I’m new to both fly fishing and fly tying. It seems like knowing bugs would probably go a long way towards making me better at both. Are there any books anyone can suggest on the insects around the Idaho (regional) area? Any with a nod to fly fishing would be a bonus, but I just want to increase my knowledge.
Thanks for any help.
I bought the “Hatch Guide For Western Streams”
Great paper back small enough to fit in a vest pocket or back pocket. It shows the insect in all stages of life plus the fly to associate with it. As you can see in the ad from Amazon, there is also one for Stillwater too.
I use to have a pocket guide.. laminated pages.. spiral bound I think… Ill have to look for it and then post if I can find it…
also there used to be a guy who had a site that outlined almost everything bugs.. including pictures… just cant remember his name or the site…
MacFly
Awesome. Thanks, I really appreciate the suggestions.
This fly fishing thing has really hit me hard. Fly tying too. Good to have sources for a lot of this information. I’m great full for everything I’m learning here.
The book I mentioned also tells you what the fly is made of too. Or I should say, How to make the fly.
I tried to see if I could download either one of those as an ebook.. but alas.. neither one is there yet..
thats awesome on the how to tie part…
Ill definately have to look for my little ref guide …
MacFly 
The books on hatches is your best bet. Until you get it though, look up hatch charts for your area.
I like the one at West Fly. Do a search for hatch charts West Fly and you should get their hatch chart customizer. (I would give the link, but they have a forum, so I can’t.)
Put in your area and choose summary for the year to get an over view of the bugs that may be in the water. Then you can go back and put in the months you want etc. Remember that still water has different bugs than the rivers.
Next you get to look up fly and nymph patterns for those bugs!
Have fun.
I forgot about this feature:
If you go to the “west-fly-fishing” site and look closely at the menu that is in the dark green stripe, you will see two buttons among some others. One is entomology and the other is fly patterns. There is some good information there especially in the entomology section. Good pictures of the bugs and information on them. Then at the bottom it gives you fly patterns to use, how to present the fly, and where to use the fly ie: lakes, runs, riffles etc.
And sometimes, like with the midge section, there are even additional articles to read.
That website will probably do great 'til I get a reference book I can bring fishing with me.
I think this morning while I drank my coffee before work and read some of the tips provided I reached that magical point where I learned just enough to realize how very little I actually know.
Got to keep reading 
And once you get the entomology part down, here is a site unlike any to view and tie flies that you might be interested in tying:
Love this site!
update on this post.. I found my guide and it is the one that FG suggested.. it is small, spiral bound so you can see the facing pages easity.. it is laminated so I dont think water or dirt would hurt it.. and as she said.. it shows you the bug on one side and flies to use on the facing page..
also the last chapter (I think 5) gives you the materials etc on how to tie a specific fly…
handly little book to have with you …
MacFly
www.troutnut.com has tons of bug information. I dunno how much of it is regional but it has everything you could ever wonder about the insects in it.
thats the site and guy (Jason) I was referring to the other day… for some reason trout bum was stuck in my old brain..
MacFly