Brian Flechsig of Mad River Outfitters and the Midwest Fly Fishing Schools has built one of the most-watched fly-fishing YouTube libraries in the country, and his spring 2026 book review is the kind of episode that sends fly shops and used-book hunters into a small frenzy. Five titles, two of them brand new, three of them old enough that he warned viewers they may have to chase them down second-hand.
Flechsig led with what he called "one of the most beautiful books I've ever laid my eyes on" - A Fishable Feast by Matt Supinski and Kirk Deeter. The subtitle, "fly fishing and eating your way around the world", captures the format. Supinski, a long-time Flechsig collaborator and Ohio State graduate, told him "fly fishers love to eat, so this book should be a slam dunk." Flechsig agreed. "It is so beautifully done," he said. "There's literally they take you on a trip around the world and fish in all these different countries, all these different regions, and they talk about the fishing and their experiences there in those places. And then with Matt being the chef that he is, there's recipes from each region." He has already cooked the Belize-style guacamole-and-shrimp-cocktail recipe and called it delicious. The shop's first run of copies, he said, was already moving briskly.
Monty Burke, the journalist who wrote Lords of the Fly, gave the cover blurb that Flechsig read on screen: "Deeter and Supinski have taken a really cool concept combining fly fishing and eating adventures from around the world and absolutely nailed it. The spirits of Lefty and Bourdain hover over this book nodding in approval." The Mad River Outfitters team is now planning a Sunny Brook Trout Club event with Supinski cooking from the book in the evenings.
The second pick is older but, in Flechsig's words, "one of the best books I've ever read." Bob Popovics' Fly Design is a book he has been returning to as he ties more hollow-style baitfish patterns this season. Popovics, who passed away two years ago, is a name Flechsig places on his shortest of short lists. "There's been three men that have changed fly tying forever and in fly shops forever, and that's Kelly Galloup, that's Blane Chocklett and that's Mr. Bob Popovics," he said. The hollow-fly techniques in the book, he added, translate beyond saltwater to almost any baitfish-imitation work.
The two Vincent Marinaro picks are nostalgia and instruction in one. A Modern Dry Fly Code, which Flechsig bought when he worked at Stream Side Outfitters in the late 1980s, is the book he keeps returning to for thorax-style dries during Hendrickson, Sulphur and caddis hatches. In the Ring of the Rise, Marinaro's deep-dive into trout rise forms, sits beside it. "If you're into trout fishing and you're into dry fly fishing and rising trout," he said, "this book is absolute must-read." Both, he warned, are likely out of print and hard to find new.
The last pick is the one Flechsig spent the longest on - Every Cast: Chronicles of a Deeply Hooked Angler by Steven Sautner. Flechsig got the book unsolicited via email and finished it the weekend before filming. "This guy is so good. And this book is sub-titled The Chronicles of a Deeply Hooked Angler. And this guy is deeply hooked. I mean, this guy is obsessed with fishing," he said. The format - short stories rather than long chapters - is a deliberate selling point. "You don't have to invest an hour in a chapter to get through."
Flechsig dog-eared a chapter on catch and release for the broadcast. "Sometimes catch and release fly fishing can feel almost dogmatic with an unending imagery of anglers coddling game fish just before a preordained release so it can fight another day," Sautner writes. "But I do get it. Putting fish back may be the single most effective act of individual conservation we can take. So it admittedly feels kind of weird when I occasionally land a legal fish, then kill it and take it home for dinner." Sautner's punchline - "Ethics, unlike regulations, can be subjective and yours may vary from mine" - is the kind of fresh take Flechsig argues the sport has been missing.
The second passage Flechsig flagged is from Sautner's chapter on what he calls a slow-fish movement. "Use our technically advanced gear, data and knowledge and collectively not catch so many damn trout," Sautner writes. "Instead of whacking 50, throttle back a little. Relax. Breathe. Study the poetry of the river. Fish more, but cast less. Let's call it a slow fish movement." Flechsig's own verdict was unhedged. "I can't say enough about it. It's called Every Cast. If you like reading fishing stories, this is just off the charts. So there you go, friends. Every Cast."
Flechsig finished the segment with a job-done line that fits the time of year. "It's dry fly season around the country and especially here for us in Ohio. We've got Hendrickson hatches. Sulphurs are on the way." The reading list, in other words, is a working list as much as a wish list.