Common-Sense Fly Fishing

Practical fly-fishing tips from a guide who knows how to teach

7 simple, easy-to-understand lessons on often-overlooked fundamentals: drift, reading water, position of angler and rod, casting, line control, mending


Chapters on dry-fly fishing, nymphing, best rigs, and guide flies


"[Stroup's] seven common-sense principles along with the illustrations by Dave Hall take a lot of the frustrating guesswork out of what many consider a difficult sport. . . . Reading the book is like having a guide accompany you on every trip to a stream, and it should be a valuable addition to your fly-fishing library."

--Charles Meck, from the foreword

Veteran guide Eric Stroup's articles appear in Fly Fisherman, Eastern Fly Fishing, and Mid Atlantic Fly Fisher, and he is featured in the two-volume DVD Practical Fly Patterns that Catch Trout. He owns and operates Spruce Creek Fly Company, a guide service, school, and lodge specializing in wellness retreats, in Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania.