The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing

Kirk Deeter, Charlie Meyers

Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2010 - Nature - 224 pages

Two highly respected outdoor journalists, Kirk Deeter of Field & Stream and Charlie Meyers of the Denver Post, have cracked open their notebooks and shared straight-shot advice on the sport of fly fishing, based on a range of new and old experiences--from interviews with the late Lee Wulff to travels with maverick guides in Tierra del Fuego.

The mission of The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing is to demystify and un-complicate the tricks and tips that make a great trout fisher. There are no complicated physics lessons here. Rather, conceived in the "take dead aim" spirit of Harvey Penick's classic instructional on golf, The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing offers a simple, digestible primer on the basic elements of fly fishing: the cast, presentation, reading water, and selecting flies. In the end, this collection of 240 tips is one of the most insightful, plainly spoken, and entertaining works on this sport--one that will serve both novices and experts alike in helping them reflect and hone in their approaches to fly fishing.

Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for fishermen. Our books for anglers include titles that focus on fly fishing, bait fishing, fly-casting, spin casting, deep sea fishing, and surf fishing. Our books offer both practical advice on tackle, techniques, knots, and more, as well as lyrical prose on fishing for bass, trout, salmon, crappie, baitfish, catfish, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Contents

• The Cast 45 Tips to Help: 5
• Hitting the Wall: 11
• Flick the Tomato: 18
• Forty Feet in Four Seconds: 24
• When Not to Cast or Even Twitch 29 Control Trumps Distance: 28
• Fast Rods Cover Casting Flaws: 34
• Weighty Matters Part I: 52
• Live with: 58
• First Impressions: 63
• Be a Sneak: 76
• Accuracy Above: 89
• Ups and Downs: 90
• Reading Water 37 Tips to Help You Find Trout in a River and Effectively Cast to Them: 91
• Fish Like Changes: 94
• Depressing Advice: 95
• The Shadow Knows: 96
• Youve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two: 97
• Pillow Talk: 99
• Rosenbauers Rules: 100
• Be the Tree: 101
• Your Fly Rod Cannot See: 102
• The Telltale Rise: 103
• Where Would You Be?: 104
• The Fivestep Run: 106
• The Reverse Eddy: 107
• The Cut Bank: 108
• Low Water High Water: 109
• Make Big Water Small: 110
• What the Bass Boys Taught Me: 112
• Look Before You Leapor Cast: 113
• The Plot Thickens or Not: 114
• Downward Progression: 115
• Follow the Bubbles: 119
• Raging Bull Youre Standing on Fish: 120
• Watch the Birdie: 121
• Trout Parts: 122
• Fish Furniture: 123
• Fishing Lies: 124
• Bugs 43 Tips to Help You Select Rig and Fish the Right Fly at the Right Time in the Right Way: 127
• Dance Partners: 130
• Fishing Dirty: 131
• Streamers: 132
• Use an Attractor Fly: 133
• Use a Spotter Fly: 134
• BelowtheSurface Spotter: 135
• The Color Purple: 136
• Prince Nymph Mystery: 138
• The Story Behind the Copper John: 139
• Size Matters: 140
• Reading the Rise: 141
• Dishing Up the Facts: 142
• Time Is Fish: 143
• The Early Fly Gets Eaten: 144
• Through the Looking Glass: 145
• Behind the Mask: 146
• Reconnecting with an Old Friend: 147
• The Living Fly: 148
• The Invisible Caddis: 149
• Damsels in Distress: 150
• Seeing Double: 151
• Color Coding: 152
• Sharpie Thinking: 153
• Going GooGoo: 154
• Are You a Good Twitch or a Bad Twitch?: 155
• Up on Cripple Creek: 156
• The Next 10 Best: 157
• Mousing Around: 158
• Miscellaneous 65 Tips on Fighting Fish Wading Choosing Gear and Everything Else That Matters: 159
• Rocks Dont Swim: 162
• Boot Camp Basics: 163
• Meshing with Your Cast: 164
• Cleared for Takeoff: 165
• Dear Diary: 166
• Playing for Keeps: 167
• The Golden Rule: 168
• Dock Talk: 169
• Keep the Arc: 170
• Timesaver Rigging: 171
• Clinch Knot on Your Finger: 172
• Those Dirty Dogs: 173
• Solving a Knotty Problem: 174
• Mark That Line: 175
• Pick the Right Rod: 176
• Newspaper Knowledge: 177
• A Real Hangup: 178
• Doing Our Part: 179
• Lose the Sheep: 180
• Getting a Leg Up: 181
• Made in the Shade: 182
• Dance a Jig: 183
• Reel Handle Down: 185
• Stepping Down on Tippet: 188
• Spit on Your Knots: 189
• Get the Lead Out: 190
• How to Net a Fish: 192
• Fish Handling 101: 193
• God Save the Queen: 194
• Answer the Telephone: 195
• Cut and Retie Knotted Tippet: 196
• On Etiquette: 197
• What Did I Do Wrong?: 198
• Be Ambidextrous: 199
• The Tail Gunner: 200

About the author

Kirk Deeter is the vice president and editor-in-chief of Trout Media, the communications wing of Trout Unlimited. He is also the editor of Angling Trade. His work has appeared in numerous media, including Wired, USA Today, Garden & Gun, Field & Stream, and elsewhere. Known for his "out there" and sometimes offbeat story angles, his work has taken him fishing on five continents, from the tip of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina to north of the Arctic Circle in Russia, from the Tasmanian highlands to the Amazon jungle. He lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Chris Hunt is the national digital director for Trout Media. He is responsible for in-house content crafted for TU's blog, and for content sent out over social media to TU's members, supporters and followers. Chris is a former newspaper editor and reporter who came to TU in 2005, where he worked for the organization's Sportsmen's Conservation Project. He served several years as the organization's national communications director and assumed his present duties in late 2016. Chris is an award-winning journalist, having received recognition from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association, the Idaho Press Club and the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He's also written four books, the latest of which--a fly fishing history and guide to Yellowstone National Park--was published in June 2109. He lives and works in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing; Little Books; Little Red Bks
• Authors: Kirk Deeter, Charlie Meyers
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2010
• ISBN: 1602399816, 9781602399815
• Length: 224 pages
• Subjects: Nature / Animals / Fish; Nature / Ecosystems & Habitats / Rivers; Sports & Recreation / Essays; Sports & Recreation / Fishing; Sports & Recreation / Outdoor Skills