruit of ten years of intensive study - introduces new, tested, and better patterns that impressionistically and effectively imitate the live insect. Then it presents detailed instructions on how best to fish larval, pupal, and adult flies - strategies, tactics, and proven techniques. There is careful study of the indicators that signal either emergence or egg-laying and there is instruction on the different ways fish feed on each stage. Finally, there is a truly comprehensive fly-fisherman's entomology - clear and thorough - of the important caddisfly species, with emergence tables and distribution charts for representative and major trout streams in various part of North America. Caddisflies thus fills a major gap in the fly-fishing literature. Its publication coincides with the great but scattered attention this insect has been receiving throughout the world - and the book promises to become the standard in its field and essential for all serious fly fishermen. (8 3/4 X 11, 344 pages, color photos, b&w photos, illustrations, diagrams, charts)