Thomas Ames

Fly Fishing Classic Now Available in Paperback In the first major work on caddisflies in three decades, Caddisflies presents the most complete pictorial survey of Trichoptera published to date. Author, angler, and photographer Thomas Ames Jr. traveled from the southern Appalachian highlands to the Canadian Maritimes to collect, study, and photograph more than 100 species in 55 genera and 20 families of the caddisflies that fly fishers are most likely to encounter on the lakes and streams of the eastern United States. Based on thoughtful analysis, sound science, and many hours on the water collecting live insects and testing artificial flies, Caddisflies takes the myth and the mystery out of matching the hatch. Learn how you can use the ways in which these amazing insects have adapted to a wide range of aquatic habitats to predict which flies to choose. And learn how to present your flies when fish are feeding on caddisflies. Detailed descriptions and vivid photographs help identify the caddisflies on your favorite trout waters. This all-inclusive book includes advice on tackle and technique and a comprehensive catalog of pattern recipes.

For centuries anglers have struggled with their peculiar dependency on the aquatic insects that put the word "fly" in fly fishing, discoursing obsessively on how to replicate them with fur and feathers, and even about what to call them. Volumes have been written on the subject, but until now there has never been a book like Fishbugs. Following the success of his first book, hailed as "the most useful book for eastern fly fishers since Art Flick's Streamside Guide," author Thomas Ames Jr. lets his photographic skills take center stage. His bigger-than-life studies of mayflies, caddisflies, and other waterborne insects, captured in extraordinary detail, allow you see them as never before. Fly tyers will appreciate them as models for their imitations, while naturalists and other lovers of nature photography admire them for their intrinsic beauty. His thoughtful prose examines the special characteristics that keep these fascinating insects at the heart of the angler's gentle art and underscores their value as indicators of the health of our inland waters.