John Gierach is a highly trusted and trustable opinion-maker in fly-fishing. People take what he says to the bank. While most of Gierach's writing is essay-style and reflective, here he gets down to the nitty-gritty: how he ties his favorite flies and why he thinks they work so well for him. There is, thus, an instant reader connection: "Gierach's patterns are good enough for me." Few anglers will skip knowing what a master angler and thinker prefers for his fly box. This title covers a gamut of patterns essential to trout fishing in a variety of circumstances: dry flies, wet flies and nymphs, and streamers. Gierach's legion of fans of his regular magazine column will be highly inclined to buy this title.

John Gierach is the great sage of American fly fishing, an idiosyncratic philosopher whose commentaries on angling are explorations of the meaning of life. He is also one of the most widely read angling writers in the country, mainly through his monthly columns in Fly Rod & Reel. But his great books—Trout Bum, Standing in a River Waving a Stick, and Sex, Death and Fly Fishing, among others—continue to attract new and younger readers. For many fly fishers, he is the voice of their sport. He lives in Lyons, Colorado.