“When I began fly-fishing on the northern rivers of England I fell into that time old habit of trying to prove that I had flies that would catch fish anywhere......”

“So I went back to the basics....”

“I wanted to understand the history behind these sparse flies. Where did they originate? What did they represent? How were they fished?...”

“Interestingly, in all the books that I have read, there is little about the actual historical manner in which these flies were fished. Oh, the books all mentioned ‘upstream’ fishing and, for the most part, played down fishing them downstream, unless water and weather conditions dictated otherwise, but very little description about their technique....”

“This ‘little book on fishing hackled flies’ is intended to bring together what I have learnt and to attempt to demonstrate, to anyone who may be interested, how to fish traditional soft hackled flies in the same manner as our forefathers, ...”

Introduction extract -  Philip Bailey 2009

This booklet is available for £6.95 (UK) £8.95 (International). Order now by contacting philip@flyfishwithme.net or ordering through