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CapeBSalar

Best Beginner Fly Tying Book

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I'm way late to this party, but....

 

I don't know if I could ever narrow it down to *one* favorite book. I have a small library of them on the shelf. All have useful information in them.

 

As noted above, the easiest to use are the ones that will lay flat when opened, so that you can look at the page and reference something, without having to hold the book open.

 

Now, I need to go to the beginning of this thread, and read through the 23 pages of responses, to see what books I'm missing, and go add them to my collection!

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Depends on what species you are targeting.  If you after Bass, I would suggest "Couser's Flies".  Charlie Craven taught the first class I took, before he published a book.  Great tyer and good writer.  Dave Hughes is my all around favorite fly tying writer, but Skip Morris has the easiest books to follow.

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Beatty is name that will always give you top grade stuff.  As authors, Gretchen and Al are still in the game at the highest level.  And, have been for many years...

If I could only keep one reference work and because

I am a beginner on so many patterns, the best one, for me, with really diverse coverage is:

 

 

image.jpg

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Hands down is Helen Shaw's "Fly Tying".  It does NOT have a single fly pattern in the whole book!  What she does do so very well is teach how to tie using each material - thread, floss, wool, dubbing, etc...  She'll teach you the finer points of tying the materials first (learn to play an instrument by learning the notes first approach) the go and find some patterns to tie.

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On 5/2/2020 at 12:55 PM, WWKimba said:

Hands down is Helen Shaw's "Fly Tying".  It does NOT have a single fly pattern in the whole book!  What she does do so very well is teach how to tie using each material - thread, floss, wool, dubbing, etc...  She'll teach you the finer points of tying the materials first (learn to play an instrument by learning the notes first approach) the go and find some patterns to tie.

I have to credit Helen Shaw’s book for helping me not give up on fly tying. At the time there was no internet and very few resources in my area as a kid to learn fly tying.  A modern choice would be Charlie Craven’s basic fly tying book.

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4 hours ago, Mogup said:

I have to credit Helen Shaw’s book for helping me not give up on fly tying. At the time there was no internet and very few resources in my area as a kid to learn fly tying.  A modern choice would be Charlie Craven’s basic fly tying book.

I agree that Charlie's book as well as his style (just look at his videos!).  I've seen snippets from his book - never had the pleasure of reading the whole thing.  I love his videos because he tells a lot without talking a lot!  Keeps his message clear and concise while still teaching. 

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You can kind of tell when folks started fly ting by what book they recommend for beginners.

I used Fling and Puterbaugh's "Basic Manual of Fly Tying" published in 1981.

https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9780806986548utm_source=Google?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=lbHlpxiEbDY&utm_campaign=10&siteID=lbHlpxiEbDY-lM3uBuN2mDnXOuPX8ZBhLQ

9780806981468-us.jpg

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The Orvis Fly-Tying Guide by Tom Rosenbaur was revised and re-released in 2020.  It would be a good choice for a first and only book.  Pricy at $39.95.  Of course, collecting fly tying books is as addictive as tying flies...

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I'm new here and there certainly quite a few books to get. My wife won't be happy with my Christmas list this year.

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57 minutes ago, BillD58 said:

I'm new here and there certainly quite a few books to get. My wife won't be happy with my Christmas list this year.

No need to spend a ton on new books, buy some used books in great shape.

Amazon and eBay are your friend.

 

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25 minutes ago, gillage said:

No need to spend a ton on new books, buy some used books in great shape.

Amazon and eBay are your friend.

 

Thank you, Been checking out yard sales as well. Not much luck so far.

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1 hour ago, BillD58 said:

I'm new here and there certainly quite a few books to get.

Welcome to the site, BillD.  

In addition to the two mentioned above, you can usually get pretty good deals at online used book stores also:

abebooks.com

hpb.com

thriftbooks.com

to name a few.  

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