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Want to get better results when tying flies? Don’t buy your way there. Tie your way there!

I’m tempted to call this a fly tying book with an attitude ... and I mean that in a good way

Dutch Hans van Klinken is best known as the originator of the Klinkhåmer Special. This large and beautiful book tells its full story ... and much, much more

South African Gordon Spuy’s second book is different from the first one - but then again somewhat similar, which is a good thing.

This article teaches you how to do a proper series of step-by-step photos of a fly pattern being tied - also known as an SBS.

During Corona it has become quite common to have social gatherings online - Skype, Zoom, Teams ... you name it. Communal fly tying can be done in the same way

Simple is good. Not primitive… simple. And this is another fine book with simple fly patterns.

I recently went through my large archive of images. Suddenly I had a whole bunch of fly images. I gathered them into a small gallery.

A good friend offered me a macro flash he didn't use any more in exchange for a handful of flies

Meeting up with a bunch of people and tying flies together doesn't just provide good company, but also education - and an easy shortcut to new fly names

A thorough work on a very specific subject: flies tied for grayling fishing. This popular fish has long been in need of a dedicated book, and this is the answer to the grayling fishers prayers: a very large number of patterns targeted at grayling. Nicely illustrated with plenty photos.

Thirty-some fly tyers met in a restaurant in Denmark, ate some good food and tied flies together

A book that has Hans Weilenmann's CDC&Elk on the cover has to have something good inside. And this book has.

The 3rd edition of AK bests all-time classic on tying flies as a boss.

The subtitle "Over 1,000 color photos of techniques and pattern styles" lured me into buying this book from 2001.
125 pages at 10 UK£ or about 16 US$ used made it a no-brainer.
And the subtitle is true enough - of course - because the book has an enormous number of photos, and even though haven't counted, there is probably one thousand or even more.

Wet flies are once again very popular, but most we see are tied for presentation and not so much for fishing. Bob Petti enjoys tying wet flies and tries to style his after the fishing flies that are popular in the UK using colors and materials that work well in the water.

If I were to commission a book on fly-tying from an author, the description of this book would be close to what I'd order. The subtitle says it all: Developing, Testing, & Improving Saltwater Fly Patterns.

This is the thinking fly-tyer's book.

The author covers the process of coming up with a new pattern and the process of tying and modifying existing patterns from considering the food items, observing them, coupling it to the eating behavior strategy of the predator, selecting materials and many other aspects of fly design and fly-tying.

I tied my first fly before my kids were born. That makes it about 30 years ago when this is written

I wanted to tie a Carrie Stevens, Rangerly style New England streamer, but was surprised how hard it actually was

No-nonsense fishing flies presented in a clear and appetizing fashion with really excellent pictures

I can still remember the fist fish I caught on a streamer, a stocked brook trout on a Royal Coachman streamer. Since that time I have had success many times fishing these long flies. In my early days of fly fishing I bought all of my flies.

Occasionally visitors ask whether they can contribute a fly pattern to this site, and the answer is a clear and loud YES!

Someone asked me how to create the "slightly tapered" body on an Oatman Silver Darter and it was pretty difficult to describe in words, so I tied up a sample and took some photos along the way. Here for your enjoyment is a Lew Oatman favorite, the Silver Darter

Large and gaudy flies for pike and musky. All our best pike patterns and how to tie them.

Woolly Buggers, Baby Buggers, Wooly Worms

Tying flies not meant for fishing sounds odd to some but dragging others into the world of advanced techniques. Anders Ovesen takes us into his cave of threads and feathers and reveals some puzzles needed to tie da old school style. Hang on to this detailed description and fly to the 

Having wrapped my share of thread over the years, I thought it was time to revisit a long held interest of mine - traditional salmon flies. My first attempt years ago was pretty disappointing, and I was hoping my skills had evolved enough for me to take that next step and produce a better result.

A few more facts about the new Hatches magazine

It's not often that new fly tying magazines see the light of day. Hatches is such a new magazine.

In my ways, fly fishers and fly fishing are a lot like cooks and cooking. There are trained and certified professionals, part time hobbyists, celebrities, long honored traditions, well known recipes, several popular magazines, centuries' worth of books, and an entire industry built around the subject. Some cooks will pick up a recipe, follow it blindly, and produce excellent results to the delight of everyone who has a chance to sample their cooking. Other cooks will look at a recipe and wonder - what is baking powder, and why do I need a teaspoon for my muffin batter?

Dec Hogan is well known in the fly fishing world as a master of the two-handed fly rod, but until I picked up "A Passion for Steelhead" I did not know much about Dec Hogan the angler. 313 pages later, that surely has changed, almost to the point where I feel the book's title is a bit of an understatement. Anglers worldwide tend to be passionate about their fishing, but I've always had the sense that those who chase steelhead in the Pacific Northwest were a little more hardcore than the rest of us, where the passion occasionally boils over into obsession.

Tired of buying eyes, that make your shrimps look great? They are expensive and yet it is hard to find the color you want or the right size. It is not complicated and a good pursuit during winter time.
Make your own in all sizes and colors you want.

Tired of making wings with too many divertions from time to time? See if the new tool from TMC can help you burn the wings perfectly every time or if you still have to fold and cut like an used hair dresser.

In this two-volume set of DVDs you get some favorite patterns for fishing the famed spring creeks of Pennsylvania.

It sure is nice to see Bob's flies celebrated in such a book. Heavy bond paper with a glossy sheen, beautiful full color photos, and lots of step-by-step instructions. Very nice.

Jay "Fishy" Fullum is no stranger to readers of Fly Tyer and other popular flyfishing magazines. In fact, he's recently been named as the "artist in residence" for that magazine, which certainly helps justify the subscription price. It should come as no surprise, then, that Fishy's book relies on his art to tell the story of his flies. In this case, the art is in the form of pencil drawings - and I must say they are simply amazing. I've always been a sucker for well executed pencil drawings, and Fishy's are among the very best I've ever seen in a fly fishing related book.

The flies Mary documented were, invariably, ornate wet flies. They were, and are, the legacy of centuries of British salmon fly design spiced by the natural resources and original thinking available to their American interpreters.

German Jan-Ole Willers wanted to be able to clear his vise, tools and materials off the dining table for such unimportant events as lunch and dinner. That made him think out and build his own inexpensive portable fly tying bench. You can do the same.

Painting eyes on streamers is nothing new, but as with any other tying procedure, there are some tricks that can help, and some pitfalls that should be avoided. This article shows you how to do it on-the-cheap with readily available materials.

Martin Joergensen writes: "I always wanted one of these tools. I have seen them used at fly tying shows and by a few tyers elsewhere, and found the tool to be an excellent companion for the lazy and sloppy fly tyer. Just my kind of tool!"

A tying station is a small, mobile board where you can set up your vise and your tools, making it quick and easy to move your favorite tying spot around: from the dinner table to the TV to the office to... the bed? This article gives you some ideas on how to make one yourself.

A great tip for Clousers

EZ flies - that's what they are in the genuine all-American-marketing-way. Five classics with their patterns modified to be fairly easy and fast to tie - not least because of the simple body construction using braided tubing.

Irish Open Flytying Championship has delivered some beautifult flies

"I have severely neglected my day-to-day flybox for more than a year" writes GFF partner Martin Joergensen. Now he sets out to fill a box with hundreds of sea trout flies in preparation for the coming spring. He envisions rows of uniform and neatly arranged flies.

With the release of "Essential Patterns", Oliver Edwards and his production crew have raised the bar yet again for fly tying instructional video. These new DVDs are terrific in every respect - from the camera work, to the audio, to the general production - to say nothing of the fly tying content. He's a very engaging teacher, and I can listen to him and watch him tie flies all day long. Not only does he demonstrate the techniques required to tie the flies with utmost skill, but he makes the viewer want to hit the pause button and run to the vise.

This book is touted mainly as an instructional guide to tying the various styles of classic freshwater streamers

It all started when I had to toss my bottle of Pharamcist's Formula in the trash. Scanning the net for a suitable replacement, I found a husband and wife team that are producing a bunch of interesting products for fly fishers and tyers.

GFF partner Martin Joergensen has let one of his favorite sports events, the bicycling race Tour de France, inspire a way of tying flies. He argues why tying many identical flies can be a good thing - and can be better than tying many different flies.

A very productive author

The L.L. Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing is comprised of three previously published books - Dave Whitlock's Fly-Fishing Handbook, Macauley Lord's Fly-Casting Handbook, and Dick Talleur's Fly-Tying Handbook.

European authors Chris Mann and Terry Griffiths angle for a new spin on beginner flytying books. With barely a photograph and just a small piece on materials and tools, see why this book gets a rare score on the GFF Review scale. GFF partner Steve Schweitzer reviews the book.

If you ever saw skilled tyers tie, you'll probably have noticed that many of them keep spinning the bobinholder more or less vividly every time the let go of it. If you didn't notice, try looking the next time you see a 'pro' tie.

Let's look at a hook, and try to put the right terms on the right parts. This picture shows a hook (note that it actually is a rare vertical eye hook, great for this purpose).

Dubbing must be said to be one of the most universal fly tying methods. Dubbing is mostly used for bodies, but will often form other parts of the fly as well. Using different materials and tighter or looser dubbing along with different techniques, can result in an amazing variety of body shapes and textures.

There is a story behind "The Garage". Not too long ago my wife and I were renting a two story house that had a tiny little room upstairs with no closet. Since we already had a spare bedroom for family visitors, this room was quickly claimed as the "Sports Room".

I have to admit a particular fondness for woodduck flank. Ever since I was given my first baggie of feathers from a duck hunting friend, I was smitten. The color - the texture - the barring of the feathers.

There are many intended uses for this guide, namely as reference to ensure you have a fairly complete compendium as to what you will need to get started in flytying or to use when dropping the perfect holiday gift hint. But more importantly, it is meant for the budding fly tyer, in hopes that the years of wisdom gained through trial and error from myself and my tying buddies will steer the newcomer down the right path

Part wet fly and part streamer, it has all the obnoxious flash of a Mepps spinner in the water, and it's just as effective.

Once again I've had the distinct pleasure of being together with fly tyers of the absolute elite. Henrik Strandgaard - a reputed Danish salmon fly tyer - had again set up a fine arrangement featuring two US tyers: Steven Fernandez and Marvin Nolte.
Both ought to be well known, but let me introduce them to you anyway:

The fascinating thing about AK is, that you start believing him and that many of his methods make sense. His approach is very personal, and he doesn't try to hide this.

With this book you get your moneys worth in weight. The book is a large format book with more than 300 pages. The size alone can make this book a bit scary, and innocent flytyers who leaf through it, will probably be intimidated by the huge volume of information.