Bibliography of fly fishing (species related)

Last updated

Speckled Brook Trout - Louis Rhead, 1902 BrookTroutRhead.JPG
Speckled Brook Trout – Louis Rhead, 1902

This annotated bibliography is intended to list both notable and not so notable works of English language, non-fiction and fiction related to the sport of fly fishing listed by year published. Although 100% of any book listed is not necessarily devoted to fly fishing, all these titles have significant fly fishing content. Included in this bibliography is a list of species related fly fishing literature.

Contents

Annotations

Annotations may reflect descriptive comments from the book's dust jacket, third party reviews or personal, descriptive and qualitative comments by individuals who have read the book. Some older works have links to online versions in the Internet Archive or Google Books.

Fly fishing for trout

19th century

Many books on the history of fly fishing for trout credit George Pulman for being the first writer to suggest fishing trout flies as dry flies. Pulman builds up to the introduction of the dry fly by writing very vell about the principle of trout-fly imitation, including size, color and form

Sylvester Nemes, 2004 [1]

(1900–1930s)

One of the subtlest writers on fishing with fly in any form is G.E.M. Skues, the author of Nymph Fishing. His book Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream, put an end to the dry-fly purist and brought the angling world back to sanity.

James Robb, Notable Angling Literature (1945) [2]

This is a classic and I often wonder if Skues knew it would be when he set pen to paper. The book is inspirational in a way that Halford's work never was and grips the reader's attention right from the cover, which in the first edition bears the words: .... The Way of a Trout shows Skues at the height of his powers and it contains the best of his thinking on fishing nymphs and semi-submerged patterns, illustrated by the sort of asides, stories and vast fund of experience that only he could call upon.

Dr. Andrew Herd [8]
  • Rhead, Louis (1921). How To Fish The Dry Fly (PDF). Brooklyn: Louis Rhead.
  • Bridgett, Robert C. (1922). Dry Fly Fishing (PDF). London: Robert Jenkins Limited.
  • Dunne, J. W. (1924). Sunshine and the Dry Fly. London: Adam & Charles Black, Ltd.
  • Southard, Charles Zibeon (1928). The Evolution of Trout and Trout Fishing in America. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company.
  • Southard, Charles Zibeon (1931). A Treatise on Trout for the Progressive Angler. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company.
  • Harding, Col E. W. (1931). The Flyfisher & the Trout's Point of View: New Light on Flyfishing Theory & Practice. London: Seeley Service & Company, Ltd.
  • Skues, G. E. M. (1939). Nymph Fishing for Caulk Stream Trout. London: A & C Black.

(1940–1970s)

  • Connett, Eugene V. III (1940). Any Luck? – Trout Fishing. New York: Garden City Publishing Inc.
  • Marinaro, Vincent C. (1950). A Modern Dry Fly Code. New York: G. P. Putnam Sons. ISBN   1-55821-413-5. One of the most important angling books of the 20th century A Modern Dry Fly Code, Marinaro revolutionized American trout fishing with his experiences on the Pennsylvania spring creeks in the 1940s and 50s. [9]

A Modern Dry Fly Code was first published in 1950 and it remains a popular work, having been reprinted at least twice. The Code attracted attention right from the start because there was more in it about terrestrials than there was about mayflies and also because the author focused attention on small imitations to an extent that had never been encouraged before. Marinaro was a brave man for doing it and for some time he stood out as a lone voice in the wilderness; he was challenged, for example, for suggesting that size 14 was the largest hook needed for a dry fly imitation (this was in the days before hooks were available in sizes below 20s). In retrospect, Marinaro probably kicked off a fashion for tiny patterns that went just a little too far before it corrected itself, but his basic point was well made.

Dr. Andrew Herd [10]
  • Skues, G. E. M. (1950). Silk, Fur and Feather, The Trout-Fly Dressers Year. London: Fishing Gazette.
  • Skues, G. E. M. (1951). Itchen Memories. London: Herbert Jenkins.
  • Bergman, Ray (1952). Trout . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Ray Bergman, one of the great angling writers of the 20th century [11]  The Dr. Spock of American fly fishing in the mid-20th century was a former editor of Outdoor Life magazine.

Bergman's Trout is the largest (451 pages) ever devoted to one fish in American publishing history. Many anglers, obviously feeling that there's nothing you can learn from a book that you can't learn better from a fish, consider their libraries complete once they've bought their copies of Bergman's Trout.

Arnold Gingrich, Joys of Trout, 1973 [12]
  • Everett, Fred (1952). Fun With Trout. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Telegraph Press.
  • Walker, C. F. (1956). Angling Letters of G.E.M. Skues. London: Adam and Charles Black.
  • Quick, Jim (1957). Trout Fishing and Trout Flies. South Brunswick, N.J.: A. S. Barnes. An easy reading, contemporary (post WW II) review of the various species of trout, how to fish for them and the various types of flies to use. Contains a dictionary of 'Productive Patterns' with pattern recipes and nice color plates.
  • Hidy, Vernon S. (1960). Sports Illustrated Book of Wet-Fly Fishing. Time Inc.
  • Quick, James (1960). Fishing The Nymph. New York: Ronald Press.
  • Fox, Charles K. (1963). This Wonderful World of Trout. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Foxcrest. Fox, who Arnold Gingrich calls the Chaucer of the Le Tort, was one of the Pennsylvania spring creek anglers who pioneered terrestrial fishing with small flies on spring creeks. Gingrich believed This Wonderful World of Trout deserved a permanent place in every fly fishers library. [13]
  • Flick, Arthur B. (1967). The New Streamside Guide to Naturals and their Imitations. New York: Crown Publishers Inc. Describes the flies and nymphs significant in trout fishing, and explains the procedures for constructing imitations [14]
  • Brooks, Charles E. (1970). Larger Trout for the Western Fly Fisherman. New York: A. S. Barnes and Co. ISBN   0-498-07334-3.
  • Brooks, Joe (1972). Trout Fishing . New York: Harper & Row. Considered the most popular, all-around fly fishing book in the late 20th century by Paul Schullery in American Fly Fishing – A History [15]
  • Wright, Leonard M. Jr. (1972). Fishing the Dry Fly As A Living Insect – An Unorthodox Method. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. ISBN   0-525-21740-1.

Mr. Wright's first book, Fishing the Dry Fly as a Living Insect (E. P. Dutton, 1972) raised the hackles of some reviewers and weekend fishermen. The sportswriter Red Smith wondered in The New York Times whether its author could possibly still be alive. Surely, Mr. Smith wrote, he must have been struck dead for blasphemy, for he had the audacity to suggest that the high priest, Frederic Halford, and such sainted subdeacons as Theodore Gordon, George M. L. LaBranche and Edward Ringwood Hewitt had rocks in their heads when it came to floating a tuft of feather and silk over a trout. The Halford gospel, Mr. Smith noted, taught that the fly should be cast upstream and floated down in an absolutely dead drift. Mr. Wright cast down and across and twitched the fly as he did to suggest to the fish that "here is something alive, edible and defenseless." But Mr. Smith tried the Wright method and then accepted, as he wrote, "what Mr. Wright tells us now – that nothing brings out the essential bully in a trout like a live bug he knows he can whip."

From Leonard Wright's obituary in The New York Times, 2001 [16]
  • Heacox, Cecil E. (1974). The Complete Brown Trout . New York: Winchester Press. ISBN   0-87691-129-7. the first comprehensive, in-depth study of the Brown Trout, Salmo Trutta: its origin, distribution, anatomy, life history, diet; the methods used to manage and propagate it; and the tactics and tackle that have been developed to fish for it.
  • Brooks, Charles E. (1974). The Trout and The Stream. New York: Crown Publishers. focused on Western Trout fishing, The Trout and The Stream help popularize large and heavy stonefly nymph fishing in the West [17]
  • Fox, Charles K. (1976). Rising Trout. New York: Hawthorn Books. ISBN   0-8015-6394-1. A compilation of the observations, discoveries, and informed opinions of a man who knows trout. Discusses the literature, ecology and techniques of trout fishing. The author refers mainly to New England limestone rivers, and the LeTort in particular. [18]
  • Brooks, Charles E. (1976). Nymph Fishing For Larger Trout. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN   0-517-52551-8.

Brook's book is often seen as the best companion for Schweibert's [Nymphs]; the latter is lacking in detailed instructions on fishing techniques, and the former [this book] contains a catalog of historically known and modern ways of fishing the imitations

Paul Schullery, American Fly Fishing – A History, 1996. [19]
  • Ovington, Ray (1977). The Trout and The Fly. New York: Hawthorn Books Inc. ISBN   0-8015-7982-1. This is Ovington's seventh book on trout and fly fishing. He concentrates on the development of both the skills and the instinctive know-how necessary to fully appreciate the fine art of taking trout on flies.

(1980s–1990s)

21st century

  • Hughes, Dave (2002). Taking Trout – Good, Solid, Practical Advice for Fly Fishing Streams and Stillwaters. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN   0-8117-2906-0.
  • Johnson, Les (2004). Fly-Fishing Coastal Cutthroat Trout: Flies, Techniques, Conservation. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publishers. ISBN   978-1-57188-334-6.
  • Kustich, Jerry (2005). A Wisp In The Wind – In Search of Bull Trout, Bamboo, and Beyond. Grand Island, NY: West River Publishing. ISBN   0-9633109-4-1. This book provides a well written, insiders look into the techniques, equipment and personalities employed in manufacture of R. L. Winston Bamboo Fly Rods by Jerry and the crew at the Twin Bridges, Montana, factory. His stories do a nice job of revealing the whole karma around fishing for trout with Bamboo. Jerry also provides some interesting cultural and environmental insights about the rivers in Twin Bridges and Western Montana in general. [21]
  • Engle, Ed (2005). Fishing Small Flies. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN   0-8117-0124-7.
  • Schullery, Paul (2006). The Rise – Streamside Observations on Trout, Flies and Fly Fishing. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN   978-0-8117-0182-2.

Fly fishing for salmon, steelhead, and seatrout

Fly fishing for bass

He [Harry] doesn't have much modern competition in this area [Bass fishing in rivers]. If you want more detail you'll have to wait for new techniques to be developed

Charles Waterman, 1989. [27]

Fly fishing for panfish

Fly fishing for rough and other species

Stillwater fly fishing

Saltwater fly fishing

Lefty codified the saltwater fly-fishing experience in 1974 with the publication of Fly Fishing in Saltwater. This [book] became a virtual bible for an emerging generation of saltwater anglers. It was – and remains – indispenable reading

Glenn Law, Concise History of Fly Fishing, 1995. [30]

Notes

  1. Nemes, Sylvester. Two centuries of soft-hackled flies – A survey of literature complete with original patterns. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole.
  2. Robb, James (1945). Notable Angling Literature. London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd. p. 169.
  3. Schullery, Paul (1996). American Fly Fishing – A History. Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press. pp. 110, 119–120.
  4. McDonald, John (1972). Quill Gordon. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 44. ISBN   0-394-46989-5.
  5. Law, Glenn, Halford and Skues, This Chalkstream Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us, Archived 2010-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Gingrich, Arnold (1974). The Fishing In Print – A Guided Tour Through Five Centuries of Angling Literature. New York: Winchester Press. pp.  224–241. ISBN   0-87691-157-2.
  7. "The Flyfishers Classic Library". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  8. "Herd, Dr. Andrew Herd, A Fly Fishing History". Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  9. 1 2 "Fly Anglers OnLine, Your Complete Internet Flyfishing Resource". www.flyanglersonline.com.
  10. "Herd, Dr. Andrew Herd, Fly Fishing History". Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  11. Ferguson, Stephan (1979). "The Gentleman's Recreation: Sporting Books in the Princeton University Library". The Princeton University Library Chronicle. XL (Spring): 270.
  12. Gingrich, Arnold (1973). The Joys of Trout . New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. pp.  89–90. ISBN   0-517-50584-3.
  13. Gingrich, Arnold (1974). The Fishing In Print – A Guided Tour Through Five Centuries of Angling Literature . New York: Winchester Press. pp.  315. ISBN   9780876911570.
  14. Art Flick; Raymond R. Camp (November 14, 2012). Art Flick's New Streamside Guide: To Naturals and Their Imitations. ISBN   978-1-59921-191-6 via Google Books.
  15. Schullery, Paul (1996). American Fly Fishing – A History. Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press. pp. 223–224.
  16. Saxon, Wolfgang (September 6, 2001). "Leonard Wright Jr., 78, Writer Who Dared to Change Fishing". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  17. Schullery, Paul (1996). American Fly Fishing – A History. Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press. p. 219.
  18. Gingrich, Arnold (1974). The Fishing In Print – A Guided Tour Through Five Centuries of Angling Literature. New York: Winchester Press. pp.  315–316. ISBN   0-87691-157-2.
  19. Schullery, Paul (1996). American Fly Fishing – A History. Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press. p. 218.
  20. "Crietz, Bill, Casting Times, Volume 1, Issue 3, Nov–Dec 2006, p. 2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-01-05. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  21. "Vang, Paul F. Fly Anglers Online Book Reviews". Archived from the original on 2006-10-17. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  22. Gingrich, Arnold (1974). The Fishing In Print – A Guided Tour Through Five Centuries of Angling Literature. New York: Winchester Press. pp.  115–149. ISBN   0-87691-157-2.
  23. Gingrich, Arnold (1974). The Fishing In Print – A Guided Tour Through Five Centuries of Angling Literature. New York: Winchester Press. pp.  312. ISBN   0-87691-157-2.
  24. Veverka, Bob; Radencich, Michael (2004). Spey Flies and How to Tie Them. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. p. 32. ISBN   0-8117-0032-1.
  25. Tapply, William G. (March 25, 2010). "From Bobs to Bugs: A Little History". MidCurrent. Archived from the original on 2010-03-26. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  26. Gingrich, Arnold (1974). The Fishing In Print – A Guided Tour Through Five Centuries of Angling Literature. New York: Winchester Press. p.  218. ISBN   0-87691-157-2.
  27. Murray, Harry (1989). Fly Fishing For Smallmouth Bass. New York: Lyons and Burford Publishers. pp. preface. ISBN   0-941130-85-1.
  28. Serviente, Barry (1996). Angler's Art Catalog. Plainfield, Pennsylvania: The Anglers Art. p. 47.
  29. Schullery, Paul (1996). American Fly Fishing – A History. Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press. p. 221.
  30. Law, Glenn (1995). A Concise History of Fly Fishing. Birmingham, Alabama: Odysseus Editions. p. 132.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fly fishing</span> Angling technique

Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses a ultralight-weight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is insufficient to overcome air resistance, it cannot be launched far using conventional gears and techniques, so specialized tackles are used instead and the casting techniques are significantly different from other forms of angling. It is also very common for the angler to wear waders, carry a hand net, and stand in the water when fishing.

Dry fly fishing is an angling technique in which the lure is an artificial fly which floats on the surface of the water and does not sink below it. Developed originally for trout fly fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artificial fly</span> Lure used in fly fishing

An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing. In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food of the target fish species the fly fishers try to catch. Artificial flies are constructed by fly tying, in which furs, feathers, thread or any of very many other materials are tied onto a fish hook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of fly fishing</span>

This general annotated bibliography page provides an overview of notable and not so notable works in the English language regarding the sport of fly fishing, listed by year of first publication. Although not all the listed books are devoted exclusively to fly fishing, all these titles contain significant fly fishing content. The focus of the present page is on classic general texts on fly fishing and its history, together with notable public or university library collections dedicated to fly fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederic M. Halford</span>

Frederic Maurice Halford, pseudonym Detached Badger, was a wealthy and influential British angler and fly fishing author. Halford is most noted for his development and promotion of the dry fly technique on English chalk streams. He is generally accepted as "The Father of Modern Dry Fly Fishing". John Waller Hills, A History of Fly Fishing for Trout (1921) called Halford "The Historian of the Dry Fly".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. E. M. Skues</span>

George Edward MacKenzie Skues, usually known as G. E. M. Skues (1858–1949), was a British lawyer, author and fly fisherman most noted for the invention of modern-day nymph fishing and the controversy it caused with the Chalk stream dry fly doctrine developed by Frederic M. Halford. His second book, The Way of a Trout with a Fly (1921) is considered a seminal work on nymph fishing. According to Dr Andrew Herd, the British fly fishing historian, Skues:

was, without any doubt, one of the greatest trout fishermen that ever lived. His achievement was the invention of fly fishing with the nymph, a discovery that put a full stop to half a century of stagnation in wet fly fishing for trout, and formed the bedrock for modern sunk fly fishing. Skues' achievement was not without controversy, and provoked what was perhaps the most bitter dispute in fly fishing history.

<i>Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream</i>

Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream and Kindred Studies is a fly fishing book written by G. E. M. Skues published in London in 1910. Minor Tactics was Skues's first book and set the stage for his ascendancy as the inventor of nymph fishing for trout.

<i>The Way of a Trout with the Fly</i>

The Way of a Trout with a Fly and Some Further Studies in Minor Tactics is a fly fishing book written by G. E. M. Skues published in London in 1921. This was Skues's second book after Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream (1910).

<i>A History of Fly Fishing for Trout</i>

A History of Fly Fishing for Trout is a fly fishing book written by John Waller Hills published in London in 1921.

<i>Floating Flies and How to Dress Them</i>

Floating Flies and How to Dress Them - A Treatise on the Most Modern Methods of Dressing Artificial Flies for Trout and Grayling with Full Illustrated Directions and Containing Ninety Hand-Coloured Engravings of the Most Killing Patterns Together with a Few Hints to Dry-Fly Fishermen is a fly fishing book written by Frederic M. Halford published in London in April 1886 by Sampson Low. A deluxe edition on large paper sold out before publication and the trade edition of 500 nearly so.

<i>Favorite Flies and Their Histories</i>

Favorite Flies and Their Histories - With many replies from practical anglers to inquiries concerning how, when and where to use them-Illustrated by Thirty-two colored plates of flies, six engravings of natural insects and eight reproductions of photographs is a fly fishing book written by Mary Orvis Marbury published in Boston in April 1892 by Houghton Mifflin. It was considered by most fly fishers as the standard reference on flies in its era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partridge and Orange</span> Artificial fly fishing lure

The Partridge and Orange is an artificial fly commonly categorized as a wet fly or soft hackle and is fished under the water surface. The fly is a very well known fly with its roots set firmly in English angling history. It is an impressionistic pattern fished successfully during caddis hatches and spinner falls. The Partridge and Orange is traditionally a trout and grayling pattern but may be used for other aquatic insect feeding species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of fly fishing (fly tying, stories, fiction)</span>

This annotated bibliography is intended to list both notable and not so notable works of English language, non-fiction and fiction related to the sport of fly fishing listed by year published. Although 100% of any book listed is not necessarily devoted to fly fishing, all these titles have significant fly fishing content. Included in this bibliography is a list of fly tying, fly tackle, regional guides, memoirs, stories and fly fishing fiction related literature.

<i>Dry-Fly Fishing in Theory and Practice</i>

Dry-Fly Fishing in Theory and Practice (1889) is British author and angler Frederic M. Halford's second and most influential book on dry fly fishing. It followed Floating Flies and How to Dress Them (1886) and this pair of books initiated some 40 years of a rigid, and sometimes dogmatic school, the Halfordian school, of dry fly fishing, especially on English chalk streams. The work also played a significant role in the development of dry-fly fishing in America.

<i>The Fly-fishers Entomology</i> 1836 book by Alfred Ronalds

The Fly-Fisher's Entomology, Illustrated by Coloured Representations of the Natural and Artificial Insect and Accompanied by a Few Observations and Instructions Relative to Trout-and-Grayling Fishing, first published in 1836 by Alfred Ronalds (1802–1860), was the first comprehensive work related to the entomology associated with fly fishing. Although the work was Ronalds' only book, it was published in 11 editions between 1836 and 1913 and has been extensively reprinted in the last 100 years.

<i>Fly Fishing</i> (Grey book)

Fly Fishing, first published in 1899 by English author and diplomat Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862–1933), is a book about fly fishing English chalk streams and spate rivers for trout and salmon. It includes reminisces about the author's fly fishing experiences on Hampshire rivers. The book was in print for nearly 50 years and has been extensively reprinted in the 21st century.

Lee Wulff, born Henry Leon Wulff, was an artist, pilot, fly fisherman, author, filmmaker, outfitter and conservationist who made significant contributions to recreational fishing, especially fly fishing and the conservation of Atlantic Salmon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Wulff</span> Artificial fly fishing lure

The Royal Wulff is a popular artificial fly used for dry fly fishing. It is an attractor pattern and a descendant of both the Royal Coachman fly and the Wulff style of hair wing flies named for Lee Wulff.