The Orvis Guide to the Essential American Flies: How to Tie the Most Successful Freshwater and Saltwater Patterns

Very well done book on a beloved sport. The magic is all in those perfect ties! A very well thought put guide for creating what works for you in tou next fishing adventures.

I gave my husband my tablet and put this book Orvis Guide to the Essential Americsn Flies on for him. He teaches fly tying at the local outdoor center, he really liked this book. He studied each fly and can't wait to make some. He felt it was thorough and the directions were easy to follow. The pictures are great also. He really likes this book and will be purchasing a copy for his students to use.

The Orvis Guide to the Essential American Flies is an information dense primer about fly tying with tutorials by Tom Rosenbauer. Originally published in 2011, this reformat and re-release is due out 20th Sept. 2021 from Rowman & Littlefield on their Lyons Press imprint. It's 208 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats (earlier editions available in other format).

This is a no-nonsense book. There are 20 tutorials here and they are specific, well illustrated, beautifully photographed and instructional, but what really engaged me and what I most enjoyed reading were the friendly, open, and honest reminiscences and memories related about fish, about fishing, about being outdoors, and about other fishers and sharing experiences. And the tutorials of course.

Each of the tutorials includes the name, background history, extreme close up macro photograph, tools and supplies in a bullet list color highlighted text box, and detailed step-by-step instructions. The instructions include close-up photographs which are clear, in color, and don't have any fingers or tools blocking the view. Alternatives for different sizes and color variations are shown in their own boxes outside the main instructions.

The author gives good tips for how to get the best performance out of the ties and where to use them. The book is full of good info and will be right at home with fly tying and fishing enthusiasts. Although I don't fish much, I do enjoy tying the occasional fly for friends and family, and this was a joy to read.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Tom Rosenbauer is an excellent writer, speaker, and above all, fly fisherman. I have read many, many of his books, and listen to his podcast regularly.
In this book, he has really knocked it out of the park! He takes 20 of the most commonly used fishing flies, and broken each one down into segments. It's history, how to tie it, and variations that you can introduce to it.
The tying instructions are phenomenal. Whether you are a beginner, or have been tying flies for years, you can easily learn something here. I picked up a multitude of hints to improve my own tying.
I have been fly fishing and tying my own flies for over forty years. I intend on keeping this book handy at my tying desk. And I will be buying additional copies for my fly fishing friends. I guess that alone tells you how much I enjoyed this book!