Fly Fishing: The Way of a Trout With a Fly

Attorney G. E. M. Skues drew upon his vast experience as a recreational fisherman to write this masterpiece of the fly fishing genre, in which he established sunken flies as essential tools for the well-equipped angler. Originally published in 1921, this seminal book retains its relevance in a world in which the quiet pleasures of river fishing remain unchanged. Professional, competitive, and amateur fishermen as well as beginners will appreciate its timeless wisdom.
British fly fishing historian Dr. Andrew Herd hailed the author as "without any doubt one of the greatest trout fishermen that ever lived. His achievement was the invention of fly fishing with the nymph, a discovery that put a full stop to half a century of stagnation in wet fly fishing for trout, and formed the bedrock for modern sunk fly fishing." Paul Schullery, an American fly fishing historian, seconds this view, adding, "[Skues] was also a modest, humorous, and warmly accessible writer whose writings never lost sympathy for his fellow anglers. His self-deprecating and deceptively simple-sounding writings on trout and fly fishing remain among the wisest and most revealing in the sport's enormous literature."

G. M. Skues (1858–1949) was a partner at the Powell, Skues and Graham Smith law firm for 45 years. An avid fly fisherman, he is regarded as the inventor of modern-day nymph fishing, and his 1921 book remains a seminal work on the subject.

Foreword Division I. Part I.I. Considerations of MotiveII. The WhyIII. Freewill and Predestination Part II.I. The Sense of TasteII. The Sense of Smell Part III. The Vision of TroutI. A Preliminary CastII. The Sense of Form and DefinitionIII. The Invisibility of HooksIV. The Sense of PositionV. A Problem for the OpticianVI. The Sense of NumberVII. The Sense of ColourVIII. The Sense of SizeIX. ToneX. In Dusk and DarkXI. Looking UpwardXII. Looking Upward in Dusk and Dark Part IV. HowI. The Mouth of a TroutII. A Speculation in BubblesIII. The RiseIV. Assorted RisesV. Fausse MonteeéVI. The Moment Part V. WhatI. Flies as FoodII. Fly Dressing as an ArtIII. Imitation, Representation, SuggestionIV. Styles of Fly DressingV. KickVI. Ex Mortuâ Manu Part VI.Rafflement Division II. Some Further Minor Tactical Studies I. Some ProblemsII. Some Fly-Dressing ExamplesIII. Some More Fly Dressing—Principles and PracticeIV. Sundry ObservationsV. B.W.O.VI. TacticalVII. PsychologicalVIII. Frankly ImmoralIX. EpisodicalX. Doggerel from the Club JournalAdvertisement