Inshore Fly Fishing, by Lou Tabory

There has never been a time when there was more widespread interest in saltwater fly fishing. And fortunately, quality tackle has never been more affordable and qualified instruction more available. Many of the saltwater fly fishing pioneers, self-taught anglers who learned by doing, are still with us today. A handful of these individuals have become talented teachers, sharing their knowledge through books, articles, and lectures.

Of these teaching anglers, there are two types I find especially influential. The first are the innovators- anglers like Ken Abrames, Bob Popovics, and Carl Richards. These folks take an artistic or creative approach to fly tying and fly fishing. They compel us to try new things and teach us to rethink the way we see the natural world. The second group is the scholars. The scholars have devoted their lives to learning everything they can about fly fishing and the fish they pursue. They spend untold hours on the water experimenting, learning, and refining, and they develop an encyclopedic knowledge of their subjects. They are master observers and teachers. Lefty Kreh, Ed Mitchell, and Chico Fernandez fit this category, as does East Coast angler Lou Tabory.

Tabory has spent his life trying to unravel the mysteries of fly fishing. He is best known for his skills at catching large stripers on fly tackle, but his passion for angling has led him around the world. Tabory has written countless articles on saltwater fly fishing and has authored a number of books on the subject. Tabory's Inshore Fly Fishing is perhaps his most comprehensive work.

In Tabory's own words, the focus of Inshore Fly Fishing, "is how to read and fish different waters- from moving water through the many types of fishing locations inshore waters hold." Nearly the entire first half of Inshore Fly Fishing is devoted to this topic. Tabory discusses the physical aspects of different water types (what makes them what they are), shows how they can be located and identified, and then provides explanations on how and why fish position themselves around these features to travel and feed. Nearly every conceivable form of current, structure, and water body type are covered in this section.

The second half of the book is devoted to tackle and techniques. Tabory describes in detail the tackle, rigging, flies, and knots that work best for different fly fishing situations. He also covers fish fighting techniques and several unconventional topics like chumming and night fishing.

Inshore Fly Fishing is a great book. It is thorough, well written, and the detailed line drawings and photographs do a good job of illustrating the topics. Like Lefty Kreh's Fly Fishing in Salt Water, and Ed Mitchell's Fly Rodding the Coast, Lou Tabory's Inshore Fly Fishing will stand the test of time.

Inshore Fly Fishing
By Lou Tabory
312 pp. The Lyons Press $19.95
ISBN: 1-55821-158-6