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The Internet is a powerful resource. It provides us instant
access to information, and brings us together via email,
bulletin boards, chat rooms, and instant messaging. FAOL
is a wonderful example of the Internet at its best. The Internet,
however, will never replace the printed page.
I've loved books and fishing since my youngest years, although
I did not start fly fishing until 1993. This column will give
me an opportunity to share reviews of some of my favorite fly
fishing and tying books (and some that are not such favorites)
with my friends here at FAOL. My library reflects my tastes
and interests, and so will this column. It will be heavily
slanted towards cold water fishing and tying for trout and
steelhead, and won't touch much on areas of which I know little,
such as warm or salt water fishing.
I hope that these reviews will motivate some of you to pick up
a good book, on this or any subject, and read.
~ Stu Farnham
Fly Fishing the Mountain Lakes
Fly Fishing the Mountain Lakes
By Gary LaFontaine
Paperback: 186 pages
Publisher: Greycliff Pub Co;(December 1, 1998)
ASIN: 0962666378
Fly Fishing the Mountain Lakes was Gary LaFontaine's
last book published before his death from amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (aka ALS, or, in the US, Lou Gehrig's disease)
in January 2002. Two books have been published posthumously
as of this writing: Fly Fishing the Madison,
co-authored with Craig Matthews, and Fly Fishing the
Henry's Fork, co-authored with Mike Lawson.
Gary is best remembered for his encyclopedic work on
Trichoptera, Caddisflies, and for his innovative fly
patterns. His work was insightful and backed by
exhaustive research and experience. He was also
known for his offbeat sense of humor, familiar to
many of us through his quarterly fly-fishing catalog
The Book Mailer.
I should note that I'm not much of a lake fisherman.
I don't feel I understand lake fishing for trout. I'm
aptivated by running water and, with so many options for
fishing rivers and streams here in the Pacific Northwest,
have not had the motivation to learn. I think it speaks
well of this book that, despite no real interest in its
subject, I read it in an evening, and thoroughly enjoyed
it. Probably the biggest revelation to me was the importance
of anabatic winds - the upslope winds generated by thermal
effects in the mountains in summer - in delivering large
numbers of terrestrial insects to relatively infertile
high lakes and their eager wild trout.
In many ways Fly Fishing the Mountain Lakes is
Gary's most approachable book. It mixes detailed information
on strategies, techniques, and equipment with anecdotes from
Gary's life. Some of the anecdotes are instructive, but many
stand on their own as good stories. LaFontaine's sense of
humor is evident throughout. His companions through the book
include Chester the world's smartest fishing dog and three
pack goats all named Rufus.
Many of the mountain lakes in LaFontaine's adopted home
state of Montana are in remote, high altitude locations.
As a result, Gary spends time on the issues of conditioning
for the hikes in. There's also a chapter debating the
virtues of various pack animals. People get hurt around
horses; llamas spit; mules are stubborn and nasty; alpacas
are expensive. Hence Gary's affection for the pack goat.
As one would expect, the book also contains a number of
fly patterns. Most are LaFontaine's own patterns, and most
are not new to this book, having appeared in Caddisflies
or Gary's other books such as The Dry Fly New Angles
and Trout Flies: Proven Patterns.
Reading Fly Fishing the Mountain Lakes is an
enjoyable, informative way to spend a few winter hours.
~ Stu Farnham
Publishers Note: You can read an excerpt from this book here:
www.flyanglersonline.com/lighterside/part50.php
About Stu
Stu Farnham is a New Englander by birth, who was transplanted to
and put down roots in Oregon in the early 1990s, now residing in
the Seattle area. A software engineering manager by vocation,
he can be found in his spare time chasing trout and steelhead
in the rivers of the Pacific Northwest, chasing his four Gordon
Setters (who in turn are chasing chukar), tying flies, reading,
or working on his website. Colleen, his long suffering wife of
28 years, is a professionally trained personal chef.
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