At times we take it for granted, it's just an extension of our arm, but how much do you know about the development of your fly rod? Don Phillips gives the reader a perspective of how fly-rod technology has evolved since the earliest Chinese and Egyptian fishermen fed their families more than 2000 years before the birth of Christ. In this book, Don shares: the history, including the very first rods; fly-rod design over the years; the use of cane, metal, fiberglass, and boron and graphite; the properties of these materials; manufacturing processes for these materials; component design; patent activities over the years; casting; taper and cross-sectional geometry; and much, much more. You'll find this very detailed book hard to put down.

Devin Olsen explains how the techniques he has used to become a repeat medalist in fly fishing competitions around the world can be adapted to everyday fly fishing situations. He covers strategies, tactics, and flies for rivers, small streams, and still waters, allowing anyone to fish more successfully by applying the approaches taken by competitive anglers.

Modern-day fly fishing, like much in life, has become exceedingly complex, with high-tech gear, a confusing array of flies and terminal tackle, accompanied by high-priced fishing guides. This book reveals that the best way to catch trout is simply, with a rod and a fly and not much else. The wisdom in this book comes from a simpler time, when the premise was: the more you know, the less you need. It teaches the reader how to discover where the fish are, at what depth, and what they are feeding on. Then it describes the techniques needed to present a fly at that depth, make it look lifelike, and hook the fish. With chapters on wet flies, nymphs, and dry flies, its authors employ both the tenkara rod as well as regular fly fishing gear to cover all the bases. Illustrated by renowned fish artist James Prosek, with inspiring photographs and stories throughout, Simple Fly Fishing reveals the secrets and the soul of this captivating sport.

Thirty-five million Americans–one in eight–like to go fishing. Fly fishers have always considered themselves the aristocracy of the sport, and a small number of those devotees, a few thousand at most, insist upon using one device in the pursuit of their obsession: a handcrafted split-bamboo fly rod. Meeting this demand for perfection are the inheritors of a splendid art, one that reveres tradition while flouting obvious economic sense and reaches back through time to touch the hands of such figures as Theodore Roosevelt and Henry David Thoreau. In Casting a Spell, George Black introduces readers to rapt artisans and the ultimate talismans of their uncompromising fascination: handmade bamboo fly rods. But this narrative is more than a story of obscure objects of desire. It opens a new vista onto a century and a half of modern American cultural history. With bold strokes and deft touches, Black explains how the ingenuity of craftsmen created a singular implement of leisure–and how geopolitics, economics, technology, and outrageous twists of fortune have all come to focus on the exquisitely crafted bamboo rod. We discover that the pastime of fly-fishing intersects with a mind-boggling variety of cultural trends, including conspicuous consumption, environmentalism, industrialization, and even cold war diplomacy. Black takes us around the world, from the hidden trout streams of western Maine to a remote valley in Guangdong Province, China, where grows the singular species of bamboo known as tea stick–the very stuff of a superior fly rod. He introduces us to the men who created the tools and techniques for crafting exceptional rods and those who continue to carry the torch in the pursuit of the sublime. Never far from the surface are such overarching themes as the tension between mass production and individual excellence, and the evolving ways American society has defined, experienced, and expressed its relationship to the land. Fly-fishing may seem a rarefied pursuit, and making fly rods might be a quixotic occupation, but this rich, fascinating narrative exposes the soul of an authentic part of America, and the great significance of little things. George Black’s latest expedition into a hidden corner of our culture is an utterly enchanting, illuminating, and enlightening experience.

An inside view of a community of extraordinary people: the leading collectors, dealers and auctioneers of antique fly fishing tackle.

If you're looking to spend some time chasing one of the Atlantic's most popular sport fish, this book can help make it time well spent. Chico Fernández shares a lifetime of expertise and experiences fly fishing for redfish up and down the Atlantic Coast, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico.