The Fly-fisher's Entomology
Frontispiece and title page (1849 edition)
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| Author | Alfred Ronalds |
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| Illustrator | Alfred Ronalds |
| Subject | Fly fishing |
| Publisher | Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, London |
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Publication date
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1836 |
| Pages | 115 |
The Fly-Fisher's Entomology, Illustrated by Coloured Representations of the Natural and Artificial Insect and Accompanied by a Few Observations and Instructions Relative to Trout-and-Grayling Fishing, first published in 1836 by Alfred Ronalds (1802–1860), was the first comprehensive work related to the entomology associated with fly fishing. Although the work was Ronalds' only book, it was published in 11 editions between 1836 and 1913 and has been extensively reprinted in the last 100 years.
The Fly-fisher's Entomology is the archetype fly-fishing how-to book. Most fly-fishing historians credit Ronalds with setting a literature standard in 1836 that is still followed today. Describing methods, techniques and, most importantly, artificial flies, in a meaningful way for the angler and illustrating them in colour is a method of presentation that can be seen in most fly-fishing literature today. As the name implies, this book is mostly about the aquatic insects—mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies—that trout and grayling feed on and their counterpart artificial imitations. Less than half the book (chapters I–III) is devoted to observations of trout, their behaviour, and the methods and techniques used to catch them. Most of this information, although enhanced by Ronalds' experiences and observations, was merely an enhancement of Charles Bowlker's Art of Angling (first published in 1774 but still in print in 1836).
Ronalds introduced several new ideas, however, in Chapter I. His experiments and observations led him to describe and illustrate the trout's Window of vision, a concept an understanding of which is still essential today. Vincent Marinaro, in his classic work In the Ring of the Rise (1976), credits Ronalds with discovering and documenting this window and includes a reproduction of plate II–Optical diagrams in his book. Ronalds’ physicist brother Sir Francis Ronalds quantified the phenomenon for Alfred using his knowledge of optics. In the sub-chapter "Haunts", through discussion and illustration (plate I), Alfred Ronalds introduces the idea known today as reading the water to help the angler identify the most likely locations in the stream to find trout.
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