50 Best Tailwaters to Fly Fish - Review

Is it weird to write a review about a book that you contributed to? Maybe... Truth be told, I'm just really excited to be a part of this project. It's surreal to have two chapters in a book about my favorite places to fish right after Pat Dorsey's chapter. I started out fly fishing hanging on to every word in books and magazine articles by the Pat Dorseys and Ed Engles of the world, so it's extremely humbling to open a book and see my name next to one of theirs. To say I was excited before I even saw the book is one thing, actually having it in my hands, I can say that the excitement has multiplied exponentially.

So what is the book, and what types of information can you find in it? Each chapter is loaded with helpful tips about the best tailwaters in the country, and it comes from the guides that make their living on the water. You can literally find anything, from a brief history of each location, to things such as the best times of year to fish, what types of insects are present, fly patterns to bring, appropriate gear to bring, maps of the fishing spots, and the list goes on. Each chapter even goes so far as to list the best restaurants, hotels, and fly shops located within reasonable driving distance.

At first, I think it will take a few readers by surprise how small the chapters are. The next surprise will be when they start reading, and realize just how much information is crammed into each chapter. If it weren't for the intrigue created by drool-worthy photos of places I want to visit, 50 Best would be hard to sit down and read for a extended period of time without getting stunned by information overload. It may sound negative putting it that way, but trust me, information overload from a fishing book is a very good thing!

There have been instances where I've picked up a book about fishing, started reading it, and quickly realized that it doesn't have a soul. That's not a problem with 50 B.T.W. Terry and Wendy Gunn did a fantastic job of putting this book together, and it's evident from the first page turn that they, and the other contributing authors, care a great deal about tailwater fly fishing and the content that went into 50 Best. Examples of this are found in the friendly acknowledgment by Terry and Wendy to the guides/contributors, to the foreword by the legendary Lefty Kreh, to the photos they chose to use, and the layout of the book in general.

50 Best Tailwaters to Fly Fish is the kind of reference that anglers with the urge to explore can throw in their glove box, and use to find success in major tailwaters across the country. And this is regardless of whether or not they've fished a destination before. Anybody serious about tailwater fly fishing should have 50 Best in their library. Click here, or stop by Anglers Covey fly shop on the corner of Highway 24 and 21st street in Colorado Springs, and discover for yourself why it just became the number one fly fishing title on Amazon!

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