Customer Reviews

Stripers and Streamers

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

 

 

Ray's book is my favorite on fly fishing for stripers. He keeps it simple, yet includes all the essential info that will get fish on your line. I can think of a couple of pricier hardcovers that take a lot more pages to go over the same info that Ray lays out in a much simpler and more homespun fashion. And despite a prior reviewer's opinion on the patterns included, any self-respecting Northeast saltwater flyfisher knows that the Ray's Fly is a classic along the New England shore. A must for any striper angler's bookshelf.

this is a very readable, informative book. Ray cuts to the chase. the only reason i gave it a 4 instead of 5 stars is because I think his fly choices are too self-serving... no clouser or deceiver type paterns(come on!) but the flies he does have are great ones.

When I thought that I knew just about all that there was to know after fishingthe northeast coast for 20+ years,along comes Ray's book and I realize there is so much more information that I didn'teven think about.This book is well laid out,precise in its topics and very easy to read.I find myself referring to it'svarious sectons time an again whether I am tying flies or looking for an edge when fishing any new section of the Northeast coast.Everything that thefisher needs to know is in this book in a concise form.His section on waves is absolutely brilliant. I will never look at a wave the same way again.

The book is a good read, and fast! I enjoyed reading Ray's history of the patterns he designed into flies. The flies I have tied and fished from this read are very effective, especially 'Ray's Fly' and the 'Bondorew Bucktail'. With no weight added on an Int. line, there are no better patterns (I have found) for skinny water fishing in Maine! Buy it for the patterns, the read is the frosting.

A great additon to any fly fishers library. Simply written and enjoyable to read, "Stripers and Streamers" is loaded with information that certainly should help every fly rodder whether novice or experienced. While written from a New Englanders perspective this book should help striper fishermen everywhere. Also contains excellent photos and illustrations

Ray Bondorew's book is right on the money and contains a wealth of information in a slim readable format. His sense of the environment encountered while striper fishing is remarkable and his knowledge of waves, beaches, stripers and currents is presented in a way that conveys useful information to a fisherman.

I don't fault the choice of flies presented. Just because he was influential in the origins of the patterns doesn't mean that they don't work or that he is on some sort of an "ego trip"! He is an author presenting his view of how to fly fish in a given style, not a reporter trying to give "fair coverage" or write an encylopedia article.

His "unorthodox" choice of lines is also to be expected, given that he has fished for decades in Rhode Island. This is where the techniques using floating lines that he describes were first borrowed from salmon fishing and transferred to fly fishing for stripers. They are characteristic of certain regional approach to fishing.

For a flyfisher coming from the world of stream fishing for trout, these approaches based on line control and currents make perfect sense. They should be in the bag of tricks of all flyrod anglers in the salt. There is no one single correct way to fly fish for stripers, other than to master many techniques and learn some of the biology and oceanography that surrounds the sport.

The book does not attempt to provide an encyclopedic approach. Ray Bondorew's book is a well written explantion of how to apply a useful set of flyrodding approaches to fishing for stripers. It is a good read and a useful reference.

While Ray's observations of the natural environment surrounding striper fishing is full of excellent advice, his tactics and choice of tackle seems off-beat and contrary to common opinion. You can learn a lot about waves, rocky shorelines and birds in this book, but be careful about taking his word on what lines to use. Also, his choice of the best fly patterns is extremely self-serving; how could he leave out the most productive and popular flies known to striper fisherman?