Dean,
Seven years ago when I was planning on visaiting southern Cal, I found I had alot of trouble finding out about the saltwater flyfishing scene there (my parents live in Laguna Niguel), so I'm familiar with that part of your problem. I read FlyTyer just to get ideas to try. As for originality, I assume that anything that I try has probably been tried before. I name my patterns after what they are supposed to imitate. Reading Flyfishing in Saltwaters occasionally has an article directly appropriate to me, but most often it is just fuel for dreaming about places I'll never be able to go.
One of the best presents I ever got (15-16 years ago) was the "FlyTyer Pattern Bible" which was from the old version of the Flytyer mag. The spiral binding is long gone and the pages are now in polypropylene sleeves in a 3 ring binder. The other pattern book I have is Stewart and Allen's Flies for Bass and Panfish, an enjoyable collection.
Mark Delaney
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