TWENTY SALMON FLIES: TYING TECHNIQUES FOR MASTERING CLASSIC PATTERNS. WITH DVD. By Michael D. Radencich.

2010 1st edition. Folio (222 x 286mm). Ppx,210. Colour photographs of flies, b/w illustrations. Black boards, spine titled in gilt. DVD laid in (2 hours duration).

Michael Radencich, salmon fly tyer extraordinaire, presents twenty strategically chosen patterns. Having progressed through all twenty, the keen student will have learned all the elements of the traditional salmon fly and will be quite capable of tying anything in the genre. Each chapter successively presents patterns that are more and more complex.Chapter one introduces very simple Spey and Dee styles, strip wing flies with only a few elements per fly. The next chapters cover simple upright wing flies, full feather wing flies and married wing styles. A chapter focuses on flies with multiple body divisions and another is devoted to Traherne's exquisite (and challenging) Victorian classics. Radencich gives full details on substituting modern materials for those which have become expensive or unobtainable in recent times. The book ends up with modern patterns that are in turn beautiful and difficult to tie. Once you've mastered these 20, you'll be able to tie any classic salmon pattern. A DVD is included, further explaining some of the points in the book.