Most of the time, I’m spotlighting prominent fly fishing books on Casting Across. This works because very few of us have the bandwidth, resources, or shelf space to collect each and every good title released in the last 50 years. But every once in a while, I do think it is important to talk about …
I don’t throw around the word “essential” flippantly. But if you fish spring creeks in places like Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Wisconsin, Mike Heck’s Spring Creek Strategies is essential reading. There are other excellent books out there covering spring creek fly fishing from a broader perspective, often including the famous, sprawling western rivers. Heck’s writing addresses …
It takes quite a skilled pen to write a famous crime novel and famous fly fishing books. But John Voelker (aka Robert Traver) accomplished just that. His Trout Madness deserves every bit of the prominence it holds in 20th century fly fishing writing. It is a wonderful example of the subgenre of angling account anthologies. …
Conservation books are often written after the fact. Articles and blogs can talk about what is happening, but the real what happened of any conservation initiative has a certain longitudinal quality about it. The Forgotten Salmon of the Merrimack, by Lawrence Stolte, chronicles a century of restoration and protection on the eve of an early-1980’s …
If you have ever spent a life, a year, a season, or even a long trip on one particular stretch of water, you know how there is a lot more than fishing going on. The holistic aspect of being on a river makes you a better angler. More than that, it adds to the appreciation …
In another one-minute book review, I give a synopsis of the benefits that come from reading 25 Best National Parks to Fly Fish by Wendy &Terry Gunn. Through tapping into regional experts, they have compiled a resource that is a must-read for any angler who enjoys the National Park system. Like most guidebooks, 25 Best …
Kids are going to read things that they find interesting. And if your child or grandchild enjoys the outdoors in general or fly fishing in particular, the two books I’m sharing today are surely going to go over well. First, one of the most popular illustrated fly fishing books out there: Down by the River …
Why purchase a big, heavy book of fly fishing pictures when social media is teeming with a seemingly infinite number or decent images? Trout by Brian Grossenbacher and Tom Rosenbauer is filled with good pictures – not decent ones. And I, for one, am happy to celebrate the exceptional. Grossenbacher’s subject matter is fly fishing. …
Assuming you’re abiding by state and local guidelines, you really should give fly fishing at night a shot. On one hand, it is as easy as doing what you do during the daytime… only now, after the sun has set. But like in any other ecosystem, streams change in relation to the solar and lunar …
I read Downstream a few years after it came out. First, I was impressed by the book. Second, I was surprised that it hadn’t make a bigger splash than it did in fly fishing circles. You may be asking why? to both of those statements. Conveniently, the answers are the same. David O’hara and Matthew …
