Dry-Fly Fishing in Theory and Practice

Dry-Fly Fishing in Theory and Practice (1889) is British author and angler Frederic M. Halford's second and most influential book on dry fly fishing. It followed Floating Flies and How to Dress Them (1886) and this pair of books initiated some 40 years of a rigid, and sometimes dogmatic school, the Halfordian school, of dry fly fishing, especially on English chalk streams. The work also played a significant role in the development of dry-fly fishing in America.

Synopsis
Whereas Floating Flies and How to Dress Them was about the dry fly, fly tying and to some extent the entomology of the chalk stream, Dry-Fly Fishing... was about fishing the dry fly. It was the consummate "how-to" manual for the dry-fly fisherman. It was not only about methodology, but also about the ethics and purism of the dry fly on English chalk streams.

The volume begins by spelling out the various pieces of fishing and personal equipment the dry-fly angler should possess. The pros and cons of different rod styles are discussed, along with fly lines, reels and the various miscellany a fly angler should carry. Although Halford did not invent dry-fly fishing, before this volume, no one had laid out in such detail the equipment recommendations needed to be a successful dry-fly angler.

Such were Halford's recommendations that they were routinely referenced by the fly-fishing trade:

A short, but concise Chapter 2 discusses the distinction between a floating (dry) fly and a sunk fly, with emphasis on the superiority of the floating fly as characterized by this concluding statement:



Chapters 3-5 go into great detail about how, when and where to cast the dry fly on the typical chalk stream. These chapters are heavily illustrated with casting techniques and comprise nearly 20% of the entire 1st edition.

The bulk of the remaining chapters deal with the entomology of the chalk stream, fly selection and trout behaviour.

Reviews

 * In 1894 The New York Times wrote of Dry-Fly Fishing in Theory and Practice:


 * At some point in his career, Halford's great antagonist, G. E. M. Skues wrote of Dry-Fly Fishing...:


 * In 1913, Emlyn M. Gill, writing for The New York Times said:


 * In the foreword to the Centenary edition (1989), Dermot Wilson, a leading authority on UK dry-fly fishing, points to the prophetic nature of Halford's Dry-Fly Fishing:

Influence on American fly fishing
Theodore Gordon, the acknowledged "Father of American dry-fly fishing", wrote extensively about the influence Halford had on his views.

George M. La Branche in his seminal American fly fishing work The Dry Fly and Fast Water, wrote this of Halford's Dry-Fly Fishing:

Contents

 * Chapter I – The Dry-Fly Fisherman's Gear
 * Chapter II – Floating Flies and Sunk Flies
 * Chapter III – How to Cast
 * Chapter IV – Where to Cast
 * Chapter V – When to Cast
 * Chapter VI – Studies of Fish Feeding
 * Chapter VII – Circumstances Affecting the Angler's Sport
 * Chapter VIII – Selection of Fly
 * Chapter IX – Evening Fishing
 * Chapter X – Hooking, Playing and Landing
 * Chapter XI – Autopsy
 * Chapter XII – Trout or Grayling?
 * Chapter XIII – The Management of a Fishery

Illustrations

 * Frontispiece – Landing a Trout
 * Plate I – Grip of the Rod
 * Plate II – Over-handed Cast-Backward Position
 * Plate III – Over-handed Cast-Coming Forward
 * Plate IV – Over-handed Cast-Forward Position
 * Plate V – Downward Cut-Forward Position
 * Plate VI – Under-handed Cast-Backward Position
 * Plate VII – Under-handed Cast-Coming Forward
 * Plate VIII – Under-handed Cast-Forward Position
 * Plate IX – Steeple-Cast-Recovering the Line
 * Plate X – Steeple-Cast-Backward Position
 * Plate XI – Steeple-Cast-Coming Forward
 * Plate XII – Dry Switch-Commencement
 * Plate XIII – Dry Switch-Finish
 * Plate XIV – Where to Cast-Illustrative Plan
 * Plate XV – Mayfly-Eggs, Larve and Nymph-Coloured
 * Plate XVI – Larva and Nymph Magnified
 * Plate XVII – Sub-imago and Imago-Coloured
 * Plate XVIII – Sub-imago Male and Female-Magnified
 * Plate XIX – Imago Female Magnified
 * Plate XX – Mayfly-Imago Male Magnified
 * Plate XXI – Autopsy-Longitudinal Section of Trout
 * Plate XXII – Nymph of Ephemeride, Caddis and Shrimp-Coloured
 * Plate XXIII – Nymph of Ephemeride Magnified
 * Plate XXIV – Caddis arid Shrimp Magnified
 * Plate XXV – Management of a Fishery-Illustrative Plan

Other editions
From Antiquarian Book Exchange