Poul Jorgenson's Favorite Flies and How to Tie Them

Rating:
Summary: Tie with a master.
Review: Modern Fly Dressings for the Practical Angler, to which Poul Jorgenson's Favorite Flies and How to Tie Them acts as a sort of revised edition, was one of the most influential pattern/concept books of its day. This book, with the addition of colour, is somewhat more diffuse in scope, as is modern fly fishing, and contains some of the same patterns and many new ones. Overall the result seems less pleasing, and the absence of dubbing blends (PJ was marketing Sealex at the time) is but one way in which the book seems less focused.

Jorgensen has a book on realistic fishable trout flies begging to get out, by some accounts he is working on one. Should it be published we will have a more worthy successor to Modern Fly Dressings for the Practical Angler than this one. This book is, however, a fine effort and will please those who have no comparisons to make. Newcomers will be offered a glimpse of why Jorgensen now stands in equal rank with other great Catskill tiers, and why he inspirers other contemporary masters like Oliver Edwards. Oliver Edwards' Masterclass would accompany this book nicely.