I have just 2 books on tying so far, Skip Morris’ fly tying made clear and simple, and Jack Dennis Western fly tying manual. I think I’m at a point where I need some additional books, but don’t have the slightest idea on what to get. I’m considering the benchside reference in book or CD, and the encyclopedia of patterns by the FFF.
Can anyone give some personal recommendations from their experience? I primarily fish for bluegills, trout by nymph, bass and the occasional carp and consider myself as a novice to intermediate tyer.
Are you looking for books that will help you with skills/techniques, or are you just wanting pattern recipes?
Either. I am looking for good resource books that will help with tying skills, patterns, or other info that is helpful to have on your tying desk. Books are hard to judge without seeing them, and we don’t have many around here to look at.
ol’ blue,
Where in Kansas are you? If you’re close to KC, there’s K&K, Rainbow Fly Shop, Cabelas, Borders, Barnes and Noble … all have excellent supplies of fishing, tying books.
One really fun book for the step up from novice tyer would be The Benchside Introduction to Fly Tying by Leeson and Schollmeyer. It’s split across the pages midway, so you can have a pattern infront of you on the top page, and on the bottom of the page the reference to how to perform each step. Pretty cool! Another Tying book would be The Fly-tying bible by Peter Gathercole.
Might I suggest two books, both by Randall Kaufmann ---- Tying Dry Flies and Tying Nymphs. Both contain color photos of the completed flies and black & white tying instruction photos of various flies to illustrate tying techniques.
Betty,
I’m south of Wichita, so KC is 3 hours or so. We have a couple of shops that carry flyfishing stuff, but not much for books. I’m limited to B&N and other chain type stores.
I am going to get a good list, and hit the local bookstores, and if I can’t find anything there, I’ll go online. Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. I’m getting a good list already.
My suggestion would be Amazon.com books section, they have lots of fly tying books from some of the best tyers around. Take your pick and you can buy them discounted.
You might have great luck finding what you want right here on FAOL.
[url=http://flyanglersonline.com/about/amato/:89af4]Frank Amato Publications[/url:89af4] is one of the sponsors here.
.
Hi,
You could check your local library. They often have a good supply of books there 
Seriously though, I’ve found the local library to be a great source for fly tying books; especially ones that are no longer in print. That way, you can check them out, use it for a few weeks (or however long the lending period is), and then decide if it’s one you would want to buy for yourself.
- Jeff
If you are looking for pattern books try and find a copy of “FLies, The best One Thousand” Frank Amato. or " Fly Pattern’s of Umpqua Feather Merchant’s Both great pattern books.
A few older one’s you might like are “Flies” By Leonard. " The Compleat Book of Fly Tying" By Eric Leiser. And both the “Nymph and Dry Fly Books” By Randall Kaufmann. All good pattern books. That should do you for a bit 
LOL. The Benchside Guide is about the best on the market for new tier’s. Ron
The Benchside Reference is very good for we older guys too. And the one that has helpled me as much as any is A.K. Best’s “Production Fly Tying”. They’re both tying technique books, not pattern catalogs.
G’luck.
Bill
I would also strongly recommend the Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference. It’s a wonderful book that includes detailed descriptions of just about any technique the you would ever need to tie a fly.
Some others that I’m particularly fond of are Production Fly Tying by A.K. Best and Trout Flies by Dave Hughes.
If you look in the book reviews section of this site, there are reveiws on all three of these books.
ol’ blue, How about getting that bench-side one. It will make good reading, really, and you can play with some of the things it shows in there. It is probably the best I know of on how to do stuff, not many patterns, but, that isn’t what it is about. Yup, think that is the best. Patterns come out all the time. ‘How to’ is far more important. 
JC,
I’m really leaning that direction. The net is full of patterns, and techniques are probably more important right now. Pattern books will happen, but I think my skills are the weak link at the moment.
Bluegill…Fly Fishing & Flies and Largemouth Bass Fly Fishing, Beyond the Basics by Terry and Roxanne Wilson.
This couple from Bolivar, Missouri, know warm water fly fishing and how to tie the flies.
You’ll like these books.
Have fun!![/u]
I have a number of pattern and technique books going back 20 years. I wish this one were available when I started. Certainly less complex than the Benchside Reference, it still covers all the basics, is easy to read and understand. More importantly for me, the techniques can be applied to several patterns, with methods that solve some tying mysteries while making flies which are more durable. The patterns that Schek uses as examples are shown with simple mutations so that caddis wet flies (emergers) become mayfly emergers etc. Otherwise nothing beats the Al Campbell series right on this website for both patterns and instructions…
Not to beat a dead horse, but the tutorials and pattern archives on this website are excellent. Look at the articles on flies done by Rick Zieger if you want ideas for warm water flies.