Art of the Wet Fly

The Pleasures of Fly Fishing (and Angling in General)

Everyone has personal favourites among the hundreds of books which are read for pleasure rather than instruction – however, we often do learn a great deal from such books even though they seem far from didactic. Here are my favourites:

Chalmers, P.R., At the Tail of the Weir, 1932 (Andre Deutsch paperback 1984). Patrick Chalmers was the Jerome K. Jerome (Three Men in a Boat) of angling writers – a real entertainer. Although At the Tail of the Weir includes tales of Thames trout it is not a fly fishing book. I haven’t fished on the Thames and I haven’t fished for roach, bream, carp, tench and the like for years yet I love the descriptions of traditional ways of fishing for them. However, the real magic of the book lies in the abundance of wonderful anecdotes, many of which strain our suspension of disbelief, and few angling books can raise a laugh like this one. Read it!

Farson, N., Going Fishing, Country Life Ltd., 1942 (a good edition, including the superb drawings by C.F. Tunnicliffe, was published by White Lion Press in 1996). Now available via the Flyfisher’s Classic Library series. If you haven’t read Negley Farson’s book yet then you are missing out; it’s a real ‘top tenner’ for anyone who has read it. Wonderful tales about fly fishing around the world by a writer whose prose is captivating. A book nicely accompanied by a glass of Glenlivet or other Speyside whisky.

Francis, F., A Book on Angling, 1867 (now available via FFCL). The way angling used to be before stew-fed fish, electronic aids and selfish attitudes.

Gierach, J. – Currently the most popular writer on fly fishing (quite rightly in my opinion). My bedtime reading consists of fly fishing magazines, classical music magazines and John Gierach. I have read all his books several times over and as they are formed around manageably short chapters they are an ideal read before the ‘z’s’ start piling up. The trouble is, once you start reading it is difficult to stop! Apart from the books that are made up of fishing stories, I can recommend Fishing Bamboo, Lyons Press (1997), Flyfishing the High Country, Pruett Publishing (1984) and Fly Fishing Small Streams, Stackpole Books (1989). The following books, offered in no particular order, are the books I read over and over again:

The View from Rat Lake, Pruett Publishing (USA 1988) Excellent Press (UK 1996); Another Lousy Day in Paradise, Excellent Press (UK edition 1996); Dances with Trout, Robinson Publishing (UK edition 1994); Even Brook Trout get the Blues, Simon & Schuster (1992); Standing in a River Waving a Stick, Simon & Schuster (1999); Fool’s Paradise, Simon & Schuster (2008); Trout Bum, Pruett (USA 1986) Robinson (UK 1993); Sex, Death and Fly Fishing, Simon & Schuster (USA 1990) Robinson (UK 1995); Where the Trout are as Long as Your Leg, Lyons & Burford (1991); Still Life with Brook Trout, Simon & Schuster (2005); At the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman, Simon & Schuster (2003).

Only a true trout bum could ever experience so much fly fishing in order to provide fodder for so many books. However, only a great writer can sustain interest throughout so many pages. Gierach’s true skill as a writer is that he seems to be in casual conversation with the reader, as if the reader were a close friend, so that colloquialisms are not only permissible but downright necessary. If you haven’t started to read Gierach yet, there is a paperback omnibus taken from six of his books : Death, Taxes and Leaky Waders, Simon & Schuster (USA 2000) Robinson (UK 2002).

Grey, E. (Viscount Grey of Falloden), Fly Fishing, 1899 (revised and enlarged 1930). There is an Andre Deutsch paperback (1984) and a new edition in the Flyfisher’s Classic Library series. This is another popular ‘top ten’ book though I had to read it a couple of times to appreciate why. Viscount Grey was British foreign secretary when World War I broke out. Although he became blind he continued to fish and discovered that fishing a wet-fly down and across was far from a waste of time.

Haig-Brown, R., A River Never Sleeps, 1946 (Andre Deutsch paperback 1974). Though Roderick Haig-Brown was born in the UK he crossed the pond and settled there. His tales of steelhead fishing are compulsive reading and have enabled me to cast a fly for this mighty fish in my imagination! A book as gripping as any thriller.

Hills, J.W., A Summer on the Test, 1924 (Andre Deutsch paperback 1983). A beautifully evocative book that communicates the sheer magic and poetry of this storied river. Even if I hadn’t fished the Test I would feel well-acquainted with it through the writing of John Waller Hills. Hills may write of a summer on the Test but he tells us much else including the river’s geography and the history that has enveloped its banks. A great book.

Leeson, T., The Habit of Rivers, Lyons & Burford (USA), Merlin Unwin (UK 1994). I will say little about this book because you must decide for yourself. I like it but it had mixed reviews; some found Ted Leeson’s prose too complex. To those I would simply say – try reading some of the late prose written by Bernard Venables!

Plunket-Greene, H., Where the Bright Waters Meet, 1924 (re-published in paperback by Andre Deutsch in 1983; now available in the Flyfisher’s Classic Library series). Harry Plunket-Greene was a renowned concert singer who came across the tiny River Bourne in Hampshire, England, instantly fell in love with it, and moved into a house nearby. It is a beautifully written book that brings the river to life, celebrates tiny heroes such as the iron blue dun, and illustrates what happens when rivers are foolishly re-stocked with non-native trout. As a postscript, the River Bourne is, I believe, back on form; that may be a comfort to Plunket-Greene who rests nearby in an idyllic setting. It is a pastoral world little changed from the 1920s.

Waterlog magazine – a magazine amid a list of books? Well, Waterlog is no ordinary magazine but a subscription-only quarterly celebration of traditional angling (not just fly fishing). Waterlog is a jolly good read and its avowed intent is to entertain rather than instruct; it does just that. Above all it is comforting and refreshing to know that there are so many traditionalists still around, anglers who love the countryside, the history of the sport, the old ways of doing things and are not motivated to beat their peers. For further information see www.waterlogmagazine.com.

I know there are many other books considered to be great writing on the pleasures of fly fishing (‘why no reference to A River Runs Through It?’) but you will forgive me for limiting this selection only to my personal favourites.