Books and DVDs

Trout Grass

I confess, I am a fan of documentaries.  It seems that over the last several years,  digital technology has become more practical and accessible, and documentary films and their makers have been able to put more and more thoughtful and provocative ideas in front of us with their unique way of storytelling.  More often than not, I find myself being more affected and touched by documentaries than feature films.  I think, when successful, documentaries take the best of what movies and television have to offer.  A good documentary will have a good story like a feature.  It will also offer what reality television claims in its name, but never really achieves,  the idea of reality; that is the inspection of an honest life experience.  The results can be magical.  And it is so here.

Trout Grass had me mesmerized from the start.  Its only draw back is that it comes in under an hour.  In that short time, however, we follow the birth of a “split cane” bamboo rod.  It begins in the hills of the Tonkin region of China where all bamboo rods come from and eventually end with the narrator fishing his new bamboo fly rod on a spectacular river in Montana.   In the middle are the people whose hands touch the bamboo poles along way, from the villagers who harvest the bamboo, to the master craftsman who crafts the rod.  This is a simple, honest and beautiful story that will speak to you regardless of how you feel about fly fishing.  If you do enjoy fly fishing, I warn you now, you will be drooling by the end credits.

The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide

Author:  Tom Rosenbauer

A fly fishing buddy recently turned me on to Tom Rosenbauer.  He has several “Orvis” fly fishing books.  In fact, he has a pretty good gig.  Rosenbauer is also the VP of marketing at Orvis.  I own and have used several Orvis products, including a fly reel that I review in our product review section,  and this book just adds to what I see as a quality company that produces quality fly fishing gear and products.  Orvis has another fly fishing book just for beginners, but I suggest you pass that one up for this one.  They should add “Complete” to the title because it really does give a practical introduction to fly fishing.  The layout is great.  Its very accessible and easy to read with some great photos to guide you through the nuts and bolts of the sport of fly fishing.  As Silvio Calabi, Editor of Rod & Reel, has said, “This guide may be the single most valuable item a novice angler can buy… and most of us would do well to reread the section of flies, fly selection and stream tactics every spring before pulling on our waders for the first time.”  I don’t think that’s a bad idea at all.

Fifty Places To Fly Fish Before You Die

Author:  Chris Santella

I kind of stumbled upon this book recently.  I’d say this fly fishing themed book falls somewhere between guidebook and coffee table book.  At 224 pages, each of the fifty fly fishing destinations is given 3 to 4 pages to extol their virtues.  This book is also not limited to trout fishing.  Much of the content takes you to exotic locations with great saltwater gamefish flyfishing.  Now, some of the destinations you will be familiar with, particularly in North America, but some are as extreme as imaginable.  I found myself slack jawed as I read about the Tiamen in the wilds of Mongolia.  These are the worlds largest Salmonoids and are often over 50 pounds, making their trout cousins look like minnows.  There’s also the Tiger Fish, a distant relative of the Piranha (only much larger), found in the Zambezi River in Zambia.  Beware of Hippos.   The book is really very interesting, but it’s the photography that gets it on my short list.  Some of the pictures are just stunning.  Ultimately, I found myself day dreaming of exotic fish...  on the end of my fly rod.  Can you see my big smile?

Fly Fishing Through The Midlife Crisis

Author: Howell Raines

I can’t say enough about this book.  You don’t have to love fly fishing to love this book.  It says something about Raines' talent as a writer (he does have a Pulitzer) that you can plow through roughly 350 pages and feel like you’ve just been sitting and chewing the fat with an old buddy or fly fishing mentor for an hour.  This is a man who has spent time on the water with some of fly fishing’s legends, not to mention more than one U.S. President.  Time flies and when it’s all over you’re a little better for it.

“Hear me, my brothers,” Raines says. “Anything is Possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough.  Even adulthood.”  And so Raines shares his journey through middle life and how fly fishing really is a great teacher of life.  Raine is wonderfully descriptive and perceptive when it comes to life and fly fishing.  If you grew up thinking fishing was how many dead fish you brought home only to learn later that eating trout, much less killing one, is truly wasteful, you will not be able to put this down.  If you can't go flyfishing right now, get this book and enjoy.

The Complete Book of Fly Fishing

Author:  Tom McNally

This book first came out in 1993 and at the time was probably the most up to date and comprehensive guide to the art and sport of fly fishing.  If you are a beginner looking for a great source of flyfishing information, Tom McNally has done a great job at putting it all together and categorizing it all into an easy to digest format.  Really, my only beef here is that the majority of the graphics are black and white with many being artist sketches.  Maybe future editions will have upgraded fly fishing photography.  Given the breadth of information here, I feel that is a small price to pay.  This is a great resource and Tom McNally has done an excellent job here.

Reading The Water

Author:  Dave Hughes

Hughes does much more than write about fly fishing, he lives it. This one is a must have in your library. Dave Hughes famously stated, “90% of the fish are in 10% of the water.” The problem most fly fisherman have is they spend too much time in the unproductive 90% of the water. This book is a wonderful guide to understanding how to look at a body of water and understand where the trout are most likely to be.

You will learn to identify the basic water types and the insects that will inhabit them, a key to understanding what to present to the trout when flyfishing. This is a great reference book that you will find yourself referring to over and over.

Handbook of Hatches

Author:  Dave Hughes

I just have to say, I’m a fan of Dave Hughes.  He has a very unique way of simplifying a lifetime of fly fishing experience into very concise and easy to understand books.  I personally own several of his books and all have became invaluable to me.  I have many fly fishing books that really make my book case look pretty.  I have many more that are worn and creased from loving use.  Dave’s books fall into this category.

In the Handbook of Hatches, Mr. Hughes does a really nice job of breaking down some of the basics that will help you identify the bugs that trout are dining on and helping you pick out the right flies from your fly box to match them.  This book really helps take much of the mystery out of matching the hatch.  If you are looking for an easy read on trout food that you can carry with you, this is it.  I can’t say enough about this book.  Get it and read it.

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