Bob Popovics and Jay Nichols
Foreword by Nick Curcione
Introduction by Ed Jaworowski
$49.95, 8.5 x 11, hardcover
270 pages, full-color, Stackpole Books
ISBN 978-0811713238
“Bob Popovics differs from all the tiers I’ve known and respect, and I believe he is the most innovative of all tiers. Unlike the rest of us, Bob has developed entirely new methods of constructing flies for both salt and fresh water, as well as using entirely different materials.” —Lefty Kreh
• Important fly design insights from one of the sport’s most innovative and influential fly tiers
• Detailed tying steps for over 14 new patterns for salt and fresh water, including the Hollow Fleye, BULKhead, Beast, and Flex Fleye
• In-depth tutorials on fundamental techniques essential for many saltwater patterns, large freshwater patterns for toothy critters, and working with the new light-cured acrylics
• Fly patterns and tying tips from the next generation of leading fly designers: Jonny King, David Nelson, Dave Skok, Steve Farrar, and Blane Chocklett
BOB POPOVICS is the founder of the Atlantic Saltwater Fly Rodders, advisory member of TFO rods, a member of the Renzetti Legacy Tying Team, associated with Tibor Reels, and a Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Catskill Fly Fishing Museum Hall of Fame inductee. Though he has refined his fishing techniques and casting skills by traveling around the world, Bob is perhaps best known as a designer of flies (or “fleyes,” as they’re called) and as a teacher. Starting with his famous Surf Candy pattern in the 1970s, Bob’s innovative fly-tying concepts helped pave the way for modern-day saltwater fly-fishing in the Northeast. His epoxy and silicone flies were the first of their kind, and anglers and tiers around the world continue to tie, fish, modify, and study Bob’s creations, many of which were included in his bestselling 2001 book, Pop Fleyes, co-authored with Ed Jaworowski. A patient teacher, Bob has helped countless tiers and anglers through his seminars, videos, and writing. Though Bob’s specialty is fly-fishing in the surf on his favorite Northeastern beaches, his famous patterns—like the Siliclone, BULKhead Deceiver, Bob’s Banger, and Hollow Fleye—have been adapted for a wide variety of fishing situations in fresh and salt water around the world. Bob and his wife, Alexis, own and operate the Shady Rest Restaurant in Bayville, New Jersey. They live in Seaside Park, New Jersey.
JAY NICHOLS is publisher of Headwater Books, fly-fishing editor for Stackpole Books, and Northeast field editor for Fly Fisherman magazine. He is the editor of 1001 Fly Fishing Tips, author of Tying Dry Flies, and has collaborated with legends of the sport such as Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh on several book projects including Clouser’s Flies, Fly-Fishing for Smallmouth, Casting with Lefty Kreh, and Fly-Casting Fundamentals. He lives in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Donna, and two children, Lilian and Amelia.
FROM THE INTRODUCTION by Ed Jaworowski The Popovics Fleye Design approach is true art—a living, organic process, not merely a mechanical one. Bob doesn’t tie so much as create. He’s an ad-lib tier, and his products, like jazz music, are never there, but always in the process of becoming something else. His tying is fluid, endlessly adapting, as he seeks to match the materials to his vision. For this reason, he would make a terrible commercial tier. He could never clone fifty dozen exact duplicates. The individuality of each fly obsesses him. Just as cane rod makers appreciate the individual nature of each culm of bamboo, Bob recognizes that natural fibers and feathers are not all the same; they must be handled as individuals. Fly tying may be a largely mechanical process, but the art behind the process is what Fleye Design is all about. If anyone considers my analysis of Bob Popovics’s approach too philosophical to be applied to something as seemingly mundane as making fishing lures, he may be right, but only if he treats this sport as a whim, a frivolous entertainment. However, those who undertake it with passion, who appreciate its subtleties, and who want to master this skill, would hardly agree. I don’t profess to fully understand this creativity, any more than I can understand the talent a great composer or painter, but I have observed it for decades, and I admire and appreciate it. Hopefully you will too, after reading Bob’s explanations and instructions and studying Jay Nichols’s magnificent photos.
jnichols –
“I tied my first fly more than sixty years ago and became addicted to what has been the most
relaxing and enjoyable pastime. Traveling for decades over much of the fly-fishing world was an opportunity
to meet, share time with, and learn from many of the best in all areas of our sport. Many were considered
masters of tying, while others simply were concerned with producing patterns that fish would eat.
I first met Bob Popovics in 1971 in Nags Head, North Carolina, at a Saltwater Fly Rodders of America
national get-together. He was fresh out of the Marine Corps. We became instant friends, and luckily, he has
shared many of his patterns with me, to the regret of fish. Bob is a terrific caster and fly fisherman.
As a student of tying, I believe there are hardly more than a dozen new patterns. We fly tiers make use of
variations of other patterns to build the “new” one. Bob Popovics differs from all the tiers I’ve known and
respect, and I believe he is the most innovative of all tiers. Unlike the rest of us, Bob has developed entirely
new methods of constructing flies for both salt and fresh water, as well as using entirely different materials.
In Fleye Design, he has made an intense study of existing natural and synthetic materials.
What else sets Bob apart from the other tiers is how he develops his patterns after years of observation
as to how baitfish swim, their natural movements, and their appearance to predator species. He’s created
abnormally large flies that are almost weightless and can be cast with exceptionally light tackle.
The tying sequence photos are superb and are so detailed and clear that almost anyone could follow
them. Bob’s new and easy-to-understand text and photos will enrich anyone who loves the vise and fishing
with flies they tied.” Lefty Kreh