Tenkara and Fly Fishing

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Q&A with Morgan Lyle author of Simple Flies

A while back I bought Morgan Lyle’s Simple Flies: 52 Easy-to-Tie Patterns that Catch Fish with the intention of reviewing it here if I liked it. Well… I did like it… a lot… but I decided that I wanted to get some copies to sell over at my shop Three Rivers Tenkara (get the book…

Anthony Naples
1–2 minutes

sf_012A while back I bought Morgan Lyle’s Simple Flies: 52 Easy-to-Tie Patterns that Catch Fish with the intention of reviewing it here if I liked it. Well… I did like it… a lot… but I decided that I wanted to get some copies to sell over at my shop Three Rivers Tenkara (get the book here –>>  Simple Flies by Morgan Lyle ).  I wasn’t comfortable with reviewing it while also selling it.

Still I wanted to to something more so I asked Morgan if he’d do a Q&A with me regarding the book and his thoughts on flies and fly tying. He was kind enough to participate and I posted the resulting Q&A as the first blog post on the Three Rivers Tenkara blog. Read it here —>> Q&A With Morgan Lyle

It is a good book – and it is more than a fly tying recipe book. And in my opinion it ought to spark a sort of Copernican Revolution and provide a refreshing alternative to the increasingly complex and convoluted Ptolemaic System  that has become the standardly accepted model in modern fly fishing.

But I know it won’t, and that’s okay. It is human nature to overcomplicate things – it makes us feel smart I guess. But if you’re getting into fly fishing and fly tying as a newbie (and haven’t been tainted yet) or if you’re an old hand at it but wouldn’t mind some simplification then this may be a good book for you.

Jason Klass over at Tenkara Talk has posted a review of the book if you’d like to read more about it.

Also don’t forget to check out my Q&A With Morgan Lyle.

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3 responses to “Q&A with Morgan Lyle author of Simple Flies”

  1. isaacmtait Avatar
    isaacmtait

    Both this and the interview were great reads, thanks for posting. I am still amazed at how effective the killer bug is, I practically learned Tenkara with Killer Bugs that I tied (poorly) myself and I caught thousands of fish my first season 🙂

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    1. Anthony Naples Avatar
      Anthony Naples

      Thanks- though I’ve never used Killer Bugs a bunch (I know they’re effective) one of my fly fishing turning points was with similar flies. When I was just learning to fly fish I spent a lot of time on Spring Creek in Pennsylvania – which is a fertile limestone stream, and I was finding it pretty tough as a beginner. It didn’t have those eager, quick to rise, brookies of the mountain streams.
      I read an article about a fly called a “muskrat nymph” – and this wasn’t the one that had a herl collar and legs – this was simply muskrat fur (including guard hairs) dubbed on a hook. If you want to get fancy you could rough it up and get it nice and buggy looking with the guard hairs spiked out.
      I was told this was the fly to use on Spring Creek (which has loads of scuds and cress bugs)- so I had faith that the fly was “right” and focused on fishing instead of changing flies …. and guess what ? I started catching lots of fish.
      At the time I believed it was all due to the fly – and I still think it is a very effective fly for it’s general expressionistic, suggestive look – but now, looking back, I really think much of it had to do with not worrying about the fly and focusing instead on reading the water, stealth, presentation and strike detection. Exactly the things that tenkara has reinforced for me.
      Later I started using the Walt’s Worm more than the muskrat – which is a very similar fly, basically hare’s ear (with some added antron if you like). I started using it more because the hares ear dubbing is a bit easier deal with than the muskrat. The Walt’s Worm is almost a dead ringer for the Killer Bug. The first time I heard about the killer bug it was because I’d posted about Walt’s Worm and Chris Stewart left a comment about the Killer Bug. (you can see that post here)
      I’ve stubbornly stuck with the Walt’s instead of the Killer Bug, not because I think it’s more effective, but because it was created by a Pennsylvania angler, Walt Young. The simple Walt’s Worm and muskrat nymph have caught many, many fish for me. As the Killer Bug has done now for lots of folks.
      Thanks for the comments!
      ps I added Fallfish Tenkara to my tenkara blog links

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  2. Knotty Avatar
    Knotty

    Part of me hopes that Simple Flies is the only fly pattern book I ever purchase. I really believe there is no need for any more than this wonderful book offers. Anything else I tie is because of curiosity or for fun, not necessity.

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