Overview

Although the concept of “matching the hatch” has been central to flyfishing for 150 years, it has been used almost exclusively for dry flyfishing. With Common Nymphs of Eastern North America: A Primer for Flyfishers and Flytiers, Caleb Tzilkowski and Jay Stauffer Jr. take trout enthusiasts in another hatch-matching direction—to the year-round underwater nymph “hatch,” which, in most cases, constitutes 90 percent of trout diets. Successful flyfishers have at least rudimentary knowledge of the organisms that artificial flies imitate. The relatively few and very best anglers are expert at identifying and imitating nymph appearances and habits. A major hurdle to becoming expert at nymph matching is overcoming two major limitations that make these animals difficult to locate, capture, and identify: first, nymphs live underwater, sometimes burrowed into the stream bottom, and second, many nymphs are nearly microscopic in size. Common Nymphs addresses those challenges by including habitat and life history information regarding the nymphs, tips for their identification, and representative high-resolution photographs of more than thirty types of aquatic organisms and their imitations. In the seemingly saturated flyfishing literature, this book offers something truly groundbreaking. With state-of-the-art microscopy and their years of scientific and practical experience, Tzilkowski and Stauffer provide readers an innovative close-up look at identifying and imitating nymphs that have been historically underrepresented in the flyfishing and flytying literature.

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9780271204505

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Reviews

Two scientists have produced this unique and important must-have book. Tzilkowski holds a Ph.D. in wildlife and fisheries science from Penn State University and is employed by the National Park Service as an aquatic ecologist. His coauthor, Jay Stauffer, Jr., is distinguished professor of ichthyology at Penn State. The two have brilliantly applied their in-depth knowledge of the nymphs of eastern North America to the interests of fly fishers and fly tiers. Eastern Fly Fishing

Scientific knowledge, fishing experience, and fly-tying expertise meet in a near-perfect blend in this enjoyable, informative, and surprisingly readable volume. Any flyfisher pursuing trout in the eastern part of North America will profit from spending some serious time with this book, as will those in other locales, because much of the information provided here is transferable. Caleb Tzilkowski and Jay Stauffer Jr. are to be congratulated for making such a wealth of entomological knowledge and practical advice so accessible and relevant to ordinary flytiers and flyfishers. </p>--Rex D. Matthews, Emory University (and dedicated flyfisher)</p>

Two scientists have produced this unique and important must-have book. Tzilkowski holds a Ph.D. in wildlife and fisheries science from Penn State University and is employed by the National Park Service as an aquatic ecologist. His coauthor, Jay Stauffer, Jr., is distinguished professor of ichthyology at Penn State. The two have brilliantly applied their in-depth knowledge of the nymphs of eastern North America to the interests of fly fishers and fly tiers. --Eastern Fly Fishing

Author Information

Caleb J. Tzilkowski holds a PhD from Penn State University in Wildlife and Fisheries Science and is currently an aquatic ecologist with the National Park Service. Jay R. Stauffer Jr. is Distinguished Professor of Ichthyology in the School of Forest Resources at Penn State University.

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