What Book is on Your Fly Tying Bench or Bookshelf...??!!

[[email protected] 0]

Hello All,

I am HUGE into the Flyfishing/Fly tying books! I have searched around a little and there are mentions of books, here and there. I thought it might be a neat idea for people to post up what they have or, are tying from. My extensive library consists of many rare and valuable editions from the 1600's to the present! I have primarily English and American volumes. A few years ago, I ran into some hard times and had to ship some of the really nice volumes off to an auction house in England and one here in the US. The English titles went to England and the American titles went to a large auction house here. However, I still have many desirable titles/authors left in the collection. Also, many old and new Limited Editions. It took a few years for the sting to go away, but I have just started getting back into them.

Currently, I am thumbing through this classic volume...

 

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Sorry for the glare off of the protective cover. I figured I would start out with something, not so wild and Mr. Radencich gets so much reference here (as he should!).

[BobHRAH 0]

I have a pretty extensive collection, also, including the Radencich's. But, the 3 that I keep near my vise are Benchside Reference (Leeson and Schollmeyer), Bergmans Trout, and Bates Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing at all times, and currently, Dave Hughes Wet Flies, 2nd edition. 

Thanks, Bob H

[flytire 0]

 

[Philly 0]

I have none on or near my tying desk.  I do have a fair number of books on tying flies, trout, warm water and salt water.  Sorry no salmon around here.  I have a few books on fishing for trout, panfish, bass and NE salt water fish.  I'd have to check out the titles  I do have the Bergman book.   When I started tying,  I brought every fly fishing magazine I could get my hands on.  As I read the magazines I'd cut out articles on fly fishing and flies.  I've got at least a half dozen three ring notebooks full of patterns  that go back to the early nineties along with how to articles.  Not a high brow library, but a bunch of useful and in some cases outdated information.

 

[niveker 0]

Trout - Bergman

A Modern Dry Fly Code - Marinaro

The Anglers Fly Identifier - Simpson & McGavin

The Orvis Fly Pattern Index

Master Fly Tying Guide - Flick 

The Fly Tyers Almanac - Boyle & Whitlock 

The Second Fly Tyers Almanac - Boyle & Whitlock 

The Essential Fly Tier - Leonard 

Essential Trout Flies - Hughes 

Popular Fly Patterns - Hellekson 

The Fisherman's Handbook of Trout Flies - DuBois 

Advanced Fly Fishing Techniques - Kreh 

Bamboo Rod Restoration Handbook - Sinclair 

Fly Tying, How to Get Started - Leiser 

Inshore Fly Fishing - Tabory 

A Book of Trout Flies -Jennings 

Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymphs - Rosborough 

The New Streamside Guide - Flick 

Fly Fishing - Mason

Trout Maverick - Wright, Jr 

Fishing the Dry as a Living Insect - Wright, Jr 

Practical Flies & Their Construction - Gee & Sias 

The Tiers Benchside Reference - Lesson & Schollmeyer 

Might be one or two more tucked under the couch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[upnorthtier 0]

I have quite a few books, the usual titles, most are packed away. My latest book is The Feather Bender's Fly Tying Techniques by Barry Ord Clarke. Im pretty sure that none of the books i have are of any value. 

[[email protected] 0]

On 4/20/2023 at 3:51 PM, BobHRAH said:

I have a pretty extensive collection, also, including the Radencich's. But, the 3 that I keep near my vise are Benchside Reference (Leeson and Schollmeyer), Bergmans Trout, and Bates Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing at all times, and currently, Dave Hughes Wet Flies, 2nd edition. 

Thanks, Bob H

This is funny you mention these, as the Bergman and Bates titles are among my favorites, along with Bates, "Streamers and Bucktails"!

Yeah, I've been called a little crazy with all of my collections...!!

I have collected all of the editions and printings of each. This was quite a task for, "Trout", as you can see! I never counted how many, but there's a bunch! Then I got the idea for the 3, "Streamers and Bucktails". Most of the duplicates are also signed, personal notes, etc.

Thanks for all of the great replies... keep 'em coming!!

[niveker 0]

19 hours ago, [email protected] said:

all of my collections

Thats pretty impressive.  

[ScienceGuy141 0]

These are great collections! I'd like to build on my own collection and curious if there are certain "must haves." Seems like "Trout" is one such title? What about "Caddisflies" and "Selective Trout"?

[SalarMan 0]

As one picture will show, there are only 3 on my tying desk. In addition to those there are my personal journals I use from time to time as a reference of my classic salmon fly tying history. The other photo is looking across the office to the left of my tying desk. These are most of the books I have decided to keep. There are a couple others mixed in on the shelves around the office, and they are of interest. Perhaps I'll move them to an area alongside the favorites shown here. Many are long gone simply because they were no longer of interest, or needed.

 

[niveker 0]

1 hour ago, ScienceGuy141 said:

curious if there are certain "must haves."

I think it really depends on what type of tying and fishing you do: tiny dries and nymphs, saltwater streamers, but Bergman's book is pretty much a staple, IMO.    And a good read, too.  

[[email protected] 0]

1 hour ago, SalarMan said:

As one picture will show, there are only 3 on my tying desk. In addition to those there are my personal journals I use from time to time as a reference of my classic salmon fly tying history. The other photo is looking across the office to the left of my tying desk. These are most of the books I have decided to keep. There are a couple others mixed in on the shelves around the office, and they are of interest. Perhaps I'll move them to an area alongside the favorites shown here. Many are long gone simply because they were no longer of interest, or needed.

 

This is a great collection  @SalarMan! I have everyone of the titles that I can make out. All of the Flyfishers Classic Library (FCL's), I have the original editions. Your copy of Radencich's, "CSFP's"... looks well loved! The book on the bottom shelf, about 6th from the left with the burgundy binding... what is this?

[SalarMan 0]

Robert - You are right about the Radencich book. It is my go to book for researching patterns I might like to tie. The burgundy book on the bottom shelf is "The Classic Salmon and Sea Trout Fly Compendium" by Gary Crewcock and flies tied by Dave Carne. It was a rather limited edition and I was on the right site at the right time to place my order. It is a truly beautiful piece of work.

These aren't really great pictures...and I should take the time to do something better. Perhaps this afternoon if I get a bit of free time. We shall see.

George

[chugbug27 0]

I'm a big fan of HathiTrust, which gives free full text access to books that are in the public domain. For anyone interested, here's a link to my HathiTrust fly tying collection:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/mb?a=listis&c=1685103418

The texts are fully searchable

[cphubert 0]

I have one more shelf in the travel trailer, I enjoy books started a little later in life as I was very nomadic in my first careers lifestyle (military). Also a lot of magazines fly tier, eastern flyfishing, american flyfishing sorted by publish dates.