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

by Tom Rosenbauer, Lefty Kreh fly fishing legend and au (Foreword by)

Overview

The definitive guide to tying the most successful and productive freshwater and saltwater flies of all time. While there are thousands of flies available to anglers, many of the most popular are those that, by virtue of their fish-catching ability and unique construction methods, have stood the test of time. This indispensable resource features twenty quintessential fly patterns, including the Parachute Adams, Clouser Minnow, and Woolly Bugger. With detailed chapters exploring the history of and variations on each fly, interviews with fly originators, and step-by-step tying “recipes” and instructions, this is the perfect reference book for fly tiers of all abilities. Published in association with The Orvis Company.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493061709
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/20/2021
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	416,421
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Tom Rosenbauer has been a fly fisher for four decades, and was tying flies commercially at age fourteen. He is the author of numerous books, as well as countless articles for American Angler, Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and other periodicals. He is a marketing manager with the Orvis Company in Manchester, Vermont, and lives in nearby Pawlet.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 5

Foreword Lefty Kreh 5

Introduction Tom Rosenbauer 9

Dry Flies

Dave's Hopper 16

Sidebar: Oak-Mottled Turkey

Pattern Variations: Joe's (Michigan) Hopper and Letort Hopper

Elk Hair Caddis 28

Sidebar: Hare's Ear Fur

Pattern Variation: X-Caddis

Griffith's Gnat 36

Sidebar: Tying with Peacock Herl

Pattern Variation: Hi-Vis Griffith's Gnat

Parachute Adams 44

Sidebar: Mixing Hackles

Pattern Variations: Traditional Adams and Parachute Hare's Ear

Red Quill 56

Sidebar: Stripped Hackle Stem Bodies

Pattern Variation: Dun Variant

Royal Wulff 66

Sidebar: Choosing Wings for Visible Flies

Pattern Variations: Royal Trude and Royal Humpy

Sparkle Dun 78

Sidebar: Selecting Hair for Sparkle Duns

Pattern Variations: Haystack and PMD Comparadun

Stimulator 86

Sidebar: How to Choose Elk Hair

Pattern Variations: Rubber-Leg Crystal Stimulator (Fluorescent Green), Foamulator (Black), and Royal Stimulator

Yellow Humpy 96

Sidebar: Hackles for Big Dry Flies

Pattern Variations: Green Humpy and Orange Humpy

Nymphs

American Pheasant Tail 108

Sidebar: Working with Beads

Pattern Variations: Beadhead Pheasant Tail and Original Frank Sawyer Pheasant Tail

LaFontaine's Deep Sparkle Pupa 116

Sidebar: Antron, Z-Lon, and LaFontaine's Sparkle Yarn

Pattern Variations: Dark Gray Deep Sparkle Pupa and Emergent Sparkle Pupa

Prince 124

Sidebar: Wet Fly and Nymph Hackle

Pattern Variations: Dark Lord and The Fly Formerly Known as Prince

Streamers

Muddler Minnow 136

Sidebar: Spinning Deer Hair for Muddler Heads

Pattern Variations: White Marabou Muddler and Yellow Conehead Marabou Muddler

Woolly Bugger 148

Sidebar: Choosing Marabou

Pattern Variations: Crystal Bugger, Black Tunghead Woolly Bugger, and Egg-Sucking Leech

Saltwater Flies

Clouser Deep Minnow 158

Sidebar: Natural and Synthetic Materials

Pattern Variations: Half-and-Half and Ultra Hair Albie Clouser

Crazy Charlie 164

Sidebar: Eyes for Bonefish Flies

Pattern Variations: Christmas Island Special and Gotcha

Lefty's Deceiver 170

Sidebar: Hackles for Saltwater Flies

Pattern Variations: Black Lefty's Deceiver and Cockroach Lefty's Deceiver

Peanut Butter 178

Sidebar: Dealing with Fine Synthetic Hair

Pattern Variations: Floating Baitfish and Mangrove Baitfish

Surf Candy 188

Sidebar: Using Resins in Saltwater Flies

Pattern Variations: Deep Candy and Full-Dress Surf Candy

Steelhead

Skykomish Sunrise 200

Sidebar: Styles of Steelhead Flies

Pattern Variations: Skykomish Dark and Trey Combs Skykomish Sunrise

Index 207

Editorial Reviews

"In this book, Tom Rosenbauer has chosen 20 patterns that have produced over the years. Buy these, learn how and when to use them, and you almost certainly will catch more fish."—Lefty Kreh

"Tom Rosenbauer is a lifelong fly fisherman and tier, and he shares his hard-earned expertise in The Orvis Guide to the Essential American Flies. In this new book, Tom tells the histories of many of our favorite flies and also shows us how to tie them. Experienced anglers will learn the origins of the patterns in their fly boxes, and new tiers will discover great fly-tying principles and tips. The Orvis Guide to the Essential American Flies will be an indispensable resource for all fly fishermen.”—David Klausmeyer, Editor, Fly Tyer magazine

NetGalley Review: 4 stars

Last updated on 24 Jun 2021

"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."

—Sheila J, Consumer Reviewer

NetGalley Review: 5 stars

Last updated on 02 Aug 2021

"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 your next fishing adventures."—Richelle Rodarte, consumer reviewer

NetGalley Review: 5 stars

Last updated on 16 Aug 2021

"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!"—Randal White, consumer reviewer

NetGalley Review: 5 stars

Last updated on 19 Aug 2021

"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."—Annie Buchanan, reviewer at nonstopreaderbooks

"The Orvis Guide is the most impressive tying manual I’ve ever opened up. I reckon it’ll do for this" generation of fly tiers what Jack Dennis’s old Western Trout Flies books did for folks back in the ’80s." —Spencer Durant

From the Publisher