Imposters, by Skip Morris, is closest you may ever come to a collection of fly fishing stories where the flies are the main characters. Now, those tying, choosing, and employing these flies are certainly part of the plot. The fish make appearances as well. But the real stars of Morris’ excellent writing are the flies. …
There is something good about having one, do-it-all tool. There is something good about having exactly what you need for each and every situation you may find yourself in. You can go off the rails to either side, however. On one hand, you can limit yourself. On the other, conspicuous consumption fills up your closet …
On one hand, a fly fishing guidebook is a tool. The author gives you what you need to catch fish in a particular location. But a good guidebook is much more. The writer shares his passion for a place he truly enjoys and in which he is personally invested. That excitement comes through in a …
Coming in at over 1,700 pages, Ernest Schwiebert’s Trout is a massive marvel of angling literature. But don’t let the page count make you nervous… there are a few pictures here and there. Genuinely, Trout is a very readable work. Taking it all in cover-to-cover might be a bit much, but the six “books” within …
I like your questions so much, I decided to share them again. This time, I’m addressing what you’ve asked as it pertains to fly fishing books. And it is, like most of my fly fishing book content these days, on YouTube. After 70+ fly fishing book review videos, I’ve collected quite a few questions from …
A good storyteller can talk about pretty much anything and enthrall his audience. How much better is it to have a good storyteller who freely shares tale after tale about the natural world and fly fishing? Such is the case with Riverhorse Nakadate’s Water Lines. This 2026 publication from Patagonia is an absolute delight. Using …
Most of what you read or watch about conservation probably deals with the “how.” How do we remove dams quickly and safely? How should we legislate public land use? How many trout should someone be allowed to keep? Every once in a while, the “why” questions get addressed. Usually, people are invested in conservation because …
There are some tremendous resources on the history of fly fishing out there. There are also lots and lots of subpar books and blog articles out there, many which repeat the same ideas and (sometimes) myths. Usually the latter are accessible and the former are daunting. Ian Whitelaw’s The History of Fly-Fishing in Fifty Flies …
If the fly fisher in your life has been actively pursuing the hobby for any length of time, he might be hard to shop for. If he or she doesn’t already have it, they probably have a very specific idea of what it is. Buying off of a list is all fine and good. But …
Why buy a cumbersome fly fishing guidebook when all that information is on the internet? Why purchase something that is just going to be out of date in a few seasons anyway? Today I share why fly fishing guidebooks are not only helpful, but important to anglers. There is indeed a wealth of access and …
