The Longest Silence: A Life In Fishing


Thomas McGuane - 1999
    As he travels the fish take him to many and various subjects ripe for random speculation: rods and reels, the classification of anglers according to the flies they prefer, family and memory - right down to why fishermen lie.The Longest Silence sets the heart pounding for a glimpse of moving water, and demonstrates what a life dedicated to sport reveals about life.

I've Never Met an Idiot on the River: Reflections on Family, Photography, and Fly-Fishing


Henry Winkler - 2011
    A accomplished sportsman who meticulously records the measurements of every fish he hooks, Winkler has learned that his yearly trips to the river are not just about catching trout. More importantly, they’re about adopting the proper perspective on life. Or, as Winkler puts it, when he’s fly fishing, the river acts like a “washing machine for my brain,” recharging him and reminding him that anything is possible. Winkler makes a habit of sharing his angling adventures with his wife, Stacey, and their three children, Jed, Zoe, and Max. The Winklers’ annual trip, where they can escape the busyness of everyday life, has brought them together as a family. On the river, Henry has grown to appreciate the support his wife and children give him, learned to listen, and developed the confidence to publish his outdoor photography in his first non-fiction book.An expression of the inherent optimism that stems from the simplicity of the outdoors, I’ve Never Met an Idiot on the River is an invitation to share in the realizations and achievements Winkler

How to Fish


Chris Yates - 2006
    How to Fish is a gem of a book that gets to the heart of the passion for angling: that there's more to fishing than catching fish.

The Fish's Eye: Essays about Angling and the Outdoors


Ian Frazier - 2002
    He sees the angler's environment all around him--in New York's Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida Keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinnati, where a good bait for catfish is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest him as much as what he catches and how. The essays contain sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remain defiantly unruined. Frazier's simple love of the sport lifts him to a straight-ahead angling description that's among the best contemporary writing on the subject. The Fish's Eye brings together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide.

Dynamic Nymphing: Tactics, Techniques, and Flies from Around the World


George Daniel - 2011
    Advanced tight line nymphing tactics, including Czech, Polish, French, Spanish, and American techniques Rigging and fishing dry and droppers, curly Qs, and conventional indicators Fishing the extremes: shallow water, cold weather, high water, wind Casting and technique sequences that include tuck cast, bow and arrow cast, as well as elevating and leading when tight line nymphing62 nymph patterns

Curtis Creek Manifesto


Sheridan Anderson - 1978
    It is laced with outstanding humor provided in its hundreds of illustrations. All the practical information you need to know is presented in an extremely delightful way such as rod, reel, fly line and fly selection, casting, reading water, insect knowledge to determine which fly pattern to use, striking and playing fish, leaders and knot tying, fly tying, rod repairs, and many helpful tips. A great, easy-to-understand book.

The Optimist: A Case for the Fly Fishing Life


David Coggins - 2021
    Written in wry, wise, and keenly observed prose, each chapter focuses on a specific place, fish, and skill. Few individuals, for example, have the visual acuity required to catch the nearly invisible bonefish of the Bahamas flats. Or the patience to land the elusive Atlantic salmon, “the fish of a thousand casts,” in eastern Canada. Pursuing these challenges, Coggins, “a confirmed obsessive,” travels to one fishing paradise after another, including the great rivers of Patagonia, private chalk streams in England, remote ponds in Maine, and New York City’s Jamaica Bay. In each setting, he chronicles his fortunes and misfortunes with honesty and humor while meditating on how fishing teaches focus, inner stillness, and a connection to the natural world. Perfect for the novice, the enthusiastic amateur, and the devoted angler alike, The Optimist offers a practical path to enlightenment while providing “a rueful, thoughtful, and very funny examination of an elegant obsession” (Jay McInerney).

Chasing Rumor: A Season Fly Fishing in Patagonia


Cameron Chambers - 2015
    Rediscovered by fishermen a half-century later, the fish had grown to epic proportions. In Chasing Rumor, Cameron Chambers chronicles his modern-day pilgrimage to the rivers of Patagonia in pursuit of these legendary 20-pound trout. What started as a trip focused on catching fish became a love affair with the Patagonian landscape, environment, and, mostly, the people. From a business mogul turned B&B owner to a kid determined to save a local trout population, Chasing Rumor is at times the story of a handful of fishermen, and at other times a tale of enormous trout.

Alone in the Fortress of the Bears: 70 Days Surviving Wilderness Alaska: Foraging, Fishing, Hunting


Bruce Buck Nelson - 2015
    He would return in September. For the next ten weeks my survival would depend on foraging, hunting and fishing on an island I would share with 1,600 brown bears. This is my story of hunger and solitude, salmon fishing and stormy seas, torrential rains and mountain sunsets, giant halibut and deer hunting, campfires and killer whales. Illustrated with nearly fifty photos and a map.

Fishing on the Edge


Mike Iaconelli - 2005
    In Fishing on the Edge, Iaconelli tells his own story–and it’s a whopper: a Philly-born, Jersey-bred Yankee who’s been stealing the spotlight from bass fishing’s traditionally all-Southern anglers, attracting fans and dominating one of the fastest-growing sports in America.How did Mike Iaconelli, a college-educated kid from New Jersey, come blasting into a sport dominated by old-school stars like Gary Klein, Kevin VanDam, and Denny Brauer? How did Mike, aka “Ike,” take a secret childhood passion and turn it into a profession, earning million-dollar sponsorships and a storm of media attention, ranging from ESPN’s SportsCenter to profiles in The New York Times and Esquire? While Mike has attracted both fans and foes on the tour, his success speaks for itself, especially his victory at the 2003 CITGO Bassmaster Classic, the Super Bowl of competitive fishing.Forty-four million Americans fish, but no one does it quite like Mike Iaconelli. In Fishing on the Edge, he lets you in on the secrets to his extraordinary success–how he developed his “power” fishing style, how he attacks the water, positions the boat, and perseveres through those days when the bass just aren’t biting. With sidebar tips that can be used by any fisherman–from using spinner baits to picking out the right rod to his no-fail “secret weapons”–this is an intensive, informative, and often raucous journey through the life of a brash young man destined to do for fishing what Tony Hawk did for the X Games: take the sport to a whole new level. At the same time, it’s the compelling first-person story of a man who prepared carefully every step of the way, kept notes on every fish he ever caught, and executed the perfect plan to get to the top.A tale of passion, competition, and extreme personality, Fishing on the Edge is a book for anyone who loves the sport of fishing, wants to turn a hobby into a career, or is simply fascinated by a man’s unstoppable drive to succeed.From the Hardcover edition.

Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World's Most Alluring Fish


Chris Dombrowski - 2016
    Enter, at this particularly challenging moment, a miraculous email: can’t go, it’s all paid for, just book a flight to Miami.Thus began a journey that would lead to the Bahamas and to David Pinder, a legendary bonefishing guide. Bonefish are prized for their elusiveness and their tenacity. And no one was better at hunting them than Pinder, a Bahamian whose accuracy and patience were virtuosic. He knows what the fish think, said one fisherman, before they think it.By the time Dombrowski meets Pinder, however, he has been abandoned by the industry he helped build. With cataracts from a lifetime of staring at the water and a tiny severance package after forty years of service, he watches as the world of his beloved bonefish is degraded by tourists he himself did so much to attract. But as Pinder’s stories unfold, Dombrowski discovers a profound integrity and wisdom in the guide’s life.

The Black Panther of Sivanipalli and Other Stories of the Indian Jungle


Kenneth Anderson - 1964
    

Hiking and Backpacking (Trailside Guide)


Karen Berger - 1995
    You can take it with you: Trailside Guides are designed to be used on the trail. Their handy size makes them easy to take along on outdoor adventures. Picture this: Trailside Guides show you how it's done. Each book has more than 100 color photographs and dozens of informative, full-color technical illustrations you'll refer to again and again. Buying Guide: Each Guide has all the information readers need to make informed decisions about what gear is available, and what they should buy. Step-by-step: Tutorials take readers through every aspect of a given outdoor activity. Each Guide covers planning and preparing for a trip, getting in shape, technique, safety, and first-aid tips, and how to have more fun along the way! Easy to use: Trailside Guides provide information quickly. Every book contains detailed illustrations, information-packed sidebars, and a complete index and bibliography. Technique tips: Any physical activity is more fun when it's done right. Trailside Guides are written by experts and contain lucid explanations that help the reader quickly achieve proficiency. It's a big world out there. Get into it with the Trailside Guides.

Kayak: The Animated Manual of Intermediate and Advanced Whitewater Technique


William Nealy - 1986
    Complete with all the details to enhance your whitewater experience, Kayak is a great resource for learning new skills for intermediate and advanced kayakers and learning rescue basics. Plus, all of this is explained in easy-to-read and understand illustrations that are as funny as they are resourceful. This book will teach you basic river courtesy rules, intermediate and advanced technique, and most importantly, how to hold on to your life and limbs and keep your sanity as well.

Hemingway on Fishing


Ernest Hemingway - 2000
    He fished the lakes and creeks near the family’s summer home at Walloon Lake, Michigan, and his first stories and pieces of journalism were often about his favorite sport. Here, collected for the first time in one volume, are all of his great writings about the many kinds of fishing he did—from angling for trout in the rivers of northern Michigan to fishing for marlin in the Gulf Stream. In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway speaks of sitting in a café in Paris and writing about what he knew best—and when it came time to stop, he “did not want to leave the river.” The story was the unforgettable classic, “Big Two-Hearted River,” and from its first words we do not want to leave the river either. He also wrote articles for the Toronto Star on fishing in Canada and Europe and, later, articles for Esquire about his growing passion for big-game fishing. His last books, The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in the Stream, celebrate his vast knowledge of the ocean and his affection for its great denizens. Hemingway on Fishing is an encompassing, diverse, and fascinating collection. From the early Nick Adams stories and the memorable chapters on fishing the Irati River in The Sun Also Rises to such late novels as Islands in the Stream, this collection traces the evolution of a great writer's passion; the range of his interests; the sure use he made of fishing, transforming it into the stuff of great literature. Anglers and lovers of great writing alike will welcome this important collection.