Fly-fishing literature, reading recommendations, and books that capture the spirit of angling. Stories and wisdom from writers who understand the water.
Fly Tying
We hopped the Pheasant Tail Simplicity press tour train and had a chance to chat with one of its iconic co-authors, Craig Mathews, about a bevy of topics related to tying flies, the future of conservation, and much more.
Six Tips to Start
Blue Ribbon Flies co-founder and co-author of Pheasant Tail Simplicity offers six tips for beginning fly tiers to get the ball rolling behind the vise.
Pheasant Tail Simplicity
Announcing our Pheasant Tail fall giveaway, a member Q&A on tenkara and creative woodworking projects, tariffs bite the fly fishing industry, and a Leaders roundup of must-reads from around the fly fishing world
Pheasant Tail Simplicity
We're going all-in on Patagonia's latest book, with a virtual book club meeting, fly-tying events in Portland, and a special surprise.
Read by the River
Our river nerd book club turns to trees: backyard conservation, native plants, and creating habitat that supports the food web.
Read by the River
Join us for a discussion of backyard ecology in our Summer edition of the Read By the River book club.
Guides
Gleaning advice for taking your first guided fly-fishing trip from legendary fly-fishing guides and a tome that's stood the test of time
Newsletter
The season kicks off with a rush of fun, with the TroutFest agenda dropping, a little soliloquy, a report from our book club, and my first significant fish of the new season.
Read by the River
Saving dolphins, propitiating river spirits, and the future of history
Newsletter
Roll cameras, because the Fly Fishing Film Tour came to town.
Newsletter
If you wish to make a fly rod from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
Newsletter
Grand Canyon dreaming, communing with the fishes, Jackson County's finest, Tokyo shopping, and a great smallmouth bass learning opportunity
Books
When we can't fish and make stories, we read stories. Sometimes those are fly-fishing stories, and sometimes they're not. Here are three that rolled across the bedside table, from the Grand Canyon to the Mariana Trench to the Carhartteratti of Jackson Hole's Persephone Bakery.
Writing
Many presidents have fished, but few had the soul of an angler.
Newsletter
Sometimes, literally. The five favorite (mostly) fly-fishing books I read this year
Newsletter
Recalling the shaper of a Platonic fly-fishing reality, in his own words
Newsletter
Digging in on the progression from Aspen Extreme to Trout Bum (RIP John Gierach), Grant Petersen CFS GOAT, SalmonSuperHwy lauded by the White House, and more
Newsletter
On Adam Phillips, and finding, and re-finding our identities as anglers
Newsletter
Moving beyond the engineering mindset, and trying to embrace frustration as a key function of learning
Writing
Books that will improve your fly-fishing. A definitive list of all the best fly-fishing books, from beginner to technical methods, from entomology to romantic lore and conservation. And, of course, great writing.
Writing
If you get a chance to visit the Angler's Club in New York City, take it. It's the nucleus of the sport's North American origins.
Nymphing
We were lucky enough to get some time with George (in between the Green Drake blitz, even!) and had the chance to ask him a few questions about his approach to the book.