If the fly fishing enthusiast wants to take their insect ID skills to the next level...I suggest you consider the newly published The Bug Book, written by The Friends of Deer Creek and illustrated by Christine Elder.While there are other fine examples of insect identification guides in print for fly anglers, written from the fly fisherman's perspective, The Bug Book, is written from the biologist's perspective, with a focus on the scientific identification of 76 aquatic insect families common throughout western waters. In this 100 + page book you'll find all the familiar bugs trout love to gulp, but you'll learn about them from an entomologists' perspective. Thus the blue-winged olive becomes Ephemerellid, the Green sedge a Rhyacophilid, the Salmonfly a Pteronarcyid...you get the idea. Besides identification,The Bug Book also covers the species' habitats, behaviors, and life cycles.
All the jargon is defined in an excellent glossary. With the fisherman in mind, the book also comes with a water repellant laminated field chart with the classification and identification of all the major groups (9 orders plus some non-insect bugs too!) Detailed illustrations are peppered throughout, by my bug-loving river partner, Christine Elder(http://www.christineelder.com/) , an accomplished entomological illustrator.
To make the very most of this book, you'd do well to have a magnifying glass handy, or even a microscope, since some of a bug's physical characteristics neccessary for identifying the critter down to the family level are best viewed magnified. But the books illustrations and photographs are so clear, that lack of one shouldn't pose much of a handicap. In my opinion, this book is a must-have for ultra-serious fly fisherman who really want to know their bugs. To learn more about the book and ordering visit: http://www.friendsofdeercreek.org/bugbook.html
All the jargon is defined in an excellent glossary. With the fisherman in mind, the book also comes with a water repellant laminated field chart with the classification and identification of all the major groups (9 orders plus some non-insect bugs too!) Detailed illustrations are peppered throughout, by my bug-loving river partner, Christine Elder(http://www.christineelder.com/) , an accomplished entomological illustrator.
To make the very most of this book, you'd do well to have a magnifying glass handy, or even a microscope, since some of a bug's physical characteristics neccessary for identifying the critter down to the family level are best viewed magnified. But the books illustrations and photographs are so clear, that lack of one shouldn't pose much of a handicap. In my opinion, this book is a must-have for ultra-serious fly fisherman who really want to know their bugs. To learn more about the book and ordering visit: http://www.friendsofdeercreek.org/bugbook.html
2 comments:
Jon---well written review! I suggest you submitt it to Richard Anderson @ California Fly Fisher magazine. It could be included in the May/June issue's book review that is being edited now.
Frank
Thanks Frank! I sent the friends of deer creek towards Richard. It would be huge if he would do a reveiw on the book.
JB
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