Hey Guys;

I'd like to share my story will all of you. A couple years ago I got this wild-*** idea that I wanted to write a book. I sat down and outlined the project - chapters on prey items, game species, tackle needs, fly patterns, seasonal tactics, etc.. The book is titled "Fly Fishing Warm Water Rivers" and subtitled "Lesson's I've Learned on Ohio's Great Miami". My overwhelming motivation was to publicize the amazingly good and effective fishing I've managed to exploit on any number of midwestern warm water flows I've fished in the last 20 years. Let me share a bit of that story first...

I moved to Ohio in October of 1984. I had lived in Massachusetts on the south shore all my life and grew up fly fishing for salters, stripers and bluefish (all with a fly rod - I built my first 10wt Lamiglass rod with a lead core shooting system in 197 on the coast and bass, trout and pickerel on landlocked lakes and rivers (especially Bridgewater's Town River). When I first saw the rocky, silt laden shallow rivers of the heartland I was flummoxed. No way anything worth catching lived there!

Two years later I was polishing my casting chops on a local river with the intention of fishing the MA coast on a trip "home". I was using the aforementioned 10wt and a smallmouth bass simply nailed my size 3/0 Deceiver. The light went on (hey, I'm not that bright, okay?). There were fish in that fetid water!

A couple decades later and I've kick seined, snorkeled, fished and mapped hundreds of miles of these warm water freestone flows. I figured it was time to share. So I wrote a book. It took me 14 months to get all my thoughts in line and on paper (well, on screen anyway). I really liked the product as a finished piece. Then the fun began.

I won't go into publishing issues other than to say if you are a first time book author (I'm an modestly established advertising and marketing copy writer, technical writer and I've been awarded the 2004 "Best Magazine Column" award by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio for my work with Country Anglin' Outdoor Guide) then the only thing the bigger publishing houses will offer you is the opportunity to spend some of your own money and give them all rights to your work in exchange for the possibility that if they make some good money on the first work you might (MIGHT) get a second chance.

Editing was fun. I had an English Major ex-teacher wife of a friend do the red ink work. Let me tell you right now - never try to edit your own book. A magazine article maybe - but a book is way too much. Despite my best efforts I just didn't see the dangling participles, conflicted tenses, shifts in person and other issues that make a book stop flowing and just plug up like a bad toilet. I've never seen so much red ink in my life! I was aghast. But in
the end, the editing was successful and the finished product only has two or three thousand subtle (some not so subtle, okay?) mistakes I've found. But it IS better.

Graphic design was a nightmare. You can't go to a printer with a word document. Quark, Photoshop and other expensive programs are needed. Along with quirky, expensive "artists" who know how to use those powerful Macintosh machines. Five months after the edit I was calling my "graphic artist" on a daily basis. "Almost done" became a repeating theme - to the point that I now have a custom license plate for my car (seriously) that says "Almost"!

Seven months after I started editing and layout I finally had the book done and a proof from the printers. Yahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! It took me almost two years and cost me way more money than I have to print 2,000 copies. Do you have any idea how much space 2,000 copies of a book takes up? The wife will tell you it is exactly enough space that I'll never be allowed to park my car in the garage again. Or maybe even sleep in my own bed (she's starting to soften - last night she brought my pillows downstairs instead of throwing them).

Did I mention that if you write about fishing it becomes a foregone conclusion that you won't be doing any? Between the time and expense you'll be lucky if you can even glance at the fly rods calling you from the corner of the den. Last year I was on the water 119 times. This year - under 20 so far.

So what did I write about? I thought you'd never ask. My book really does take a different look at a few idea - mainly fishing the well curve (see my
article on [url=http://www.warmwaterflyfisher.com),:642c0]http://www.warmwaterflyfisher.com),[/url:642c0] understanding warm water prey species and how they are different from cold water inhabitants, and how fly sizes and patterns must change to reflect the changing availability and abundance of warm water food items.

Of interest to this group will be key fly patterns that will imitate just about any flowing warm water baitfish. These include immature carp imitations, Foxee red Clousers and my own Mixed Media variation, crayfish imitations, etc.. Also I think I broke a little new ground by acknowledging and discussing fly fishing for catfish (yes, it can be done and it's a hoot) - though that is only a minor part of the content.

Did I mention pictures? Not a lot of them, but they are all mine. 4 pages of color images as a centerpiece and a nicely designed cover. Also a nice bw image opening every chapter, along with a cool quote. I did spend a bit of time on this, after all...

Anyway, if any of you has ever thought, "I think I'll write a book on fly fishing" - stop and think again. Go to a bar. Drink heavily. Run your credit card to the limit. Take up golf. When you are finally broke, hung over and humbled, come back and examine your desires again.

The title of my book is "Fly Fishing Warm Water Rivers" ISBN 0-9765963-0-X. Contact me off list at cornmuse@fuse.net if you'd like your very own copy.

Hurry, the bar opens soon....

Joe C.
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