Customer Reviews

Flies for Bass and Panfish

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you want a recipe book for lots of flies, this is a very good one. What is missing is tying instructions and any of the author's thoughts on effectiveness or what a well-stocked box should hold.

This book deserves ONLY 5 star ratings. The 'Customer' who left the 3 star rating is right: this book does not give you tying instructions. It is not a How-to book, it is a recipe book. The author simply put together a collection of the best warm water flies from around the world. You wouldn't buy a book of Beethoven Piano Sonatas and then expect it to teach you how to play the piano would you? You buy other books for that, and maybe take lessons. If the author taught you how to tie every fly in the book, it would be two inches thick and cost a hundred dollars or more. The recipes are listed in the order they are tied (First the tail, then the body, then the head). This is how ALL fly recipes are supposed to be listed.

The flies in this book were designed by well known fly fishers, many of them are WORLD FAMOUS. Most of the flies pictured in the book were TIED BY THE MASTERS THEMSELVES. As for which flies are effective, THEY ARE ALL EFFECTIVE. That's the whole point of the book. It's a collection of the best of the best, by the best. Once you learn how to tie flies all you need is the recipe. As for which flies should be in your box, choose ones that match the fish you're after.

For instance, I chose the 'Marabou Miss' on pg. 75, because I like to catch Crappie on my fly rod. Tom Lentz calls it 'his number one Crappie fly'. It was magical! I fished it from the bank of a cove in a reservoir during the spawn, and out-fished two guys in a boat who gave me funny looks for using a fly rod. After a couple hours, a 15 inch bass, and a stringer full of crappie, they stopped looking and me funny and started asking if it was hard to learn to fly fish. That fly caught another 50 fish two days later. (I only kept 25 fish for both days total) I have since tied many of the flies in this book with similar results.

If you want a decent book that will show you how to tie flies from a recipe, I recommend 'L.L. Bean Fly-Tying Handbook'. It starts out with simple flies, like the famous Woolly Worm, and Woolly Bugger (both are listed in 'Flies for Bass & Panfish' because they work everywhere on everything). Once you learn those, the following chapters continue to show you how to tie more and more complex flies. This is the book I learned from (in late 2005) and I have given it to friends to get them started. I think the new edition has a chapter on Bass flies. If not I recommend 'Bass Bug Basics' by John M. Likakis. This one taught me how to tie flies with Deer hair. (At the time of this writing, these two books are available USED on Amazon for a few bucks or less.)

Once you learn, you won't want every book teaching you how to do something you already know. It would be a waste of money.

Some of the flies are harder than others. Some are ideal for beginning tiers, such as the 'Chenille Bug' on page 74. (The Marabou Miss is also very easy too.) That's another good thing about this book. Since all the flies are great, you can tie the easy ones when you're just starting out, and still catch fish. Then as your skills improve, you can tie the harder ones, if you want. Hard or easy, they all work. If fly tying is hard for you, you can stick with the easy ones and still have a great time enjoying the satisfaction of catching fish on flies you made yourself. You can also try to make the hard ones easier by leaving out ingredients you don't know how to tie, or don't have the materials for. Or you can substitute easy materials for harder ones. I have done this, and the fish don't know that you cheated. You will even come up with your own variations that you may like better!

BOTTOM LINE: If you want to tie your own flies, get a book or video that shows you. And/or go to your local fly shop or fly fishing club and watch others tie flies.

THEN GET THIS BOOK. You will love it. You will use it for years. You will catch lots of fish. I certainly have.

The material in the book is excellent, but I was shocked to learn that the "tagged" price for this book was originally $19.95 and I paid over $43.00 for the book. It is good, but not at that inflated price. Had I known, I would have searched other sites for a more cost effective book.

This book is great for fly patterns for warmwater. I used to only fish coldwater and after moving from Denver to Louisiana I had to switch tactics altogether. This book has great patterns for anyone fairly experienced with tying flies. Not for the beginner tier, but intermediate should muddle through fairly well. Great patterns, and tidbits associated with them. A must for any fly fisher new to warm water environment without anyone to ask questions or get any fly fishing mentoring. These flies have helped me get honed in and they do produce fish. I would highly recommend this to anyone new to warmwater.

A previous review said that the pictures were black and white. They are not. My copy contains excellent color photographs. This is a book for someone who wants lots of good patterns with no actual instructions on how to tie them. Most experienced tyers should have no trouble working from the pictures and lists of ingredients. This one will keep you occupied for a long time.

I already had a copy of this fly pattern book and like it so much that I purchased another to give away as a prize in an Internet Fly Tying Contest I am hosting. The patterns are sure-fire fish catchers, and the photos are excellent in this work. I consider this a MUST READ book if you tie your own flies for bass and panfish!

I expected the many photo's to be in color, instead they were black and white. It is very difficult to judge correctly what a fly should look like from a black and white photo. While the written part of the book is ok, I will not read it simply because of the photo's. I tie flies and enjoy replicating them based upon color photo's.