Fly Fishing for Freshwater Striped Bass: A Complete Guide to Tackle, Tactics, and Finding Fish

by Henry Cowen, Dave Whitlock (Foreword)

Here fishing guide and fly designer Henry Cowen shares decades of hard-earned knowledge of stripers for the first time. Learn about the species, its food, and where and how to find them, so you can land far more and bigger stripers.

Knowing where and how to find stripers is key, and Cowen offers proven techniques for locating fish in both reservoirs and rivers, including water temperature, seasonal patterns, weather patterns, locating the bait, water clarity, and wildlife and how it can help anglers. The popularity of fishing for striped bass in freshwater is growing quickly, especially as global warming allows the fish to live in waters that used to be too cold. This is the first major book on the subject, one that is sure to be part of a big trend among fly fishers.

Cowen carefully outlines fishing tactics, along with detailed photographs of the steps involved,

Cowen also takes a close look at freshwater striped bass, explaining how natural and stocked fisheries are managed as well as the difference between the various species. Along with help choosing equipment and some notes on wading tactics, anglers will have everything they need to improve their fishing techniques or make a start on this popular all-American outdoor sport.

208 pages, Paperback

Published November 17, 2020

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a tribute to Cowen’s genius that his book has done for the striped bass anglers what Herman Melville did for obsessive whaling ship captains. He schools us on the intrinsic beauty of a species that was vital to the survival of the pilgrims; and in doing so he takes us on a journey reflecting on our own species. Like Ishmael, the loner narrator, Cowen is a man who craves adventure and welcomes testing his wits against any respectable adversary. His keen attention to detail, his obvious intelligence, and his love for the perils of freshwater escapades make him a likable narrator. Cowen’s simplicity, his modesty and his honesty show him as an everyman figure the reader can identify with easily.

Before you sit down to read, though, you’ll want to don your wading boots and sling packs (vests are passé) because you’re going to be taken on a journey through Georgia’s Chattahoochee and Chestatee rivers all the way to California’s San Luis Reservoir. You’re going to learn the origin of stripers in freshwater, their migration and feeding patterns, and how they’re affected by water temperature, weather patterns, moon phases, and water clarity. Like any good author, Cowen takes us inside the minds of his prey and shows us how they think, their likes and dislikes, their motivations, and their vulnerabilities. (And if you’re too lazy for all that, he throws in how to cheat with electronic devices.)

It’s when he takes a deep dive into the equipment that Cowen really comes alive. His obvious passion for rods, reels lines and leaders shines through, but his love for flies is what gave this reader all the feels. Here he tells tales of mad scientists, pole dancers and striper slayers, and the reverence he pays to the expert designers is noble.

Although the book’s glaring deficiency is how to prepare and eat the bass, I’ve done up a nice broiled striped bass with ginger-scallion oil that’s just waiting for me to devour, so I must run now; but I’ll finish off this review by highlighting what I thought were the two most important tips: always wear sunglasses and stay the hell away from the pros with your jet skis.