Meck's genius is to show the angler that the understanding we need to catch fish is not the memorization of hundreds of bugs and their Latin names. The key to successful fishing is using the right fly at the right time ("matching the hatch"). The Hatches Made Simple for the first time identifies the broad patterns by which hatches happen. For example, light tan colored mayflies tend to hatch at certain times, and drab gray mayflies hatch at other times. Instead of memorizing all the individual insects, the angler just needs to learn the timing of the patterns to these hatches. Armed with a knowledge of those patterns, matching the hatch becomes an entirely new game. More knowledge equals more fish. The essence of trout fishing with a fly is understanding hatches. That quest for understanding has spawned an entire literature of fly fishing.