Top five

An area where you can discuss books about angling, classic tackle, angling literature, your favorite authors, old and new, and any upcoming books you see of interest and of course all the classics as well.

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gt05254
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Re: Top five

#21

Post by gt05254 »

" I still occasionally wonder if he ever caught a trout less than three pounds. :) ;) >:D"
I knew Ernie fairly well....and wonder if he ever hooked a salmon under 40 pounds.
BTW, Paul Schullery is at the top of my list.
Gary

GMflyf1sh
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Re: Top five

#22

Post by GMflyf1sh »

1. Dana Lamb
2. Ernest Schweibert
3. Dave Hughes
4. Traver
5. Nick Lyons

bluesjay
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Re: Top five

#23

Post by bluesjay »

Hi Guys, Schwiebert, Traver, McClane, Marinaro and J Edson Leonard are my picks. Leonard 'cause 'Flies' started me on tying, and McClane 'cause he started me on bamboo rod making.
I too was lucky to fish with Schwiebert at a two day class. It was below Lake Catamount Dam near Steamboat Springs in '82. He had 9' and 8 1/2' T&T rods, both in good shape. He said, "Those guys are crazy." I saw him catch a huge Rainbow in the 4-5 lb. range. I have a picture. There was a hatch of a tiny green Midges below the dam, and Whitefish were rising. He identified what was happening and had a soft hackle fly, one of which he gave me, and we stood and caught 6-10 inch Whitefish 'til it got time to go. He caught five to every one I caught. Not much else going on, though he rolled a big fish under the willows on an Edson Tiger light or dark. I carried his rod and two Whitefish for my cats. I still have the fly. He signed 'Matching the Hatch' and 'Nymphs.' I later saw him tie at Frank Meek's condo.

Jay Edwards

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Re: Top five

#24

Post by GRASSNGLASS »

Bergman was my early favorite for the tremendous knowledge shared on various fish and ways to catch them.

Leonard Wright for his thoughts away from the accepted thoughts of the time.

MacQuarrie is the great unknown by many, possibly because his stories weren't published in book form until long after his death. (Also,his fishing book can be hard to find)

Gierach for his early writings.

Lyons, not only for his own works, but for the amazing amount of books he's published for others.

Of course Traver or Haig-Brown are as great as any of them.
Last edited by GRASSNGLASS on 09/17/22 22:36, edited 1 time in total.

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JohnMD1022
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Re: Top five

#25

Post by JohnMD1022 »

Impossible. Too many good writers to limit it to only five.

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Eperous
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Re: Top five

#26

Post by Eperous »

JohnMD1022 wrote:
08/28/22 15:17
Impossible. Too many good writers to limit it to only five.
Than, pick you number and list 'em... :)

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Re: Top five

#27

Post by GMflyf1sh »

Dana Lamb
Nick Lyons
Ernie Schweibert
Traver
Hughes

No particular order - but these guys I have read there books more than once. I still feel there should be an award for reading the entire 1500 pages of Trout by Mr Schweibert
Gregg

GMflyf1sh
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Re: Top five

#28

Post by GMflyf1sh »

Would also say Ernie never got skunked

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Seabowisha Salmo T
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Re: Top five

#29

Post by Seabowisha Salmo T »

Eric Peper wrote:
06/28/20 10:27
Hellmtflies wrote:
06/28/20 09:27
Dr. E Schwiebert X's 5. Is there another angling writer? :)
Totally agree on Ernie's skill with the language and his phenomenal research talents. I think I've read and reread and enjoyed just about everything he's done. Notwithstanding all of that, I still occasionally wonder if he ever caught a trout less than three pounds. :) ;) >:D

Eric . . . just being a PITA.
hello, eric; rhanks for the laugh!

highest regards, jim w

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Re: Top five

#30

Post by Low Profile »

I'll suggest a few not yet mentioned in no particular order. Mostly eastern US based writings but hell that's where I live. Just love the historical accounts in all of these. Recommend to anyone who is in the northeast

Jim Bashline (Night fishing for Trout)
Art Lee (Fishing Dry flies for Trout in Rivers and Streams)
Nick Karas (Brook Trout)
Ed Van Putt (Trout fishing in the Catskills)
EV Connett (Trout Fishing)

Tx, Low Profile

Bill Terry
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Re: Top five

#31

Post by Bill Terry »

First, Eperous, your fishing library is impressive—twice the shelf space of mine.

So, my top five?

For literature, Arnold Gingrich and Roderick Haig-Brown. Honorable mention, John Gierach and Ernie Schwiebert.

For technique, Gary Borger. Honorable mention, Ray Bergman and Vince Marinaro.

For entomology, Ernie Schwiebert and Gary LaFontaine, Honorable mention, Caucci/Nastasi.
Ad piscatoribus sunt omnes res secundi.

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quashnet
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Re: Top five

#32

Post by quashnet »

When the "top five" question was asked fifteen years ago on the Forum, I answered with:

Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler (fifth edition 1676, with Charles Cotton's additions)
William Scrope, Days and Nights of Salmon Fishing in the Tweed (1843)
Thaddeus Norris, The American Angler (1864)
John McDonald, Note and Letters of Theodore Gordon (1947)
W.D. Wetherell, Vermont River (1984)

This is still a good list, but I have just re-read R. Palmer Baker's The Sweet of the Year, and would not want to go without it. Nor would I want to miss out on John Atherton's The Fly and the Fish, or anything by Gingrich, McClane, or Traver/Voelker, and special mention must be made of my 1930 edition of Moby-Dick, or The Whale by Herman Melville, with a signature and inscription by Rockwell Kent, the illustrator.
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thegreek
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Re: Top five

#33

Post by thegreek »

Five? Are you kidding ... just five? How about Nick Lyons and Robert Traver to use up the first two digits (that's actually not a question and I probably watched too much JEOPARDY when I was in high school). I'll also include W.D. Wetherell and Howard T. Walden. What! I have one more pick (that actually is a question, but I already knew that I had one more pick)? My favorite is the bard of fishing: Harry Middleton. Still, there are so many more great fishing writers who have allowed me to experience and live great adventures and ponder insightful thinking while accompanying their protagonists on their piscatorial pursuits. Thank you.

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cwfly
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Re: Top five

#34

Post by cwfly »

There are wonderful lists and suggestions.
I would add, John Hersey, Blues (1987).
"History has a beloved cousin who has the family eyes and nose
but is a rather different creature - myth." Ken Cameron,
The American Fly Fisher, v. 28, n. 1, Winter, 2002, (AMFF, Manchester, Vt., 2002).

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GerardH
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Re: Top five

#35

Post by GerardH »

I've been sitting on this thread for quite awhile mulling how to list out my favorite fly fishing authors, here's my top five with my $.02 thrown in:

Top Five:
Traver/Voelker
Nick Lyons
Ernest Schwiebert
Gordon MacQuarrie
Jerry Dennis (made the list the past couple of years)

Honorable mention:
Ted Leeson
Jerry Kustich
Datus Proper
Ed Zern
Arnold Gingrich
Vince Marinaro

One hit wonders:
Hemmingway
Norman Maclean
John Maclean
Craig Nova
Mitch Keller
Tim Schulz

Bamboo rod related:
Ed Engle
George Black
Martin Keane


Note Gierach didn't make my list...though I find his writing enjoyable for the most part and he deserves something for being so prolific and having such a devoted following, he's just not there for me.

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Re: Top five

#36

Post by Woodlakejag »

1. Sparse. Underrated if you ask me. There are some hidden gems in his short stories.
2. Mac Francis. What an outstanding job he did on Catskill Flytier and Land of Little Rivers.
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dave potts
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Re: Top five

#37

Post by dave potts »

We are downsizing and moving to a retirement complex where our unit will only be about 900 sq. feet. That means I will have to get rid of my 300 plus fishing library. To say it makes me sick to think about it would be a gross understatement. Got to get rid of all the flytying stuff too.

Bee
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Re: Top five

#38

Post by Bee »

Not in any order , but a quite different list from most here. Some steelhead , western and saltwater authors who are notable IMO.

Haig-Brown
Joe Brooks
Charlie Brooks
Tom McGuane
Harrison O Connor
Sparse

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rhmill01
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Re: Top five

#39

Post by rhmill01 »

Walton, Hemingway, Bergman, Middleton, McGuane.

GRASSNGLASS
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Re: Top five

#40

Post by GRASSNGLASS »

John McDonald's books on some of angling history are great in my opinion.

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