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Many anglers who wish to get started in fly fishing are intimidated. With so many choices of expensive rods, reels, lines, leaders and flies, it's difficult to know where to begin. And it doesn't help that a few of the so-called "experts" in the field write articles implying the sport is difficult to master. The truth is, to be a successful fly angler you don't need to know everything about everything. That's what sets this book apart from the many other fly fishing books available today. In these pages, veteran fly-fishing instructor Chris Hansen concentrates on teaching you the basics. For example, if you aren't sure what level fly angler you are, check out Hansen's "10 Ways to Tell If You're a Beginner." Want to learn how to fly cast? Read "12 Tips to Making the Perfect Cast." And if you think you must carry everything but the kitchen sink with you every time you wade into a stream, look at Hansen's "8 Accessories for Every Trip."

Hansen understands the best reason to try fly fishing is that in many situations you can catch more fish with flies than you can with spinning or baitcasting lures. In this book's final chapter, "Catching Fish on Flies," he details these situations for panfish, trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and even northern pike. In addition, he shows you his "Top 10 Fly Patterns" for each species and the best retrieves for getting finicky fish to strike.

Chris Hansen is the manager of The Fly Angler, a retail fly-fishing store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chris has extensive experience teaching beginners how to fly fish. He organizes and conducts fly-casting and fly-tying classes for customers of his store, and he spends many days each spring, summer and fall guiding novice fly anglers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Chris spent one summer guiding at one of Alaska's premier fly camps, Tikchik Narrows Lodge. Each winter, he travels to the Texas coast to fly fish for various inshore saltwater species, and he recently returned from a successful fly-fishing adventure to Belize.