FLYFISHING LITERATURE - Don Denney - 18 Nov. 2k
Over the years, various recommended reading lists
have been published. Mine is below, along with a
couple of links to establishments I have found to
be useful, and excerpts from some of my personal
favorites. For those who are interested, there is also
some non-fiction about the Hiwassee River itself.
Flyfishing for trout has possibly the most extensive
body of literature of any sport. Besides, one of
the charms of our obsession is that it is never
mastered, and leads off in all directions at once to
new knowledge and interests. Entomology, geology,
climatology, limnology (look it up!), history, and
others.
If the weather really is too bad to fish (and that
has to be pretty bad for me!), one can always read,
(or surf the net, or tie flies)! I am necessarily
a low budget kind of guy, and I have done much of my
reading at little expense via interlibrary loan.
My personal recommended reading list:
-A Trout and Salmon Fisherman for 75 Years
by Edward R. Hewitt
-Streamside Guide to Naturals and Their Imitations
by Art Flick
-Techniques of Trout Fishing and Flytying
by George Harvey
-Caddisflies
by Gary LaFontaine
-Vermont River
by W. D. Wetherell
-The Earth Is Enough
by Harry Middleton
-Presentations
by Gary Borger
-Pavlov's Trout
by Paul Quinnett
-The Complete Fly Fisherman, The Notes and Letters
of Theodore Gordon
edited by John McDonald
-The Way of a Trout With a Fly
by G.E.M. Skues
I could go on, but that is certainly enough choices
to start.
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Some useful links
Last I checked these folks hadn't quite got the hang
of this computer thing yet, but they have a site of
sorts that will give you an address or phone number
to get their fantastic book catalog.
The Anglers Art
This is where I buy most of my books.
Barnes & Noble
This site has a whole page on booksellers.
Fly Anglers Online
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An excerpt
Below is one of my favorite passages on flyfishing,
prose that reads like poetry.
The Way Of A Trout With A Fly (1921)
G.E.M. (George Edward Mackenzie) Skues, (1858-1949)
...
The hook is inadequate to lift the trout. It is
adequate to hold him. The cast is inadequate to
hand-line out the fish, but it is fine enough not to
scare him from the fly, and with the give of the rod
it is adequate to bring him to the net. The rod is
inadequate to lift the fish. But its pluck is
unending; it is never done; it is always able to
yield a bit more, and take it back again immediately.
It is the conquest of the strong by the frail. ...
Excerpts from another favorite:
Vermont River (1984)
W. D. Wetherell
...
Fly-fishing is a discipline that in sensitive hands can
account for a special perspective, putting its
practicioners by its very nature into a closer, more
harmonious relationship with the river they fish. When
the fly fisherman goes empty-handed to the river, merely
to sit and watch, he notices half the incidents and
events he would notice if he brought a rod, the
concentration fly fishing demands being the price of
admission to the intimacy he is after. ...
...
Of all the sensations associated with fly-fishing, this
is the one linked most closely to spring. For if spring
is energy - the light that lures crocuses from the soil,
the warmth that birds track north - then this is energy
made manifest, the pushing, rushing current breaking
against your legs as you cast. Implicit in it are the
fifteen miles of river upstream, all the tributaries to
the river, all the tributaries to the tributaries, to
trickles, runs, pools, drips and springs that comprise a
watershed - all this is at your back, pressing your
waders until the fabric clutches at your legs, pushing
your feet out from their hard-won stance, supporting you
when you lean against it, shivering you, even through
lined pants and long underwear, with its chill. For all
the current knows, you are part of the river itself, to
be sprung against and pried at like any other rock or
branch that gets in its way. top of page
Non-fiction about the Hiwassee River
Following is some non-fiction containing
information about the Hiwassee River itself:
Trout Fishing Sourcebook
by Mark D. Williams
Tailwater Trout in the South
by Jimmy Jacobs
Fly Fisherman Magazine, March 1994
"Hiwassee Hideaway"
by H. Lea Lawrence
Hiwassee River Investigations
TWRA Tech Report No. 77-51
by A. I. Myhr
Special Regulations Increase Angler Success
On The Hiwassee River Tennessee
Masters Thesis, The University of Tennessee
by Dennis Robin Lindblom, May 1992
Tailwaters of Southern Appalachia
by Carl Richards and John Krause
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You can use the the links below to view, save, or print Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency technical reports (large files) about trout fishing in Tennessee and on the Hiwassee River:
TWRA's Trout Management Plan for 2006-2016
Management Plan for the Hiwassee River Trout Fishery, 2005-2010
TVA Report About Bypass Section
Hiwassee River Trout Fishery
(Take this report with a grain of salt, it was done during a severe drought, and the results are not typical of the fishery.)
When the above report was published I emailed Dr. Bettoli my comments:Bettoli email
Dr. Bettoli's response was: Bettoli letter
Recreational Specialization, Preferences, and Management Attitudes of Trout Anglers Using Tennessee Tailwaters
Net Values of Trout Fishing Opportunities in Tennessee Tailwaters
Survival, Growth, Condition, and Diet of Brown Trout Stocked in Tennessee Tailwaters
Some of these are pdf files, if you don't have Adobe Reader to access the files, it can be downloaded here.
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