DEREK EVANS:AFTER all these years, I still have not yet mastered the art of fly-tying. Yes, I do have the most comprehensive fly-tying paraphernalia (enough to start my own factory) and yes, I have dabbled with basic patterns and achieved reasonable success.
Perhaps the reason for this failure is the fact I have accumulated more than 1,000 flies to entice a range of species - from wild brown trout to rainbows, salmon to sea trout, bass to mullet and, of course, the wet and dry of these patterns.
Even with this collection, there are occasions when I don't seem to have the right fly on the day. However, I do appreciate there is no substitute for catching a fish with a self-made fly-dressing.
Respected international author Chris Mann knows a thing or two about fly-tying. With more than 30 years angling experience, a career as a graphic designer and several books to his credit, he brings a wealth of talent to the profession.
His latest book is an absolute masterpiece and is correctly billed as the most comprehensive directory of salmon flies ever published. The Complete Illustrated Directory of Salmon Flies contains some 2,000 salmon and steelhead flies, each one illustrated in colour and full dressing.
Mann has developed a graphic technique of creating a virtual fly-tyers' box and actually digitally tying each of the flies himself. The results are flies with even greater clarity than a photograph.
Flies are so much more than simple devices for catching fish, he says, they are a thing of imagination and beauty. "This labour has consumed the last two-and-a-half years of my life," he writes. The flies are assembled in alphabetical order, making it easy for the reader to find the exact fly and check its precise dressing. An introduction to each fly, noting its originator, is complemented with a full, cross-referenced index.
Among all the other world-renowned fly-dressers, our own Peter O'Reilly contributes three patterns, including Botham's Fancy, Green Peter Shrimp and O'Reilly Shrimp. Botham's Fancy is a fly devised for the visit of Ian Botham, the England cricketer, to Ballynahinch, Co Galway, back in 1987.
This beautiful book enables the salmon-angler to identify and learn about every salmon fly that was ever assembled. A must for the Christmas stocking.
The Complete Illustrated Directory of Salmon Flies by Chris Mann is published by Merlin Unwin Books, £35 in hardback.
The decline of wild salmon in the River Shannon since the 1920s has been a topic of much debate over the years. While stocks in the Lower Shannon in the Feale and Mulkear rivers are relatively healthy, salmon are in low numbers upstream of Limerick city.
In an effort to reverse the decline and to avail of the new salmon management regime, the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board (SRFB) in 2007 established a salmon restoration committee to take a fresh look at the issues.
The committee has now produced a draft management plan that is available for download at www.shrfb.ie. The SRFB will host two public meetings on the project this week at the following venues: the Lakeside Hotel, Killaloe, December 3rd, 7pm; the Landmark Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon December 4th, 7pm. Submissions are required before January 2nd.
Further details are available from Eamonn Cusack at 061-300238.
angling@irish-times.ie