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The flies Mary documented were, invariably, ornate wet flies. They were, and are, the legacy of centuries of British salmon fly design spiced by the natural resources and original thinking available to their American interpreters.

Before we get to the review, I have to confess that I am a bit biased, as I've known Joe for a few years through his involvement in a fly tying email group of which we're both members. When he announced to the group that he published a book, I knew right away that I wanted to do a review. I was especially pleased when I learned the subject was warm water fly fishing, a subject which I have a keen interest in. When I lived "back home", I spent quite a bit of time chasing bass and pike in local streams and rivers.

There are a few things you can count on when you read a book by Lefty Kreh - good storytelling, just-the-facts brevity, a conversation tone to the writing, and lots of practical no-nonsense advice. In "Fly Fishing for Bass", Lefty continues this trend by filling the 143 pages with lots of his book with all of the above, and more.

When I first read "Bassin' with a Fly Rod", I knew that I had found a book to my liking when I read this passage:

Those subsurface fly fishing systems that we hear about today - sinking lines with buoyant flies and similar systems - make interesting reading and sell fishing tackle. But such notions are based on an idealistic perception of bass fishing and usually prove to be woefully deficient in actual practice, often frustrating and discouraging would-be bass fly fishers.

Those bass guys sure know how to have fun!

Mark Dysinger has been chasing smallmouth bass with the flyrod for many years, and during that time he's come across some surprisingly difficult fish. Super clear water and high fishing pressure can make these bass as fussy and easily spooked as any educated trout.

NYS DEC's finest

I'm not sure how floating bass flies got the name "bug", but it certainly has stuck. Whether constructed of wood, plastic, foam, or hair, they all seem to be lumped into the generic category of "bass bug".