The Way of a Trout was originally intended to be a treatise on the theory and practice of dressing trout flies but, by Skues's own admission, does not do a very good job of it. The book does include a number of original and interesting chapters on fly dressing and Skues's theories on the vision of trout. Additionally, theMinor Tactics section expands on Skues's exploration of nymph fishing for trout.[1]
InNotable Angling Literature (1945) James Robb said of Skues andThe Way of a Trout:
He pursued the matter [Nymph fishing] with his striking booksThe Way of a Trout with the Fly andNymph Fishing for Chalk Stream Trout. Mr. Skues is a useful antedote to the extremists who followed Halford and should be read along with that author. To Mr. G. E. M. Skues anglers are indebted among other things for his particular method of tying as well as for his imitations of nymphs; they are given in hisMinor Tactics of the Chalk Stream andThe Way of a Trout with the Fly.[2]
InThe Well-Tempered Angler (1965)Arnold Gingrich listedThe Way of a Trout as one of the top 30 literary and technical books on fly fishing since the publication of theTreatyse of Fysshynge Wyth an Angle (1496)[3]
Dr. Andrew Herd, noted British fly-fishing historian, characterizesThe Way of The Trout:
This is a classic and I often wonder if Skues knew it would be when he set pen to paper. The book is inspirational in a way that Halford's work never was and grips the reader's attention right from the cover, which in the first edition bears the words: ....
The Way of a Trout shows Skues at the height of his powers and it contains the best of his thinking on fishing nymphs and semi-submerged patterns, illustrated by the sort of asides, stories and vast fund of experience that only he could call upon.[4]
InSkues on Trout (2008) Paul Schullery notes:
His second book, which many still regard as a masterpiece, wasThe Way of a Trout with the Fly (1921), and it quickly established him as one of the day's great angling theorists--as it also established the intellectual and ethical basis for sunken flies as legitimate tools of a well-rounded angler.[5]
Skues, G. E. M. (1928).The Way of a Trout with the Fly (2nd ed.). London: A & C Black.
Skues, G. E. M. (1935).The Way of a Trout with the Fly (3rd ed.). London: A & C Black.
Skues, G. E. M. (1949).The Way of a Trout with the Fly (4th ed.). London: A & C Black.
Skues, G. E. M. (1955).The Way of a Trout with the Fly (4th Edition 2nd Printing ed.). London: A & C Black.
Skues, G. E. M. (1961).The Way of a Trout with the Fly (4th Edition-Revised ed.). London: A & C Black.ISBN1-4995-0836-0.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Skues, G. E. M. (1973).The Way of a Trout with the Fly (4th Edition-Reprint ed.). London: A & C Black.ISBN0-7136-0712-2.
Skues, G. E. M. (1993).The Way of a Trout with the Fly (Flyfisher's Classic Library 1921 Facsimile ed.). Wales, UK: Bovey Tracy.
Skues, G. E. M. (1996).The Way of a Trout with the Fly (Collectors ed.). Norwalk CT: Easton Press.
^Skues, G. E. M. (2008). Schullery, Paul (ed.).Skues on Trout: Observations from an Angler Naturalist. Mechanicsburg, Pa: Stackpole Books. pp. xi–xii.ISBN9780811703581.
