This book, Wet Flies: Tying, explains tying techniques, materials and proportions, while teaching effective fly tying skills. This is a progressive book. It starts by diagramming and tying a basic soft hackle, then adds other bits and techniques to arrive at what must be called gaudy wet flies. You can jump in where you'd like, of course, but the beginning is a very good place to start. Although I will draw deeply from wet fly tradition, I am neither a historian, nor a wet fly expert. But I love tying and fishing these patterns, and am convinced that learning the patterns and techniques has merit because it expands fly tying frontiers.