Your Top 10 (or so) Most Important Fly Fishing Books Of All Time

cdmoore · Post by **cdmoore** » 08/12/09 09:04

From the Treatise to Walton to McLean to Gierach to Drewett to Jennings to Garrison/Carmichael--in your opinion, what are the 10 most important books in the world of fly fishing (or angling more generally if necessary). Slightly more or less than 10 acceptable and they don't need to be in any particular order. Please give a brief reason why you chose each book on your list. And if there is a particular printing or edition that you especially favor, please include that as well. If you want to swap out book for treatise, pamphlet, article, or whatever, that's fine, too.

This should be interesting.

Chris

Flyman615 · Post by **Flyman615** » 08/12/09 15:52

FWIW, here are 10 that most influenced me:

* "Trout" by Schwiebert. First "brown" edition. Don't nitpick it. It is a HUGE benchmark that likely never will be exceeded AND he was his own illustrator.

* "Trout Madness" by Traver (aka Voelker). First edition. Simply terrific and most empathetic.

* "Trout Bum" by Gierach. First edition (he just signed mine last weekend!) The new standard for fly fishing books of the 90's.

* "Trout" by Bergman. Second edition is the best sized volume. Just as useful now as in 1938.

* "Spring Creek" by Lyons. First edition. One of my all-time favorite "modern" writers.

* "Where the Pools are Bright and Deep" by Lamb. First edition. An artist-like author.

* "Trout Waters and How to Fish Them" by Bates. First edition. Another "learning moment" from 1949.

* "Classic Rods and Rodmakers" by Keane. First edition. A seminal work for sure. Need I say more?

* "Itchen Memories" by Skues. First edition. Makes me wish I'd been fishing in southern England after WWI.

* "Fishing Bamboo" by Gierach. First edition. He likes to fish Grangers and so do I. He signed this one for me too.

leatherneck · Post by **leatherneck** » 08/12/09 17:47

Flyman, same books, same order except "Itchen Memories" which I would replace with "A Fly Fisher's Life" by Charles Ritz. That was easy.

cdmoore · Post by **cdmoore** » 08/13/09 02:08

Hi guys. Thanks for the insightful responses. Just to clarify, though, are you saying these 10 books are the most important books of all time on this topic, or your favorites? Or both, and maybe because they are your favorites? I'm really looking for the 10 books which you think have had the most impact on the sport (or means of eating) across the ages, plus why you think so. If that is what you have written down, then perfect! Thanks again, Chris

mer · Post by **mer** » 08/13/09 02:26

Thanks Chris. You've somehow managed to give me a homework assignment. I can't do it without looking at my bookcase

Can I interpret the question to be: "the 10 most important books to me related to fly fishing/angling"?

A partial list, without the reasons off the top of my head:
Trout by Bergman
Dry fly and fast water by LaBranche
Rough stream nymph by Lawrie
A fly fishers life by Ritz
A Trout and Salmon Fisherman for 75 years by Hewitt (may not be the exact title)
Men I have Fished with (can't recall author off hand)

I have to come up with the exact titles but something by:
Preston Jennings
Art Flick
Lee Wulff (probably his Atlantic Salmon book)
John Alden Knight
Ed Koch (one on midge fishing)
Vince Marinaro
one of the Cross/Dette/Darbee books on tying Catskill flies
Roderick Haig-Brown (just about any one would do here)

cdmoore · Post by **cdmoore** » 08/13/09 03:34

I just wanted to avoid a "My Favorite Fly Fishing Books" post and challenge people to really think about what books out there have had a huge impact. I haven't read all the books on the lists above and 500+ years is a long span. The world has changed a lot during that time, so any modern book could be on the list: there are lots more fly fishers today than in the mid-1700s. How many people did A River Runs Through It reach before and after the movie, or the fact that it was a movie--incredible, really? Or Trout. Or LaFontaine's books on fly design...one of the first people to dawn a mask and figure out what it really looks like under there. Many folks, myself included, haven't read the old books, or at least not many of them, so how much impact did they have? Yet the Treatise was about the only book going for almost 200 years, one of the first printed books in the English language, and maybe the forerunner of all the others. Or how about the tide turning on the wet fly and nymphs with the development of dries? How much rod design did those books inspire...was that the impetus for graphite? Or was it one of the "travel" books that regaled us with tales of fly fishing the wide world that inspired the globalization of modern fly fishing? Or was it the first book that lay the foundation for a catch & release ethic? I would like to constrain it to books that specifically turn around fly fishing in some way, which is to say that one shouldn't include the first known book, or the Bible, or Silent Spring...unless you could make a convincing argument for a fly fishing reference. Oh, and this is not limited to English language. If you have one from another source...say German...or Japanese (think: tenkara)...or Macedonian...bring it. The Easton Press collection might be a good starting point. Something like this discussion must have occurred in the publisher's office. But they printed more than 10. Thanks...it's starting to get interesting.

Flyman615 · Post by **Flyman615** » 08/13/09 04:04

IMO, everyone has a different perspective on The 10 Most Impactive Fly Fishing Books of All Time because not only does everyone have their own areas of interest, but because over 2000 fly fishing titles (or is it 3000?) have been published, it's pretty much impossible for one person to have read them all.

Therefore, I included on my list only influential books I have personally read. That is, as opposed to supposedly impactive books I have read about, which may or may not live up to their respective reputations.

quashnet · Post by **quashnet** » 08/13/09 04:11

Because angling is so broad an experience, ten books are too few, even if we stay only with the English language and make no mention of volumes like Fernando Basurto's 1539 book on Spanish fly fishing, which predates Walton. But a most-important list might at least include the following:

Dame Juliana Berners, The Treatise of Fishing with an Angle, 1496. Defined fishing as a sport, and was the word on the subject for the next two centuries.

Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton, The Compleat Angler, 1676. Walton for the reasons why we fish, and Cotton so that we can "fish fine and far off."

William Scrope, Days and Nights of Salmon Fishing in the Tweed, 1843. A unique voice in angling literature. Arnold Gingrich said that if he was put ashore on the proverbial desert island, he would beg to keep only one book besides Walton, and that would be Scrope. At my income I have no business owning a first edition, but I do, and it's pure pleasure.

W.C. Stewart, The Practical Angler (1857). The pathbreaking work that made the case for casting and fishing upstream.

Thaddeus Norris, The American Angler's Book (1864, 1865). A combination of lively wit, tales, essays, and sound angling information. The best American angling book of the nineteenth century.

Halford vs. Skues. Their books form the classic dry fly vs. submerged fly debate.

John McDonald (editor), The Complete Fly Fisherman: The Notes and Letters of Theodore Gordon (1947). Essays and letters written late 19th - early 20th century by Theodore Gordon. Filled with useful information, anecdotes, history, and personal asides by a thoughtful and intelligent man who for a century - and perhaps well into the future - has been the most significant influence on the dry fly in America.

A.J. McClane, The Practical Fly Fisherman (1953, 1975). Just what the title says.

Lee Wulff, The Atlantic Salmon (1958 and later editions). You want one of the later editions for the full course, applicable not only for salmon fishing but many other things too.

Datus C. Proper, What the Trout Said (1982). Fundamental work about designing trout flies by keeping in mind trout behaviors, and not human preferences. Obviously builds on Marinaro's A Modern Dry Fly Code (1950), which should also be on any reasonable "greatest" list.

cdmoore · Post by **cdmoore** » 08/13/09 04:40

I like, I like. This is the essence of the post! You've got it. Please keep it coming folks...you KNOW you're out there.

tedgolden · Post by **tedgolden** » 08/13/09 04:54

In no particular order:

The Trout and the Fly, Gottard and Clarke
What The Trout Said, Datus Proper
Anatomy of a Fisherman, Traver -After reading, my life profoundly changed. "It's his fault," my wife has mentioned more than once.
How to Catch Fishermen, Zern - Or anything else by Zern.
Joys of Trout, Gingrich
Trout, Bergman
Fishless Days, Angling Nights, Hackle
Wonderful World of Trout, Fox
Modern Dry Fly Code, Marinaro
Practical Fly Fisherman, Wetzel
Matching the Hatch, Trout, Schwiebert
Caddisflies, LaFontaine
Selective Trout, Swisher & Richards

I think these books and authors had the most influence on me.

BobB · Post by **BobB** » 08/13/09 05:22

This is a list of books I've enjoyed over the years, and still do.
Wouldn't say they're the most important fly fishing books of all time, but they are important to me personally.

The Fish and the Fly by John Atherton

Fishing Bamboo by John Gierach

Trout Madness by Robert Traver

Fishing the Dry Fly As a Living Insect by Leonard Wright

Trout by Ernest Schwiebert

The River Why by David James Duncan

Classic Rods and Rodmakers by Martin Keane

Clorado Classic Cane by Dick Spurr and Michael Sinclair

Heddon The Rod with the Fighting Heart by Michael Sinclair

Any book by Harry Middleton

Others, but don't wish to bore you any further.

Bob

dr knuemann · Post by **dr knuemann** » 08/13/09 07:20

Dr K: I edited this from a single block of text. Thanks for your contribution to the discussion!

Many writers already dealt with 'hit' lists of books that influenced fly fishing. You may read John Waller Hills 'A History Of Fly Fishing For Trout' (written in 1921, but still hard to beat). Or take the lists of James Robb 'Notable Angling Literature '.The 9 writers listed top are :

1.The Treatyse,
2.Izaak Walton,
3.Charles Cotton,
4.Thomas Tod Stoddard,
5.William Scrope,
6.W.C.Stewart,
7.Francis Francis,
8.Frederic M. Halford,
9.Lord Grey.

There is a second list of 11 authors ( Lest we forget ) naming among others Ronalds, Plunket Greene and John Waller Hills. You may also read

Marston 'Walton And Some Earlier Fishing Writers'
Lambert 'Angling Literature In England'
Col.E.W.Harding,1931, 'The Flyfisher&The Trout's Point Of View', part V.Notes on Modern Fly Fishing Literature

If you prefer newer books, there is Voss Bark with his book of 1992 ' A History of Flyfishing '.

Of US writers dealing with this subject there is first of all Arnold Gingrich with 'The Fishing in Print '.For those who really want a hit list there is the list of 30 books on page 252ff in Gingrich's book ' The Joys Of Trout '. Those who want a list of notable German authors dealing with fishing should have a look at the book by Hans-Heinrich Welchert ' Der unsterbliche Angler'.

I read a lot of literature about fly fishing but do not fell competant to create a list of the most important writers dealing with fly fishing. All I can say is: I do not like to read instructional books, especially modern ones. Books I do like are

Grey ' Flyfishing ' ( 2nd edition ),
all fishing books of Voelker,
Waller Hills ' Summer on the Test ',
Leonard M.Wright ' Fly Fishing Heresies ' and ' Fishing The Dry Fly as A Living Insect ',
Caine ' An Angler At Large',
most books of H.T. Sheringham,
Arthur Ransome ' Rod And Line',
Harry Plunkett Greene ' Where The Bright Waters Meet' ,
many of John Gierach's books
all fishing books by William Humphrey.

Of writers in German I like Wolfgang L.R. Ecke ' Schimmernde Schatten ' ( 1966 ) and his second fishing book 'Von Flüssen und Fischen' written much later in 2002 with his wonderful photos ) .

pcg · Post by **pcg** » 08/13/09 08:37

A couple volumes that have been left out:

Hatton's "Rod Crafting," a seminal work that in importance eclipses 75% of the texts mentioned so far;

Campbell's "Classic & Antique Fish-Fishing Tackle," a flawed work but one of great ambition & breathe; and

Schwiebert's double volume "Trout," another somewhat less than perfect work but one that has resonated for decades for almost all fishermen. What a magnificent work! I think it may have been mentioned once above.

I too think that the goal of "Top Ten" is difficult. Regardless, we're lucky that there are so many excellent tackle-related books.

Short Tip · Post by **Short Tip** » 08/13/09 13:29

For flyfishing, which I think was the genesis of the thread, I'd have to go with the giants already listed, Walton, Cotton, Berners, Gingrich, LaBranche, MacDonald, Atherton, Halford, Skues. Two I would add which I didn't see above would be Emlyn Gill's "Practical Dry Fly Fishing" and Charles Wetzel's "American Fishing Books", an impossibly rare but absolutely wonderful book. My copy is a quarto sized reprint which was printed in an edition of 75 (!) and is much easier to obtain than a self-published (and self-bound!) original. This book deserves a wider reprinting. (After I posted this I searched around and found a later edition of 500 by Meadow Run in 1990 - So get one!)

creakycane · Post by **creakycane** » 08/13/09 14:36

Can't think of many that have not been mentioned!
Ronald's book is remarkable in that it was one of the first books to attempt to classify insects in a serious way.
You guys might like "The Fly" by Dr Andrew Herd, Medlar Press if you haven't seen it - great history along the lines of Gingrich and McDonald. Its out now in paperback.....

I would say in terms of impact, the greatest might be:

Antique category - 5th Edition of Complete Angler (Walton with Cotton addition)

Modern Category: A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean

Whether the impact is/was positive or negative is up to the individual. Writers were talking of polluted streams and crowded waters in England in the 1700's!

Study to be Quiet!
____________

Interestingly, in northern Spain, a book called The Astorga Manuscript was written by Juan de Bergara, outlining a series of wet fly patterns using coq de Leon feathers, in1624 (before Walton's birth). It had limited circulation until the 20th century, but it's amazing how modern the book is - I believe Mr Preben Jacobsen published a translation in English Spanish and Dutch in the 80s' - Paul Morgan still had some copies quite reasonably.

Short Tip · Post by **Short Tip** » 08/13/09 15:08

creakycane · Post by **creakycane** » 08/13/09 16:21

Thanks Short Tip - I think that is the from Winchester Cathedral where Walton is buried - along the Itchen.
Always makes me think of Paul Purcell of Chiloquin OR, from whom I'm sure more than a few of you bought books.....

Armchair Angler · Post by **Armchair Angler** » 08/13/09 18:24

John Waller Hills, as was mentioned, discussed many-many books from Dame Julia up to 1921. What he did was interesting in that he highlighted those books that changed or advanced how fly fishing was practiced. The first guy to really get into details about insects, as Creaky says, was Ronalds, he credited Steward for turning our attention to casting upstream, Halford for dry flies, etc. I'm not sure if we have advanced all that much (in how we fish) since Hills 1921 publication. Like Quash says, Datas Propers; book What the Trout Said, was a unique look at how fish "see's" things . Marinaro wasn't the 1st, but he really studied light and surface impressions. These were important contributions but I don't know if they really changed how fly fishing is now practiced. We are tying very sparse, in the film, emergers or parachutes now. This is pretty big - who can be credited with that development? Perhaps tying with extraordinary materials - synthetics?

The way I see it, the major contributions (or maybe the change in evolution of fly fishing), since Hills book is the environmental aspect. I'd suggest that we now care far more about a healthy fishery than the numbers of fish brought to the creel. I don't know who should get the most credit for this but Roderick Haig Brown should be in the running (Lee Wullfe too?)

Another angle may be simply to look at who has done most to keep the sport alive and thriving for this past generation? A River Runs Through it has been mentioned, I'd agree. I'd also say the books by Gierach and Lyons (pick any of them) - their columns in the Fly Fishing mags, I'm sure lead many people like me to their books and hooked them for life.

Booman2 · Post by **Booman2** » 08/13/09 18:59

Paul Purcell bought about 600 books from my library once, when the military moved me at the wrong time. Great guy and lover of fine books. Had the good fortune to retire on a fine Oregon river. He and the great Joe Wilcox took a lot of my money over the years. Some of my favorites in no order except the first: Izaak Walton, The Complete Angler. I like either the Bethune edition which contains a great bibliography of early American angling books, or the leather bound Nonesuch Press limited edition, 1929, which includes Walton's "Lives" and miscellaneous writings. After 450+ editions since 1653, it still has much to say about why we fish. Arnold Gingrich, The fishing in Print. Written by the long time editor of Esquire, Mr. Gingrich's book reviews the best, and keeps me interested in buying those titles I don't have. Roderick Haig-Brown, A River Never Sleeps. Just a great read by a fine

, great fisherman and conservationist. I'm fortunate to have one of his flies and a few of his personal letters. Once owned one of his rods. Jock Scott (Donald Rudd), game Fish Records. Much more than just the records. Martin Keane, Classic Rods and Rodmakers. The book that saved bamboo, made Marty some money and changed my life. John McDonald, The Origins of Angling. John Brown, The American Angler's Guide, 1849. Locks early information in place. A. J. McClaine, The Wise Fishermen's Encyclopedia, 1951. Pearls from the pen of Stoner and others. Much on rod building, steelhead fishing and more. Section on ferrules is wonderful. Cheap. Hewitt, A trout and Salmon Fisherman for 75 years. George LaBranche, A dry Fly and Fast Water, and The Salmon and the Dry Fly. Drewitt, Hardy Brothers, The Masters, the Men and Their Reels. Locks in the history of Hardy and has fine photos. Anything and everything by Hills, Skues and Halford.

Gnome · Post by **Gnome** » 08/14/09 03:01

Oppians "Halieuticks" 1721 Translation
One of the finest pieces of prose ever written about fish and fishing

Gervaise Markham , A Pleasure of Princes 1609
my copy is a later printing done in 1654
The first purpose built dry fly and one of the finest descriptions of match the hatch ever put to paper.
This is a work that does not get the recognition it is due.

Mascall late 1500's The Arte of Angling
He was one of the major influence behind Waltons first edition of the Complete Angler.
Odd how Piscator and Venator are the main characters in a work that predates Walton by almost 100 years.

Ronalds "A flyfishers Entomolgy" 1836
For all of the reasons stated earlier.

Thaddeus Norris "American anglers guide" 1865 2nd edition

Hoflands "British Anglers Manual" 1839

Jack Dennis "Western Trout fly tieing Manual Volume 1"
This work tuned my tieing up and was one of the best on how to tie and is still one of the best "How to's ever done"

"Classic rods and Rod Makers" Keane

AJ Campbell "Classic and Antique fly fishing Tackle"

Even though a bit flawed a work that for awhile drove my collecting bug at warp speed. And inspired me to do a Color Companion to complement what was done by Campbell and Keane.
Which Resulted in my Authoring of Rod Crafting.

And last but not least would be any of the angling works done by Henry Van Dyke with a special nod to The work titled Fishermans luck as good of a book on why we fish as has ever been done.

Jeff