Glenda | Tuesday, 21 July 2015
I used to collect books about trout fishing. In most cases I would go to the book signings and have the author sign my book.
I knew most of the authors but it was still a thrill for me. The very first book I bought was written by Paul. It is small, has lots of little hand drawings but it is signed by Paul.
There is a difference between fly fishing books and casting books. Fly fishing books tell you where (in most cases; how to present a fly when the water is running this way or that way; or what pattern works well which, if it is a river, is mostly nymphs, spinners, royal wulff or small black woolly buggers on a one, two or three rig flies.
I remember one night at an Australian Nationals dinner, I bought a book of flies, each tied by a well known Australian. Some stupid girl then proceeded to harass each of the tiers to sign the page on which their fly appeared....we all know it was me being stupid but excited and, to their credit, all tiers were forthcoming. I still have that book and will never part with it.... it is treasure to me!
Other trout books take you on journeys that are not yours but are real but become your own. Frog Call by Greg French comes to mind. I love this book and his writing is sublime. Philip Weigal has a great collection of books published also and I have all of them. Such diversity in his books, no two are alike. I also purchase a quarterly magazine titled FlyLife edited by another Australian legend, Rob Sloane. Even though it is technically a magazine, I believe the content is book-like with lots of short stories.
Now I am going to start another book collection based on saltwater fly fishing (ff). I must admit, saltwater ff is not as romantic as trout ff, if you know what I mean, from what I have read so far.
The first book I have is the Orvis Guide to Beginning Saltwater Fly Fishing by Conway Bowman. The next will be Peter Morse' Saltwater Fly Fishng Fundamentals. If anyone can recommend any others, I woud be most obliged.
Now, video of the week.....this video goes back to the front page on boats of a few weeks past. It has started to change my mind on the type of boat I may be able to get away with. It involves hooking a marlin on a boat you won't believe!!