Published Mar 24. 2017 - 7 years ago
Updated or edited Oct 8. 2020

Oh, books!

As many readers know, reading books is one of my passions in fly fishing, and the titles on my table right now perfectly illustrate why

Since this was written I reviewed a couple of the books mentioned:
The Fly Fisher
Farlows Salmon Flies

I have four books on my desk next to my keyboard: two large ones and two small ones. One can hardly be called a book, but anyway.
One just arrived minutes ago with the mail, the second one came yesterday. I brought one home from the recent Danish Fly Festival (together with several others, but that's a whole other story), and the last one was one I bought many years ago, but thought I'd lost. Well Wednesday it suddenly appeared among a couple of other books in my shelf.

How to Choose and Use Fly-tying Thread

Let me start with that one, the smallest one, actually more like a pamphlet than a book, but still a title I appreciate having in my library.
I had for a long time thought I'd lost Paul Marriner's little booklet on tying thread entitled “How to Choose and Use Fly-tying Thread”. Apart from what you can find online, in hard-to-find magazine articles and what's covered in various books in small chapters or even just in passing sentences, this is about the most concentrated information you can find on tying thread and thread handling. It doesn't cover all aspects of tying thread, but certainly gets around the subject in more detail than had been seen before its publishing in 2004. The booklet is sold directly by the author, but I was still sorry to have lost it and I'm very happy to have found it again. Marriner has talked about publishing it electronically, and is working on an update as far as I know. My physical copy is luckily back in the bookshelf in all its 50-page, postcard size might. The small size is probably why it was lost, and the booklet was simply stuck between a couple of other books.
Paul sent me a note on the upcoming digital edition: "I'm making some minor changes and converting it to a digital product. This would be a less expensive alternative to the print edition (postage costs have gotten ridiculous). The print edition will still be available for those who prefer it."
The printed version costs from 5 US$ and up depending on postage and can be ordered online.

Four books
Four books
Martin Joergensen

Kiana's Cast

The next book up in size is the one that came yesterday. I got an e-mail about a month or so ago from its author, Chris Kiana, an Alaskan, who as he writes is “a 73-year-old Inupiaq Eskimo who sits in a fold-up chair and casts a bobber and bead-head nymph between 100’ to 150’ (sometimes more). I teach fishermen how to catch fish from lake shores and riverbanks, plus fish out in lakes and rivers in boats.” As you might read from that and the impressing book title “Kiana's Cast, Spin-cast Bobber-fly Fishing Instruction Book”, the book is about “bobber” fishing, or fly fishing using a casting float, which we have covered in a few articles on this site. Chris uses the technique extensively and has written this book about the subject, and offered me to send a copy.
Now, who am I to turn down a book offer? That's not going to happen anytime soon, and yesterday the mailman delivered the book to my door.
This is also a small book. Not quite as small as Marriner's, but still just 64 pages, basically all showing diagrams of bobber fishing methods. Kiana very meticulously literally goes through the motions of casting and fishing a float and a fly in different situations on lakes, streams and from a boat. The book does cover the choice of float and the rigging, but is actually a highly specialized book on casting and retrieving patterns in almost all conceivable situations.
It's $14.95 as a paperback on Amazon and $5.99 as a Nook eBook from Barnes&Noble.

The Fly Fisher

In keeping with the size sequence, the next book on my table is the one that came today. Recently a German Facebook friend, Thorsten Strüben and his friend Jan Blumentritt, posted photos of an impressing looking book called “The Fly Fisher, The Essence and Essentials of Fly Fishing”. I reached out, inquiring about the book, and Thorsten offered to mail a review copy.
Now, who am I to turn down a book offer? That's not going to happen anytime soon, and today the mailman delivered the book to my door.
OK, I'm repeating myself here, but the book arrived. A large book and even more impressing in real life than on pictures... of course. The book is a beautiful allround fly fishing book, stuffed with great photography, fishing stories and tips, portraits, destination descriptions and much more, contributed by a wealth of fly anglers from all over. I will review it as soon as I have had a closer encounter with it.
It's large format, 256 pages and costs 40 Euros or about 43 US$ from the publisher.

Now, who am I to turn down a book offer?

Farlows Salmon Flies

Large as it is, The Fly Fisher is still outdone by the impressing 356 pages of salmon fly freude found in “Farlows Salmon Flies, An Illustrated Catalogue of Farlows' Pattern Salmon Flies 1870 to 1964” published by Welsh Coch-y-Bonddu Books. This book is not only impressing in size and volume, but also in concept and scope. An amazing coverage of almost countless (Not true. There are 695!) salmon fly patterns found in the British tackle dealer Farlows' catalogs. The author, Martin Lanigan-O'Keeffe, thoroughly goes through every single pattern, accounting for its history and telling its story. This isn't a pattern book in the traditional sense, no materials lists are found and no tying sequences, but it's a highly inspiring and informative tour de force through the golden age of full dressed salmon flies tied for fishing.
I am currently finishing a review of the book, and will publish it as soon as I have polished it. The book costs 50 UK£ from Coch-y-Bonddu Books.

As you can see from the list, books brings me around. In memories, in techniques, in adventure, in history. Books are a wonderful way of filling some of those many non-fishing hours with fishing.

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