The Best Carp Flies: How to Tie and Fish Them Paperback – Illustrated, March 1, 2015

Book is goos, good flies too. But thrre are missing parts on this electronic version, looks like there has been few work on it compared to paper version. Too late i noticed it, if so i would have requested my money back. I dont reccomend the book in electronic version

This book will make you a better fly tier no matter what species your fish for! If you fish for carp, it is a MUST OWN.I first learned to tie flies by reading Jack Dennis' series of books about 1000 times. Over the years, I've gone through a lot of tying books, internet videos, and tying groups which have given me what I've needed to become a decent fly tier. Then, I got Jay Zimmerman's book for Christmas this year. Reading it gave me the same feeling I had as a beginner reading Dennis' books. This book has everything you ever want in a fly tying book and more. However, there is no fluff. It's just good stuff. Period.Chapter 1 is Jay giving you the total lowdown on fly fishing for carp. He describes everything from carp ecology and habitat to leaders and fly weights. He describes the types of carp behavior you'll encounter and types of shots you'll likely find yourself having to make. He even has a section on how to fight a carp. Jay's writing style is somewhat unique and adds, even more character to the subject.In Chapter 2, Jay takes carp flies to a systematic science. This chapter alone, will make anyone a better tier and fly designer no matter what their quarry. The way he breaks down hook and weights pairings, what he calls "chassis," is outstanding. His tying tips are real tips, not just advice for beginners. Jay's humor and pictures are great. You'll learn more in the 12 pages of this chapter than you will in many other books on the subject.The rest of the book's chapters are dedicated to a carp fly each. All of these flies work for other species but the focus always stays on carp. Each chapter starts with a fun genesis story for each pattern. Then, there is step by step instruction with color pictures for every step. At the end of most chapters, there are even additional versions for each fly. So, the book is packed with carp patterns! This book will have flies that your local carp will eat no matter where you live on this planet. There are general attractor-type patterns and match the hatch ones as well. Jay even has a cottonwood seed fly in there which he ties with hair from his dog. "The Best Carp Flies" is truly one of the best fly tying books I've ever read, and that says a lot!

Bought NEW but was delivered in a re-pack, was damaged. But a good book

This book will make you a better fly tier and designer for sure, but the "and Fish Them" portion of the subtitle is misleading. Because there is little information on how to fish the patterns listed in this book, but much information on their geneses and popularizations, that portion of the subtitle should not have escaped the editor's red pen.I would still recommend purchasing Mr. Zimmerman's book because of the wealth of carp fly design tips and detailed step-by-step tying instructions for each pattern presented in the book. The man is a carp pro after all.

Really enjoyed the stories. Was in training with Richard Kanackendofel. Back in Detroit. Glad to hear he had boys that he raised as flyfisherman. This would be a fun movie. I would like to run into sometime. Thanks for a really great book. Can’t wait to try your flies.

Well written and illustrated.

If you are wanting to get into tying flies for the golden bonefish this book is a must have. There are some wonderful patterns in this book. I can't wait to test them all out.

Beautiful book. Very detailed tying sequences along with photos of each step should make this a very good instruction book for even a novice tyer interested in pursuing Carp with self tied flies. My only minor complaint is that the 22 flies depicted are not pictured together. Each fly is only pictured in the chapter relating to that particular fly pattern.

great book to read;0)

Really nice and informative book.

The Best Carp flies provides detailed tying sequences for a lot of popular and commercial carp flies. So far this is the best book that will show you how to precisely tie commercial favourites and popular new flies. While carp eat much of the same food other fish eat, they have somewhat different approaches to the food, or are found in different habitats, and as a result the modern carp fly is often unlike it's trout or bass equivalents. While the Orvis Carp flies book is excellent, it isn't always clear from it's recipes approach how all the flies would be tied, or weighted, it is clear in this book. Of course, often books of this type represent educated guesses at how patterns are tied, top professional tiers often have specific techniques and tricks worked out that do not show up in books of this type.Other than the patterns, a lot of time is spent on the bios of the tiers who developed them. This can be interesting, but the sport may be at a premature stage to start accumulating hall of famer information. Some of the bio material was new to me, even though in some cases I own whole books by some of these tyers. There are also fishing tips that anglers will find useful.Internet overlap: Many carp patterns are found on the internet today, particularly Youtube. This book covers "only" the 22 most popular patterns so there will be significant online resources. The advantage to this presentation is that it tells you all you need in a format that lies open on your bench. You have the peer reviewed element of an angler and editor making a selection of flies. And it avoids the annoyance of videos that don't even show what you are making until 17 minutes into the presentation. Another benefit is that online sources do not always show the colour alternatives. In fact I recently bought a very expensive tying book that didn't show the alternative either, seeming to hold them back for some other opportunity.Most of the flies in this book could be tied with standard materials, there are some materials that are proprietary, but this isn't one of those books that dazzles you with the uniqueness of the patterns but where every material is proprietary and often largely unavailable. That said, I have a huge accumulation materials from over 35 years, and if I look at the 3 patterns on the cover, I am not sure I have the materials to tie any of them as shown. Obviously in any new field of tying, this can happen.What other books should one read? This book, and the Orvis pattern book are among the new books currently coming out that cover the next level in carp fishing. The excellent books of the past: Whitlock's work, the Barr and Clouser pattern books, all come from a stage when the main tactic was to fish for carp a little as though they were bass or trout, using flies developed for those species. Of course there have always been carp flies for things like berries and seeds, but if you thought carp were feeding on standard forage items, you just pulled out one of those flies. This next level involves flies being specially designed for carp, their feeding and water preferences. This is a new step were the real truth of what a carp fly needs to be has not been fully tested, some of the pattern tactics are salt water affectations; others may be from newbies that came up through carp and don't have the background; and some are for catalogs to encourage you to buy flies you may already have. But a lot of it is for real, and the day is here where the carp versions of certain flies may work their way back to trout and bass.The book is a paperback that lies open on the bench well enough. It is handsomely produced, and while a coil binding might have been better I prefer this price point and the 1/2" space it takes up on my shelves. Very handsomely produced.Highly recommended.I bought my copy on Amazon.ca

Buen libro guía para el montaje de moscas para carpas, bien explicado y muy gráfico.El único problema es que viene en inglés y hay muchos pescadores hispanos que no saben este idioma.

Un buen libro donde salen infinidad de montajes. A color con los trucos para montar las imitaciones. Aun que pone carpas vale para Barbos. Y cambiando un poco para mar. Bonefish y peces comedores de fondo.