Fly fishing books have been an important part of the sport for hundreds of years, taking different forms and meeting various needs. Even when so much information is available at the tap of a smart phone, tangible media is incredibly valuable. Whether it be a novel assisting in winter escapism or a tattered, dog-eared, highlighted river guide on the back seat, books are a part of the angler’s life.
There are some major genres, all with subgenres and the potential for some intermingling. I’ve divided fly fishing books into three major categories:
- Guide (regional, site specific)
- Technical (methods, locations, fly tying)
- Literature (novels, biographies, history)
More often than not, a book can contain a little bit of each. Fly fishing is an activity tailor made for tacticians to wax poetical, and for tour guides to write with flowery prose. Some of the best books we have blur the lines of literary type. The anecdotes in guidebooks bring life to the maps and regulation lists. Inversely, a few tips and tricks in a person’s autobiographical work can help improve the reader’s time on the water.
Click the name of the title to head to an article with a brief review and a link to where you can get the book.
Guide
Trout Unlimited Guide to Pennsylvania Limestone Streams, A. Joseph Armstrong
Fly Fishing the Mid-Atlantic, by Beau Beasley
Fly Fishing Virginia, by Beau Beasley
Keystone Fly Fishing, Headwater Books
Guide To Maryland Trout Fishing: The Catch-and-Release Streams, by Charlie Gelso & Larry Coburn
Flyfisher’s Guide to Northern New England, by Steve Hickoff & Rhey Plumley
Flyfisher’s Guide to the New England Coast, by Tom Keer
Squaretail, by Bob Mallard
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region
Fly Fishing Austin & Central Texas, by Aaron Reed
Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, by Chris Santella
Fifty More Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, by Chris Santella
Fly-Fishing Guide to the Upper Delaware River, by Paul Weamer
Trout Fishing Sourcebook, by Mark D. Williams
Flyfisher’s Guide to New England, by Lou Zambello
Technical
The Curtis Creek Manifesto, by Sheridan Anderson
Night Fishing for Trout, by James Bashline
Fly-Fishing the Flats, by Barry & Cathy Beck
About Trout: The Best of Robert Behnke from Trout Magazine, by Robert Behnke
Trout & Salmon of North America, by Robert Behnke
Fly Tying for Everyone, by Tim Cammisa
CVTU’s Favorite Flies, The Cumberland Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited
Strip-Set, by George Daniel
Art Flick’s New Streamside Guide, by Art Flick
The Fly Fisher’s Book of Lists, by David Goetz & Steve Matthewson
Spring Creek Strategies: Hatches, Patterns, and Techniques, by Mike Heck
Brook Trout, by Nick Karas
Casting with Lefty Kreh, Lefty Kreh
Presenting the Fly, by Lefty Kreh
Spring Creeks, by Mike Lawson
In the Ring of the Rise, by Vincent Marinaro
Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass, by Harry Murray
Talleur’s Basic Fly Tying, by Richard Talleur
Literature
The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel Carson
The Incompleat Angler, by Jim Enger
This Wonderful World of Trout, by Charles K. Fox
Catskill Rivers, by Austin Francis
River’s Edge, by Walt Franklin
Fishing a Highland Stream, by John Ingles Hall
Big Two-Hearted River, by Ernest Hemingway
Waters of the Valley: 50 Years of the Cumberland Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited, by Michael Klimkos
Salmon: A Fish, the Earth and the History of their Common Fate, by Mark Kurlansky
Spring Creek, by Nick Lyons
A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, by Norman Maclean
Remembering Dud Dean, by Arthur Macdougall
Downstream, by David O’Hara & Matthew Dickerson
The Complete Angler, by James Prosek
Joe and Me: An Education in Fishing and Friendship, by James Prosek
American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon, by Steven Rinella
Rivers of Restoration, by John Ross
Limestone Legends, by Norm Shires & Jim Gilford
Written on Water, by Randy Spencer
Headwaters, by Dylan Tomine
Trout Madness, by Robert Traver
Travers Corners, by Scott Waldie
Storied Waters, by David Van Wie
Tight Lines, The Yale Anglers’ Journal
Do you have a favorite fly fishing book? Have you written a book that you’d like me to read? Please let me know!