The L.L. Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing (L. L. Bean)

• #3 in Best Fishing Books

13 Reviews

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In my novice experience, this is the best beginner's guide to fly fishing. I had ordered the Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide together with this book and in comparison I have to say that L.L. Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing is the better one. This book provides a much better introduction to fly fishing to novices like me, beginning from the basics. Although advanced fly fishers would probably be bored by the chapters that introduce the uninitiated to this sport/pastime, teaching them the bones, so to speak, I am sure this book has a lot of wisdom to impart to all enthusiasts.

This is a composite of three previously published L. L Bean guides: fly-fishing, casting, and fly tying. The first part is Whitlock's book on fly-fishing and is one of the best (the other being Rosenbauer's Orvis book) introductions to the sport of fly fishing. The Whitlock illustrations are always great, and the information is top-notch. You will find out everything you need from fly lines to fly rods to knots to basic flies.

Add the other two parts and this is an excellent overall view of all three areas. Because of the comprehensive approach, it is one of the best "how to" books on fly-fishing available.

Don't be fooled by the "L.L.Bean" title--the book does not promote their products. It is a top-rated introduction to fly fishing, casting, and tying.

This book was much more informative to a new trout fisherman than the Amazon recommended The Orvis Fly-Sishing Guide, Completely Revised and Updated with Over 400 New Color Photos and Illustrations. I bought both books, along with The Orvis Guide to Beginning Fly Fishing: 101 Tips for the Absolute Beginner, as a package from Amazon. This book was quite a bit more informative than the Orvis book. While expected promotion of the Orvis brand, the Orvis book is practically a sales catalog for the Orvis brand, whereas the LL Bean book focused more on casting techniques and other much needed information, that was less in depth with the Orvis book. Also, the Orvis book dedicates way too many pages to fly tying, well over 1/3rd of the book, an art that is surely lost on the beginner fly fisherman. I firmly believe that most new fly fisherman will buy flys for quite a while before beginning to tie their own. There is so much to learn and practice in fly fishing to take on the art of fly tying in my opinion.

Outstanding book for the beginner. Lots of color pics and diagrams plus tones of good information. I'm not an advanced fisherman so I will not comment about how it would be fore an advanced fisherman but I would say if I where to guess, it has plenty of info even for the none beginner.

I just started fly fishing and this book has proved to be an excellent buy. recommend that anyone interested in the sport first invest in themselves by taking a lesson from a professional fly fishing instructor (i found mine on craigslist in Houston - Robert Logan - highly recommend him). after you take a basic lesson, this book makes a lot of sense and provides you with indepth science of fly fishing as well as insane amount of pictures, drawings, and step by step instructions on how to do it all - from soup to nuts. does do a very light sell on LL Bean products/services, but nothing overbearing or too in your face.

Well written with great illustrations. Perfect aide to learn to cast. Could use a bit more detail on how to fish different types of flies, but great all-round guide.

Just starting to fly fish and this really fits the bill for my need to understand the terms and trade offs for this not-so-simple sport.

Great result when you use a buying catalogue like Cabelas, Orvis or L.L. Bean and combine it with the information of this guide... they should make an spanish version

Bought this book before fly fishing for the first time. Great pictures and text. goes into detail that I won't "outgrow" for a long time.

I am a complete neophyte to fly fishing.

This book covers every detail which I can think of. It might as well be an encyclopedia for fly fishing.

This book is very well done and has a wealth of good information. Unfortunately it is presented as the Ultimate "Fly Fishing " book but a great deal of the book is devoted to Fly Tying not Fly Fishing . Had I know that this much of the book was on Fly tying I would not have bought the book..
John A. Kinsfather

This is definitely a good book if you want to get started in fly fishing.

A great primer for those new to Fly Fishing. I bought it as an introduction for my nephews so that we could enjoy the sport together