Morris & Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes [Paperback]

Skip Morris (Author), Brian M. Chan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Frank Amato Publications (November 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571881816
• ISBN-13: 978-1571881816
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,016,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Skip Morris is among the most prolific fly-fishing and fly-tying authors alive--his name is known to anglers around the world.

Skip has written twelve books, including the established standard beginning fly tier's volume Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple, and The Art of Tying the Bass Fly, Morris & Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes (with lake-fishing guru Brian Chan), Concise Handbook of Fly Tying, and Fly Fisher's Guide to Western River Hatches.

His videos and DVD's range from instruction for tying nymphs, to tying bass flies, to tying and fishing flies for sea-run cutthroat trout.

Skip has published over 200 articles in magazines from Fly Fisherman to American Angler. For three years he was among the hosts of the "Fly-Fish Television Magazine" show.

Skip's newest book releases are "Trout Flies for Rivers: Patterns from the West that Work Everywhere"(Stackpole Books), and "Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple 2: Advanced Techniques" (Amato Publications).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Difference of Opinion, March 7, 2001

By 

Henry F Drygas Jr (Olympia, Washington United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morris & Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes (Paperback)

I found this book to be quite useful. It is indeed a beginning text on the subject but if you, like myself, have spent most of your time fishing on streams you will find this a good jumping off point for fishing small lakes. There is much useful information in this book covering the nature of small lakes and the trout that you will find there. Specific information is given on the insects found there and their imitations. Basic techniques are covered as well as fishing craft. I would recommend it for someone starting out with lake fishing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entirely Ignores the Existence of Minnows, October 4, 2009

By 

Lightman (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Morris & Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes (Paperback)

Lately I've been having a ball going after native brookies and wild rainbows in remote Adirondack ponds. I've caught my share of both, mainly using # 10 freshwater clousers and other small streamers.

Approaching still water trout is a daunting experience for the stream fisher person. Where to begin? How to read a lake? How deep is deep with a fly rod and how to get down there?

I bought this book in the hopes of answering these and many other questions that had been keeping me awake at night (well not quite, but they did seem important).

There's a lot of information here so generally I'm not disappointed. However, the book is definitely skewed to western conditions, and completely ignores fly-fishing with imitations of baitfish, presumably a primary food source for large trout at least in eastern waters. In fact, in the chapter, Insects and Other Trout Foods, the only "other" foods touched on are scuds and leeches.

This major omission in an otherwise very good book results in the three star recommendation. But if you're OK with tossing all your streamers (with the exception of the odd Wooly Bugger to imitate a leech) then go ahead and give it a read just the same. The section on chironomid fishing may be worth it in and of itself.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ok for an introduction, but better books are out there., September 29, 2010

By 

Bobandy "Mr. Lahey's Pool Boy" (Sunnyvale Trailer Park) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Morris & Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes (Paperback)

As other reviewers have noted, the book is a primer for stillwater anglers, but surprisingly does not mention baitfish or streamers. It doesn't get into the details of how different trout species utilize different habitats or prey items in the same lake. And it doesn't discuss the different types of lakes and how best to approach each environment. Instead, there is a sometimes goofy, punchline-driven text that accompanies some good and not-so-good photos and color line drawings. Don't get me wrong, the information is solid and entertaining, but all of it has been covered before in much greater detail and with much better focus in Kauffman and Cordes's earlier work and Denny Rickards's more recent volume. If you're looking for a book on the basics of stillwater trout fishing, I would recommend either of those and Bernie Taylor's book on big trout fishing, as well as maybe Steve Probasco's book on high desert and alkaline lakes before you bought this one. Will this book help you catch more or bigger trout in a lake? Only if you've never read another book or magazine on the subject, or if you're brand new to lake fishing with a fly.