[.ca] Midge Magic (ISBN 0811709965)

The midge, tied and true:
Mr. Holbrook has done a very fine job of covering how to tie midge pupa, larva, spinners and (a few) winged adults down to size 32 hooks. This book shares space on my tying shelf beside Darrel Martin's Micropatterns (it adds nicely to Martin's fine work), Leeson & Schollmeyer's Fly Tier's Benchside Reference, Oliver Edwards' Flytyers Masterclass (the English use flytyer where the US uses fly tier), Hughes' Trout Flies and Mariano's In the Ring of the Rise. I rank it with these other fine books because it belongs there. If you have an interest in tying midge patterns and want to learn how Mr. Holbrook came to his patterns, this book reveals all. If you want to tailor your midge patterns to your local Dipterans, you can find out how to do that as well. This is not a book on taxonomy and it is not intended to be (and a guide to Dipterans is WAY beyond all but the Ph.D. taxonomists ..the Dipterists and Dipteran Journals are turning to genome studies over the morphological classification - do a search on Dipterists for more information). The collection, observation and macrophotography guides are excellent for beginner to advanced collectors. This is a must have book! Ed Koch is partially responsible for the author's addiction: good on you, Ed!

More Patterns Than Tactics:
As long as the reader understands that this book doesn't cover a lot of tactics, it's a highly useful guide. The focus is on patterns--how to get the colors right, how to tie them, and what they imitate. There's not much on casting technique or how to actually use them on the stream, but the material that is there is great. It has really useful patterns that are surprisingly easy to tie.

Midge Matching:
This book is essentially a pattern book. Little if any information is given about actually fishing midge patterns. In fact, the author spends a great deal of time telling you that he doesn't know much about the process anyway. The real point of the book is that fishing midges requires exact matching of midge patterns to current stream conditions. That is, sample the midge larva in the stream (little attention is payed to dry patterns), examine them microscopically, and tie up a matching fly using the included patterns. Little, if any, entomoligical data is given in the book. The patterns are interesting, though, and the many photos of midges quite good (photography is hobby of the author and an entire chapter is devoted to taking photos of these creatures) although, again, with no entomological data on what is being photographed. Don't look to this book for many tips or "magic" solutions that will help you catch fish.

It will open your eyes to tying great midge patterns:
Midge fishing and tying midge patterns was always something I left to somebody else - very intimidating. Where do you start and what do you fish and why? Talking to Ed and Don at fly fishing shows, listening to what they have to say, seeing the vials of midges that Don had pumped from the stomachs of trout, looking closely at the midges under magnification, and reading this book brings it all together. The patterns are real. They are easy to tie. The materials are cheap. When you read this book, sit back and take it all in you realize that most of the mystery is gone. It gives you the tools with which to master this art. You gain an appreciation for the patterns and why they work. This is not a pretty fly book. This is a real working fishermans reference. You have the results of 20 plus years of two masters trials and errors of fishing midges. A must have for a fly fisherman.