Much more than a basic fly fishing manual, this handsome volume surveys a wide range of the sport's most intriguing issues, strategies and techniques. From specific skills like casting loops and tying leader material together to discussions on how trout feed,  identifying insects, finding bonefish and how to fish to stripers and bluefish, it provides advice from the Orvis sporting goods company's fly fishing consultants.

"This book is as good as it gets for learning tricks from some of the best teachers around," boasts editor Tom Rosenbauer. "I'm here not because I'm such as great fly fisher or great writer. I'm here, and I chose the other contributors, because as a group we've never lost sight of what it's like to be a novice standing in the middle of a river or ocean far from home with very little idea about what to do with that long skinny pole in our hands... No one in this book has anything to prove or any hidden agenda, beyond the satisfaction of helping other people solve problems on a trout stream, steelhead river, or saltwater flat."

Newcomers to fly fishing may use this text to learn the basics of the sport, how to tie knots or identify aquatic insects; more advanced anglers will find new skills to master or fish to pursue. Topics covered in its pages include: setting up the rod, grip, and stance; use of the forearm and wrist in fly casting; applying power to the casting stroke; false casting, roll casting and roll-cast pickup, the single and double haul, common problems and how to solve them.

Back to the Book Stall

    The size of the casting arc is critical, but the path the rod tip travels through the casting stroke is just as important, if not more important. Your casting arc may be the proper size, but if the track or path of your casting stroke is incorrect, the line will not straighten out completely. It is important to note that the rod tip dictates where the line will go. If the rod tip travels in a straight line throughout the casting stroke, you will have a perfect straight-line cast. The path the rod tip travels also determines the size of the casting loop. What does a correct casting loop look like? If fly line had stripes on it, then good fly-casting loops would look like candy canes. As a rule, the smaller or narrower the loop at the end of the candy cane, the better. Narrow loops tend to fly or cut through the air better than larger, more open loops.
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