Fly Fishing : Simple to Sophisticated
	By: Al Kyte Published by: Human Kinetics Pub Paperback, pages 198
Publication date: March 1998 Price: $12.71 ISBN: 0880112859 Category: Fly Fishing

Review

About six years ago I was going through a "rite of passage" as a fly fisher. My skills were adequate and I was able to catch fish on the many Utah streams I had fished. But the challenge was still out there: The Green River. It's kind of like New York City, "If I can make it there...," well, you know the rest. So at 4 am my friend Dean and I loaded up from our palatial university housing in Salt Lake City and made the four-hour drive to "The Green".

Thinking we were bright anglers, we rigged up with flies we used on our local streams. After several hours of futility and humility we were about to give up. A drift boat came down and parked in the area we were fishing. I was wearing my lucky San Francisco Giants hat and one of the anglers inquired if I was from the bay area, I replied that I was. (Before moving to Utah for college, I lived in the East Bay and am an avid Giants fan.)

As we spoke I realized I had no clue how to fish this great river. He took some time and helped us through our mistakes and showed us how to be successful. This was refreshing since the first person I asked what he was using informed me it was "a rod". Later in our conversation he told me about his fly shop in Pleasant Hill, CA and the product lines he furnishes. I knew I needed improvement and asked if there was any one book he recommended to hone my skills and get past my current plateau. He gave me his card and said to call him.

Within a week after my call to him he not only sent me a book, but he had the author sign it. The package included a fly box with a few flies and a very nice note. What a nice gesture! The book he sent is Fly Fishing: Simple to Sophisticated by Al Kyte.

Fly Fishing: Simple to Sophisticated is aimed at fishing for trout, bass and panfish and the techniques to be successful in these situations. The text has been a tremendous reference to me as an angler. There is not enough room here to do justice to all the sections.

I have broken the book into three key sections: beginner, intermediate and advanced. The chapters are organized from "simple to sophisticated" and take the angler through the same key concepts irrespective of the approach. Al Kyte's integrated approach consists of rigging, initial approach, casting, line handling, hooking and landing, wading and safety, and further selected readings.

Chapters one through four are concepts that are helpful to newer anglers or those brushing up on their skills. I read them and learned a lot of things I needed improvement on. (As I learn about this great sport of ours, the more I learn I have lots to learn!)

The first chapter covers everything from casting and equipment selection to etiquette. Kyte clearly indicates the book is not a treatise on any of the subjects, but adequately covers each. He provides several excellent reads on each of the subjects for further study. Chapters two through four deal with more advanced techniques of the sport: fishing moving water, dry fly in still water and dry fly in streams. Each cover the seven steps of this integrated approach and help you through the method in a stepwise manner.

The middle chapters, five through eight, view concepts the intermediate angler can use to better their skills and the beginner to add to their arsenal. These chapters cover dealing with multiple currents, sinking lines, upstream nymphing and going beyond pocket water. Again, each chapter covers the seven steps of the integrated approach.

The final four chapters will challenge most fly fishers. These concepts of fishing to educated trout, advanced line control, and problem-solving skills are a life-long pursuit. You will find these chapters challenging yet satisfying. If nothing else you will be given some new ideas to experiment with on your local waters. If you're beyond these concepts then the book, as Kyte says in his introduction, will "provide a logical and practical way to convey your skills and knowledge to others."

There are so many fly-fishing books available it can be a study to find one that is useful. I highly recommend Fly Fishing: Simple to Sophisticated. It has helped me improve my skills and become a better angler while challenging me to think more and be more aggressive. What I like best, though, is that it is presented in a logical, easy to follow pattern. Al Kyte has taught these principles for years as an educator in the University of California system and it shows by the easy flow of the text.

Reviewed by Steve Hammarstrom.

Note: About a year or so after my experience on the Green I saw the man I spoke with featured in a fly fishing publication as he was inducted into its Hall of Fame. I then read about him and his innovative techniques in several books on fly tying. I had met a giant and didn't know it! What is most impressive is he took a couple of eager college students under his wing and taught them. The man of whom I speak is Andre Puyans. I have not spoken with him since, or heard much of him, but I will always be impressed and never forget his kindness that day on the Green.