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Timmy Ties Flys

Fly fishing books are expensive

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As you can tell by the title fly fishing books are expensive I was wondering if anyone could be and kind to let me brow some? I live in central pa but do have mail. Im really looking for George Daniels book or Joe Humphreys.

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If you have a decent public library near you, they often carry some fly fishing titles, and/or can get them from other libraries through inter-library loan. Just a thought.

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I highly recommend the public library, they'll bring in just about any book you ask for. It's where I started many years ago.

After you've gone through about fifty library books, you will find that only a few are books you really want to own, these you can then buy on Amazon or Abe Books for cheap used prices. I own some books that aren't worth the postage to mail them, wish I had checked them out at the library before buying. Brooks best for the cost of shipping

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?cm_sp=SearchFwi-_-SRP-_-Results&kn=complete%20book%20of%20fly%20fishing%20brooks&pt=book&sortby=17

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Not to be a smart ass but who needs books when you have YouTube

 

Im jealous of people that are 20- 30 years younger than me

I spent a lifetime learning how to tie flies from books and going to meetings and clubs and etc. etc.

 

Now days you get on the Internet buy some stuff in a year youll be an excellent tier..maybe sooner.

 

Its instant

 

Ive been tying for 50+ years and I still watch YouTube videos and learn from other people.

I dont even know how you could sell a book in this day and age

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Not to be a smart ass but who needs books when you have YouTube

I dont even know how you could sell a book in this day and age

 

I love the topic of books, and this in no way is an attack on you, Mike. I'd certainly agree with you that if I was wanting to learn to tie a fly pattern, YouTube would probably be much easier and thorough. I can only speak for myself, and I am certainly biased as I wrote and am currently selling a fly fishing guidebook, but I just like to be able to hold the information that I'm studying in my hand. I love the idea and feel of a good book. I like the permanence of a book, versus the here and gone nature of a website. I love the way books look on the bookshelf. I'm at my computer a lot during the day and I don't like getting my fly fishing info from the computer. I guess I just find it a lot more comfortable to sit back next to a roaring fire with a good glass of wine and dig into a well-written fly fishing book. I think many of us thought that with the internet age in full-force, books and magazines would die a slow death, and some have, but all in all I think the book industry is doing quite well. Judging from the number of books I've been blessed to sell, there are a lot of folks that must agree with me. Doug

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I gotta go with Mike W. on this one.

I, too, love a good book. I will read before I go to sleep every night. BUT ... anything "technical" in nature? I can't keep my mind on it. I spend time on the computer everyday, sometimes for work, a lot more for pastime. I also spend a lot of my time at work with my nose in technical publications, teaching or developing curriculum.

The few fly tying books I've seen are, to me, technical in nature. I'll get that from online sources.

 

Give me a good Sci-Fi novel and let me go read for FUN.

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When I lived in Pa you could search for books in the PA library system and have books sent to your local branch from anywhere in the state.

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Not to be a smart ass but who needs books when you have YouTube

[snip]

Yeesh. If you actually think youtube.com is as good a source of information as the vast literature of tying books out there, you must not read much. If nothing else, consider the age old aphorism, 'you get what you pay for'. Not picking on you specifically, just on the general idea that the printed word is somehow irrelevant in the age of the Internet.

 

With regards to the OP's observation, it is basic supply and demand. Others have mentioned alternative sources, but another good place to look is your local fly club. All the clubs I'm a member of have pretty extensive book and video collections that are free to borrow. Make the price of membership worthwhile just by itself.

 

And of course, before you start singling out fly fishing/tying books as expensive, just wait until you see the price of college textbooks.

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Yeesh. If you actually think youtube.com is as good a source of information as the vast literature of tying books out there, you must not read much.

laugh.png Or you don't "YouTube" much. wink.png

Seriously, if you want to know how to tie a certain pattern, or learn a certain technique ... YouTube. You can find it, and not have to prowl through tomes of printed material ... just a few clicks. "VAST" describes the amount of material available online, much more appropriately than in books.

Yes, there are bad videos ... but there are similar patterns in multiple books, and not all of those can be "good" either.

 

I know, I know ... "What if electricity fails?" ... "What happens if the WWW is destroyed?"

 

I fairly certain fly tying won't be a huge issue if either of those near-apocalyptic events happen.

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Books are dead in my world. The entire history of fly tying, every pattern tied every different way, every different tier, every different material and every different technique can be had at the touch of a finger. So much can be found on the internet that you would have to fill your house three times over with fly tying books to get the print equivalent. The print media is no different from the internet in that there is a ton of garbage out there that one must wade through. Wading through the morass is quick easy with the swipe of a finger.

 

Not sure why one would imply that reading a printed book is more intellectual then reading an Ebook. Also not sure why anyone would think YouTube is not a valuable resource. It's a gold mine for those who can distinguish the posers from the experts.

 

I klinged to my morning paper until just last week when I changed to a tablet subscription to the same paper. I thougt I would miss the printed paper. As it turned out, I should have made the switch years ago. Since making the switch My "paper" has not been late, wet, or frozen and clogged in the snowblower. I no longer have to make the cold, wet, humid, snowy trek to the end of the driveway and I'm going to save a few trees in the process.

 

The print media will soon be dead. It is not enjoying a rebirth. The digital age has just tapered off from the "next great thing" initial hysteria. As the technology continues to improve and the price of printed books continue to rise while the price of digital media drops, the print media will continue to suffer a slow death.

 

Old fly tying books are easy to find, if your into old out of date books.

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I'm "old-school". Like a previous post I learned from books back in the early 1970's. Trout by Bergman, Tying American Trout Lures by Cross, Hatches by Cacci and Nastasi, Modern Dry Fly Code by Marinaro, Master Fly Tying Guide by Flick, etc.

 

One word...YouTube.

 

It's all there. Want to learn how to cast? Search for Joan Wulff. Arguably the best fly casting instructor that's ever lived. Back in her prime in the 40's and 50's she was beating the best men in the world in casting competitions.

 

Tying flies? Davy McPhail, Oliver Edwards and others. BTW, all of Oliver Edwards DVD's that he sells? Well, they are all up on YouTube to watch for free.

 

It's all there. The only books I buy now are old rare books.

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I had a ton of stuff to say and I was like screw this its the freaking Internet and I dont have the time to argue with people.

 

Then I read Poopdecks post... pretty much covers it for me.

 

Books are dead click click click the answer

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