The Salmonfly

Guide to the Dream Hatch of the West

Noted fly fishing author Skip Morris's book on a legendary hatch:
The Salmonfly Guide to the Dream Hatch of the West

The Awe-Inspiring Salmonfly Hatch

Fly fishers travel from all over the world to attend the legendary Salmonfly hatch that takes place every year in Western North American rivers.

Why do they make such a trek?

Why is the hatch legendary?

How about great stout nymphs and flying adults almost two inches long driving big trout mad—do you think that might explain it?

Learn Critical Techniques for Successful Fishing

This Salmonfly guide covers the flies, strategies, tackle, timing, and fine-but-critical points that make for success when these amazing insects are all over the river.

The Salmonfly hatch (and the hatch of another stonefly almost as big) can provide incredible fishing…if you do a number of critical things right (and bring a little luck with you)—it can be a tricky hatch to mine.

Fish the hatch without understanding it and you can be in for slow fishing. So unless you’re an old hand at working the Salmonfly hatch (and even if you are, you may find some important insights), you need an edge. This Salmonfly guide will provide you that edge, and more.

Praise for The Salmonfly Guide to the Dream Hatch of the West:

Has there ever been a book before so compete and in-depth in its treatment of the renowned Salmonfly hatch? Let some famous fly-fishing authors tell you what they think:

“This is my favorite sort of book: small, tightly written around a single important subject, in fine prose, and with photos that are even better. When Salmonfly and Golden Stone nymphs migrate, or adults are on the wing, trout are seldom interested in eating anything else. Skip Morris’s book tells you what to do. He’s done it again—this book is unfair to the trout."
—Dave Hughes (author of Trout Flies and Pocketguide to Western Hatches)

“Skip Morris’s latest book is the most thorough treatment of the big Western stoneflies yet to hit print… This is a book that belongs on the bookshelf of every angler who fishes the big Western bug hatches.”
—Arlen Thomason (author of BugWater)

“If anyone has covered the Salmonfly and related stoneflies better than Skip Morris has in this little book, I haven’t seen it… And you might just find that what he has to say will you catch more fish even when Salmonflies aren’t around.”
—Rick Hafele (author of Nymph Fishing Rivers and Streams)

All-Important Points Emphasized with Photographs and Illustrations

The Salmonfly is loaded with elegant color photographs to clarify important points—such as identifying good holding water for the various stages of the hatch, strategies for presenting flies, and lots of crisp close-ups of the insects as nymphs and winged adults—and some elegant fishing and trout shots just please the eye.

Illustrations appear wherever they best express details and ideas—rigs for nymph and dry-fly fishing, the important effects on sun and cloud cover and shade on fishing, effective hook setting with unseen nymphs, and more.

Here are some sample pages from the book...

(to enlarge any photo, click on it)

Fascinating and Proven Fly Patterns Included

The section on flies is extensive—a broad collection of proven, varied, and often fascinating patterns. There’s a lot here for the fly buyer to consider before purchasing a collection, and enough fresh and fascinating designs to keep the fly tier happily busy at the vise for a long time; the fly dressings are very thorough, with many including tying details.

The Essential Guide to the West's Famous Hatch

If you’ve fished the Salmonfly hatch only a little, or not at all but would love to, The Salmonfly will prove invaluable to you. It’s such an amazing hatch, you may want to read about it even if you’ve never heard of it before.