There's something about Big Sky Country, with its varied landscapes, incredible light, plethora of productive trout waters, and its small towns and roadside watering holes. Fly-Fisher's Bible: Montana is the most comprehensive and authoritative book ever written on angling in Big Sky Country. Whether you prefer to fish the big-name, blue-ribbon rivers, smaller tributary streams, or the big-fish producing lakes, everything you need to know is in this book. Also included are recipes, photos, tying and fishing notes for 66 of Montana's most innovative and productive fly patterns and detailed maps for every major river and lake in the state.
The New York Times–bestselling classic set amid the mountains and streams of early twentieth-century Montana, “as beautiful as anything in Thoreau or Hemingway” (Chicago Tribune). When Norman Maclean sent the manuscript of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories to New York publishers, he received a slew of rejections. One editor, so the story goes, replied, “it has trees in it.” Today, the title novella is recognized as one of the great American tales of the twentieth century, and Maclean as one of the most beloved writers of our time. The finely distilled product of a long life of often surprising rapture—for fly-fishing, for the woods, for the interlocked beauty of life and art—A River Runs Through It has established itself as a classic of the American West filled with beautiful prose and understated emotional insights. Based on Maclean’s own experiences as a young man, the book’s two novellas and short story are set in the small towns and mountains of western Montana. It is a world populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, and whores, but also one rich in the pleasures of fly-fishing, logging, cribbage, and family. By turns raunchy and elegiac, these superb tales express, in Maclean’s own words, “a little of the love I have for the earth as it goes by.” “Maclean’s book—acerbic, laconic, deadpan—rings out of a rich American tradition that includes Mark Twain, Kin Hubbard, Richard Bissell, Jean Shepherd, and Nelson Algren.” —New York Times Book Review Includes a new foreword by Robert Redford, director of the Academy Award–winning film adaptation
With heart-stirring landscapes, benefits for physical and mental health and clean, cold water, Montana’s high country is truly the final frontier in the last best place. That is why Wilderness Adventures Press is excited to introduce this all-new guide to flyfishing southwest Montana’s mountain lakes. These underfished tarns host everything from wild 5-pound cutthroat to the elusive and challenging golden trout to the increasingly rare arctic grayling. Mix in the occasional trophy brookie and all the 12-inch cutts and rainbows you can catch and it becomes apparent that there is no shortage of opportunity. Author Joshua Bergan has spent years exploring these pristine highland gems. From fish and bugs present, to water conditions, hiking difficulty and the flies that work, this guide provides all the necessary information. A broad selection of drive-to lakes, short hikes and several-mile treks with overnights are laid out with GPS coordinates for the trailheads and destinations. The author’s driving directions get you to Point A and Wilderness Adventures Press’ highly-touted maps take it from there. This comprehensive guidebook covers over 250 highland lakes from the Absarokas to the Idaho border, including the Gallatin Range, Madison Range, Gravelly Range, Tobacco Roots, Pioneer Mountains, Beaverhead Mountains and other smaller ranges. Fishing mountain lakes isn’t for everyone, which is why it should be for you. Unleash a lifetime of new fishing spots with this outstanding new book.
The most all-encompassing compendium of truly valuable information on steelhead ever written. —Jack Hemingway There are exceptional chapters on the fish itself; the tackle and techniques used to pursue it under diverse circumstances in such great steelhead rivers as the Deschutes, the Dean, the North Umpqua, the Bulkley, the Rogue and the Babine, and memorable profiles of the modern masters and the fly patterns they developed.
This completely updated edition of Paul Weamer's guide to the Upper Delaware includes new interviews with some of the river's most renowned guides and outfitters, including the legendary Al Caucci. Includes information on the latest dining and lodging options in the area, as well as access points and the hatches and patterns that work best.
The champion of the dry-fly ethic developed on British chalkstreams in the late 1800s Now acknowledged as the symbolic father of modern dry-fly fishing, Frederic M. Halford was known during his remarkable fishing career as the "high priest of the art," the man whose milestone books codified the entire world of the dry-fly angler more than a century ago. Halford on the Dry Fly excerpts the core wisdoms from the original Halford book that launched the "dry-fly revolution" --and has influenced every generation of serious fly fishers since--Dry-Fly Fishing in Theory and Practice. Halford on the Dry Fly shows a first-rate angling mind at work, a gifted naturalist who witnessed an historic moment in the development of fly fishing. "No place else in the literature of fly fishing have the original basics been so clearly laid out," writes Paul Schullery.
The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Smoky Mountains does more than any other book in print to bring success to a fishing trip. This newly updated landmark volume is an essential guide for anyone planning to fish the rivers, streams, and lakes in the Smokies - these fisheries are some of the greatest in the nation. For successful fly-fishing, this guide is as important as the right tackle.The fist half of this guide offers advice and history. The second half examines each of the thirteen watersheds found within the park. Don Kirk and Greg Ward provide information about trail access, fishing pressure and quality, species, fly hatch information, and campsite availability.
Modern-day fly fishing, like much in life, has become exceedingly complex, with high-tech gear, a confusing array of flies and terminal tackle, accompanied by high-priced fishing guides. This book reveals that the best way to catch trout is simply, with a rod and a fly and not much else. The wisdom in this book comes from a simpler time, when the premise was: the more you know, the less you need. It teaches the reader how to discover where the fish are, at what depth, and what they are feeding on. Then it describes the techniques needed to present a fly at that depth, make it look lifelike, and hook the fish. With chapters on wet flies, nymphs, and dry flies, its authors employ both the tenkara rod as well as regular fly fishing gear to cover all the bases. Illustrated by renowned fish artist James Prosek, with inspiring photographs and stories throughout, Simple Fly Fishing reveals the secrets and the soul of this captivating sport.
Much has been written about the most famous American flyfisheries, but relatively little has been logged regarding the glorious brook-trout and landlocked-salmon water of northern New England. Thanks to long-time fishing guide Lou Zambello, we'll soon be enlightened. Covering Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and western Massachusetts, Zambello relates years of flyfishing and guiding experience through observations, instructions and anecdotes. From ice-out through summer, fall and back to winter, all conditions and strategies are covered. You'll learn the best time to dead-drift a streamer versus twitching dry flies, and much more. He relates stories from such famous waters as the Kennebec, Penobscot, Grand Lake Stream, Rapid, Presumpscot, Androscoggin, and Deerfield Rivers, and Rangeley, Moosehead and Sebago Lakes, and many more throughout the region. Even if you're an experience northern New England angler, you'll find many useful morsels of information throughout this guide. And certainly if you're a rookie, you'll want this book.
New and specific presentation techniques beyond traditional dead driftingLong-line nymphing, no-line nymphing, downstream strategies, micronymphing, nymphing lakes, and designing your own imitationsInstruction on hauling with weighted rigs, hammering, jabbing, tilting the rod plane, roll casting, elliptical casts, curve casts, downstream loadingNo other form of fly fishing has broader application on so many types of water for both active and inactive trout. So argues Osthoff, who challenges the long-held notion that nymphing involves little more than dead drifting with the current. Osthoff advocates an active strategy of moving the nymph, applying effective casting and creative presentation techniques that will attract the most elusive trout. With comprehensive advice on rigging and prospecting, practice tips for a wide variety of casts, and strategies for precise control to bring your nymph to life, this is your guide to becoming a truly versatile angler.