A History Of The World’s Most Elegant Fishing Flies, By Trey Combs. Limited Edition / Large Oversized Art Format. Limited Edition – 1500 Copies Only – Less Than 500 Available (as of Nov 2025). Limited Edition Dust Jacket. Cloth Hardcover w/Embossed Graphics. Oversized 12.5″ x 10.25″ x 1.5. 384 pages on heavy art-book matte stock. More than 1,000 photographs and illustrations. As Combs does so well, he has delved into history and given today’s anglers a broad, fascinating view of the long progression of how salmon and steelhead flies developed over hundreds of years. As with any evolution, there wasn’t always a clear, straight line. There were many zigzags and fads; sometimes the flies stayed essentially the same for long periods. To tell this story of transformation, the narrative needs storytellers. Trey Combs has rounded up a “who’s who” of supremely gifted fly dressers from the salmon rivers of Scandinavia and Scotland to the steelhead rivers of the Pacific Northwest. In stunning closeup photography, not found anywhere else, these remarkable fly tying creations, old and new, informs this beautiful and inspirational tale of a timeless sport fishing craft. Trey Combs has been synonymous with steelhead fly fishing for more than 50 years. In his first book, The Steelhead Trout (Salmon Trout Steelheader, 1971) he described the migratory habits of ocean steelhead for the first time. His third book, Steelhead Fly Fishing and Flies (Salmon Trout Steelheader, 1976) remained in print for 30 years and was called the steelheader’s bible by a generation of fly fishers. He followed that with Steelhead Fly Fishing (Lyons and Burford, 1991) now the current bible for fly fishers throughout the salmon and steelhead world. These writing milestones were then followed up with Bluewater Fly Fishing (1995) a novel direction for Combs that book explores the exciting realm of saltwater fly fishing, offering insights into techniques, equipment, and strategies for pursuing a variety of saltwater species. For seven years, Combs hosted trips to Costa Rica’s Bahia Pez Vela Lodge for Pacific sailfish. He ultimately caught five different species of billfish on fly-more than 100 marlin and sailfish in all, fishing offshore in Australia, Papua New Guinea, both coasts of both South America and Africa, and through the Americas from Panama to Mexico. For over a decade he worked as the lone charter-master for a long-range fly-fishing program out of San Diego, chartering Royal Star and Shogun for marlin trips to “the ridge” off Mexico. Then, with film crews, he led exploratory trips to the Revillagigedo Archipelago-the Mexican Galapagos-and to the French-owned Clipperton Atoll, islands never visited by fly fishers. Today he lives a couple long casts from the Klickitat River in the little village of Klickitat, Washington. Here he engages in his favorite pastimes, tying flies for steelhead and tubes for Atlantic salmon, and giving them a swim in rivers near and far. Part I – Origins: A Migration Of Classic Salmon Flies To The Steelhead Coast. Jock Scott Creates A Vision. The Golden Age Of Salmon Flies. Benn And The Birth Of The Steelhead Fly. Zane Grey Spreads The Gospel. Syd Glasso’s Stylish Transformation Of The Wet Fly. Part II – Three Amigos: Tube Flies Take Over. Part III – Modern Salmon Flies. Part IV – Modern Steelhead Flies. A Dark Fly For Steelhead. New Takes On A Classic Style. Rabbit Strips And More. Part V – Arise. Bugs And Bombers-Steve Silverio.
