The best non-fiction fishing literature you've read

[mcnerney]

Dean: I have to agree, I love reading anything by Gary LaFontaine, excellent writer and the knowledge he had was just amazing. Pat Dorsey's books on fishing tailwaters are worth reading. Denny Rickards "Stillwater Presentation" is an excellent book for those of you that like stillwater fishing. Rene Harrop's book "Learning from the Water" is also an excellent read.

[wt bash]

While it might not the "best" but The Handbook of Hatches by Dave Hughes is a good read. Not to be overly cliche but anything by Gierach new and old, I gobble up. Another really good read is Brown Trout but I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it, I found it on my grandmothers bookshelf no less!

[dean_mt]

Rip - I've never read Marinaro, though I know I have to.

Gary and Fred, I am not an anadromous fish fisherman... but I trust you both. If I ever decide to take up that aspect of our pursuit, I'll look them up.

Larry, glad to hear someone else has read and appreciates LaFontaine's contribution to the sport. I'm not a stillwater fisherman nor much of a tailwater fisherman, just because neither are all that prevalent in close proximity. Though I would like to learn more about both, particularly tailwaters -- the Mo isn't that far! I'll write these names down. And thanks for the Harrop title, I'll look for that simply because his contribution to fly pattern innovation is so important.

wt bash -- I really enjoy Dave Hughes' writings, I recommend his books often. He is a very accessible and smart writer. Now please fine the author of this Brown Trout book your talking about...I've looked for good books that are specific to brown trout and never found anything. If you find it, please let me know. O, and Gierach isn't cliche, he is what he is and I've enjoyed plenty of his books, it's just not the kind of fishing lit I'm talking about here, stories vs. style and technique.

[wt bash]

It might have been the Compleat Brown Trout by Cecil E Heacox but the cover doesn't look the same and the print date seems to modern. I'll keep looking though, hopefully she may still have it. Over the river and through the woods.....

[diamond rush]

Disclaimer: I almost exclusively nymph, due to the water I fish on: narrow, deep spring creeks full of 8-12" brown trout.

Anyway, two books have really broadened my knowledge of nymphs: how to study them, how to tie them, and new techniques on how to fish them.

1) Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout by Charles Brooks. Don't let the title fool you. The author presents a comprehensive guide for fishing nymphs in all situations for trout of all sizes.

2) Nymphs by Ernest Schweibert. The author breaks down the major nymphs and other aquatic trout food found in the United States into their families, and provides anecdotes, color plates, and patterns for each, as well as describes their behaviors and habitats. Despite the reference nature of this text, I read it cover-to-cover and learned a great deal about the aquatic phases of the insects that inhabit a trout stream.

[caseywise]

i am currently reading czech nymphing by karel krivanec. great book


casey

[Rip Tide]

Although Gary LaFontaine lived in Montana, he was originally from Connecticut and was a member of our club. In fact he first wrote about his experiments with trilobal yarn in our club newsletter. I think of him often as he died from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), a disease that I'm much too familiar with.
I met Dr.Schweibert once as well. I always thought that that his writing was a bit dry, that was until I experienced one of his slide shows.

[mcnerney]

Originally Posted by Rip Tide

Although Gary LaFontaine lived in Montana, he was originally from Connecticut and was a member of our club. In fact he first wrote about his experiments with trilobal yarn in our club newsletter. I think of him often as he died from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), a disease that I'm much too familiar with.
I met Dr.Schweibert once as well. I always thought that that his writing was a bit dry, that was until I experienced one of his slide shows.

Wow, getting the chance to know both of those guys must have been quite the experience!

Diamond: I forgot about "Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout by Charles Brooks", yes, that is indeed a very good book!

[gt05254]

I got to know Ernie very well over about a 7 year stretch, visited him at home several times. He laughed when I told him "Nymphs" got me through Aquatic Ecology at Cornell. Not trying to establish hero status here, just a note that he was an interesting guy, well-egoed, of course, but its hard to dispute (though many will) his status as one of - if not the most - influential fly fishing writers of his generation. I offer "Trout" as one example. He always used to use the AMFF booth as home base at the big fly fishing show in Somerset, NJ. It was fun to watch guys hover around out in the crowd, waiting for the opening to move in, hand extended, invariably saying, "You won't remember me, Dr. Schwiebert, but......fill in the blank." If I saw that once, I saw it a thousand times.

Did you know he wrote travel articles for airline magazines??

Gary

[jk 8]

Seems the trend here is non-fiction instructional books, but the books that have really set my attitude about fishing are those by John Gierach. I have read all his stories multiple times, and they never get old. As far as instructional books go, I havent read many of those, being from the age of the internet I got most of my information from websites like FAOL.