When fishing gets tough, fly fishers might be tempted to use bigger, flashier flies, but expert angler Ed Engle knows that tiny, sparsely dressed flies often work when nothing else will. With a little attention to tying the flies and fishing technique, fly fishers will take trout on flies as small as 24, 28, and even 30.

Now combining his two classic books on small fly tying and fishing in one updated, second-edition volume, Engle covers the patterns and how to fish them. You’ll learn how to find and observe trout in small-fly water, how to evaluate the major small-fly hatches, how to fish the surface and below, and how to strike, play, and land trout on tiny flies. Engle deftly covers small-fly history and how the flies have developed. Tying tools, special materials, specific patterns for aquatic insects, tying techniques, and a full complement of patterns complete the book.