Fly tying book recommendations.

[wrongfoot]

Hello everyone

I wonder if you would be so kind as to recommend a single (or as a maximum a pair of) book(s) which will comprehensively cover most/all fly tying techniques, ideally with clear diagrams or pictures. A how-to bible for flytying, so to speak.

Similarly can you recommend a single (or pair of) book(s) which extensively covers most fly and lure patterns, ideally with photographs of the finished flies. The book should not waste many pages describing the techiques required to tie it, but might describe what the fly is intended to imitate, who designed it, variants and how it is most commonly fished. I don't want the details of extra British salmonid patterns to be limited because of pagespace dedicated to Panfish, Bass, Permit, Bonefish and Tarpon flies. These aren't likely to be of much use to me and I've been disappointed by the content of (general flyfishing) books by US authors in the past - 2/3 them is irrelevant to a British flyfisher.

Combined the 2 (or 4) books should be the ones that you would keep if you had to be without all other references - you get the idea I'm a relative novice who cannot afford to make mistakes when purchasing, and who has very very limited library space and so need real value from my references.

I have searched the forums and read some of your recommendations on other threads and I hope that you'll find the time to reply to this thread.

Thank-you.

[taggarc]

out of the 5-6 books I have this is by far the most useful/used

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fly-tying-Bi...9576010&sr=8-1

More reviews at amazon.com


Tag

[wrongfoot]

Originally Posted by wrongfoot

which will comprehensively cover most/all fly tying techniques, ideally with clear diagrams or pictures.

Well, after a bit of snooping at the library and online research, I sprang for The (expensive) Fly Tier's Benchside Reference which seems to be well recommended. The other titles I read at the library weren't quite what I was after.

Since there weren't many replies I'll review my purchase for you all later.

The jury's still out on the books to cover patterns, so speak up if you have any suggestions.

PS. Thanks for the one reply so far.

[IanD]

Originally Posted by wrongfoot

The jury's still out on the books to cover patterns, so speak up if you have any suggestions.

My own advice would be not to bother with pattern books at this stage.
The tying details for traditional patterns can be found on the internet,
http://www.flytyer.co.uk/ for an example, and modern patterns appear so quickly that it's not likely a book could keep up.
It may be that later on you develop an interest in certain specific areas, like Irish loch patterns or maybe flies that use CDC, or emergers, in which case a book could be a worthwhile purchase.

[dwiltshire]

Hi Wrongfoot,

The internet is a great tool for the fly tier and you can learn alot. However, if you're after concise, helpful books look for those by Pete Gathercole / Alan Bithell / Olly Edwards etc.

The singly most important thing with fly tying though is find a technique and practise it over and over again. If you don't like what you've tied, cut it and start again. Be critical with yourself.

Also worth a look at other forums, as well as this one. There are some forums that are dedicated to flytying. Some allow you to post your efforts and you'll get custructively critical advice. Try this one...
http://www.flytyingforum.com/