There aren't too many streams where I am from so trout fishing isn't really my thing... but I did start by buying books by many of the well know fishing greats like Stu, Lefty, Flip Pallot, Ed Jaworowski and Bob Popovics. I reproduced much of their great designs and they work. But it got to the point where you have to observant of the small area that you fish. The flies that they invented work but not for all situations. The most recent book I bought was a bait fish encyclopedia which was pretty much a profile of all small fishes with a description for each. From there I would experiment with shapes and patterns till I got one that worked and stood up to abuse from mangroves, casting, etc. Take fish off hook and repeat till sun goes down.
