Fishing Books

I am currently reading a book by John Gierach, one of my favorite fly fishing authors. While reading through one of his chapters about Steelhead fishing in British Columbia, he touched on books that he brings along on his fishing trips. He wrote about books that he likes to bring along on fishing trips, ones that aren’t of his liking, and so on.

While living in Bozeman this summer, I have not found much time to sit down and read. I have many books on fly fishing, adventure, and more sitting on my desk. The stack includes mostly fly fishing literature, along with the “Algebra for Dummies” copy and a book about a particular business strategy that I open every so often to pull from. I am trying to get up to speed on some math before school starts in a couple of weeks. 

The other day I started a book by John Gierach titled A Fool’s Paradise. I have read 4 of his books before this one, and am always inspired after reading. His style is simple and direct, but portrays a side of the story that is different than the rest. I find that when reading a book, the difference between an average read and a memorable one is the authors unique choice of style.

Throughout my time fly fishing and traveling across the globe, some books come to mind. Whenever I visit the Driftless, whether just for a day or the better part of a week, I bring along a length copy of Fly Fishing Iowa and Wisconsin that my grandparents gave me a while back. This book is full of information, maps, fly recommendations, techniques, and more.

My gap year brought out some of my best reads to date. When I spent nearly 3 months out in the Patagonian backcountry, the days spent in the tent snowed in were primarily spent reading. There was the occasional nap, preparation of food, and tent maintenance that all needed to occur as well. In the interest of keeping my pack as light as possible, I only brought one book on the entire expedition. Throughout my semester in Patagonia I read Sex, Death, and Fly Fishing by John Gierach seven times. I would re-read chapters, start the book from the beginning, and so one. I got to know that book very well, and looking at those battered covers and notes in the pages bring back significant memories.

There are few books that stand out to me as “re-reads”. Many of my friends throughout high school would re-read books because they either liked them enough or found some sort of inner correlation to them. Whenever I finish a book, I do not typically think about reading it again, unless it is the only book in sight for the next 78 days.

Most of my time I spend reading revolves around fly fishing. Many of John Gierach’s recent releases are some of my favorites. I am fortunate enough to have a father and grandfather that love to fly fish, so whenever I wrap up a neat read I send it to one of them. We have a book exchange going, on which is great because I get my hands on some of my great grandfather’s favorites from when he was a young guy like me. Those are true classics, and have to be handled gently or else the pages may tear and collect grease.

Throughout middle and high school lots of my reading was structured and focused around class work, but when I graduated and started to read books more in my free time, I began to understand the value of a great read.

Lots of books I have read have inspired me to write posts, read more books like it, and think about my writing style. There is a lot of inspiration to be had from any book, it is just a matter of if the first few chapters are up to your liking.