Deer season is over, the snow is here to stay, trout season is closed,and Field and Stream gets devoured within a couple of days of it’s arrival. I am looking for some good winter reading. I am looking for suggestions of the outdoor variety. Stories about chasing the quarry are nice, but I tend to lean towards those that chase something else less defined as well. Any suggestions?
[This message has been edited by Sagittarius62 (edited 17 December 2005).]
Any of the books by Roderick Haig-Brown. Granted they are old and in some cases outdated but there is much wisdom and logic to be found here. I reread most of them about every third year.
A book that I am rereading now is not a fishing book but still may interest you.
“Spiked Boots” by Robert E. Pike
It’s a series of tales about the New Hampshire northcountry and old logging camps.
The title story has to do with the tradition of hanging a dead river driver’s boots in a tree nearby where he had drown
I just started reading a collection of stories from “Outside” magazine that I picked up in a used book store. Not usually about fishing or hunting, but when it is it is great. Otherwise, I suggest “In the Fishes Eye” by Ian Frazier, or “Fishing a Highland Stream” though I can’t remember the author.
Three of my favorite books:
Fishless Days, Angling Nights - Sparse Gray Hackle
The Wonderful World of Trout - Charlie Fox
The Last Pool (Upstream/Downstream, Old Stoney) - Howard Walden
I really enjoyed “Classic Fishing Stories: Twenty Timeless Angling Tales” it is an anthology put together by Nick Lyons. The stories are short and varied. Some show the highest virtues of the sport and others will make you laugh. A great book for when you want something quick. I get stuck reading all my books on techniques right now, and dreaming and planning all my theoretical time off next summer.
A good set of maps for your area and a notebook to plan those trips for next year always works for me. Some map reading skills are also a handy thing to have when beating the bushes to get to that double zipper lip secret spot.
I have been reading quite a few of Skues books on Nymph fishing etc. Although they were written many years ago, they contain some real gems of information. Also he was a very good writer and they are a great pleasure to read.
Not all will be on fishing - I have just started re-reading Patrick O’Brien’s Jack Aubrey series. Now there are some good books on ‘chases’. If you haven’t read them, I can definitely recommend.
If you’re looking for something new, I’d suggest Jerry Kustich’s “Wisp in the Wind”… great stuff on bull trout, contemplation of precious friends and places, and the Winston Bamboo Shop as it was up to this fall.
One of my favorites was “Fly Fishing for Sharks” which is a true story of a man’s adventure and travels as he fly fishes across the U.S. It is as much about the people he meets along the way and the human interest stories as it is about actually the fishing. Interesting and varied.