3May2008
Posted by daverichey under: Book Reviews.
TITLE: Return To Toonaklut: The Russell Annabel Story
AUTHOR: Jeff Davis
PUBLISHER: Safari Press
CONTACT:
Safari Press Inc.
15621 Chemical Lane
Building B
Huntington Beach, CA 92649
WEBSITE: Safari Press.com
COST: $34.95; hardcover, dust jacket, maps, b/w photos and drawings. Safari Press titles are sold only through the company, and are not for sale in bookstores.
TELEPHONE: (714) 894-9080
Russell (Rusty) Annabel’s stories are timeless. Although many of today’s sportsmen may never have heard of Rusty Annabel, that would be their loss. I grew up reading his outdoor stories in the outdoor magazines during the 1940s and 1950s.
Born in Tacoma, Washington, Rusty moved to Alaska at an early age when that U. S. territory (now a state) was a frontier. He homesteaded at Toonaklut, where he married, had children, acted as a guide, trapped and wrote magazine articles about some of his countless adventures.
This man became a legend in his own time. He forged a literary career that captivated kids like me in the 1950s, and he made adults yearn for a chance to hunt Alaska and experience some of the same experiences that Rusty wrote about.
His hair-raising prose may now seem a bit over the top, but in those years, such stories were the engines that helped drive outdoor magazines to success. They were easy to read, laced with wild adventure and filled with characters that only Alaska could produce.
He had a way with words. Annabel could describe a wilderness filled with majestic Dall sheep, ornery moose, dumbbell caribou and enraged grizzlies. As perfect as Annabel was at describing fishing, hunting, bear encountered and other animals at close range, his personal life was far from perfect.
At heart, Rusty was a man in love with the frontier life. After many years in Alaska, he left under a dark cloud, apparently one step ahead of the law. He rambled around Mexico, trying to pull together what remained of his life, and at the end he led a very frugal existence.
Annabel, a gifted writer with an imagination as big as Alaska, cadged stories from everywhere, and seemed to believe in the old adage: “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” His stories captivated sportsmen for many years, and he would often write one story a week from Toonaklut, and send them off by train to his New York agent to peddle to the outdoor magazines.
He created his own personal legend, which was a mix of myth and truth, and made a living for years digging into his memory for more story material. Each month, this tow-headed kid would read a Russell Annabel article and dream of Alaska, the land of the midnight sun. Many years passed before I hunted his beloved Alaska.
I never met Annabel but have read many of his stories and some put the taste of fear in my mouth as he climbed the mountains and fought for the life he wanted. A simple life of fishing, hunting, trapping and writing about his and others exploits.
This is a book that will keep a person up late at night, savoring each chapter like a glass of fine wine. Rusty Annabel’s legacy was his ability to write a good story, and keep the reader hanging on his every word. Return To Toonaklut gives us an in-depth look at the man, the legend, and his talent for writing good outdoor stories.
21April2008
Posted by daverichey under: Book Reviews.
TITLE: HAIRWING & TUBE FLIES FOR SALMON & STEELHEAD
AUTHOR: Chris Mann
PUBLISHER: Stackpole Books
CONTACT:
Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
WEBSITE: Stackpole Books
COST: $34.95+ postage; cover w/ dust jacket
ISBN Number: 0-8117-3176-6
Some flies are beautiful, some are functional, and some are a melding of both beauty and the ability to catch fish. These factors are what first attracted me to Atlantic salmon flies back more than 40 years ago when I made my first trips to New Brunswick for Atlantic salmon.
I marveled at the wondrous beauty of some of those flies tied on turned-up eye, and on single and double hooks. Some flies seemed, to my untrained eye, too gaudy to catch Atlantic salmon. That thought was quickly proven wrong. Then came a 10-year career as a fly-fishing steelhead guide on Michigan’s Great Lakes tributaries.
My twin brother and I became the first two Chinook and coho salmon fly fishing guides in Michigan. My twin brother George, the fly tier, invented many patterns that worked for anadromous brown trout, salmon and steelhead. Thus, my love affair with flies of beauty and functionality was cemented after writing a color Photo-filled book on Great Lakes steelhead flies.
Enough about me, and this was mentioned only to show why I find Mann’s book so pleasing. The simple flies of yesteryear’s steelhead fly fishermen are slowly being replaced with delightful hairwing ties and tube flies. We are seeing a cautious birth in the use of many of the materials once considered suitable only for Atlantic salmon flies, and they are now being incorporated into steelhead patterns.
This 224-page glossy book is filled from cover to cover with the author’s delightful color photographs. The author carries us along with an informative chapter called History & Development Of The Hairwing Fly. To show just how cosmopolitan this book is, the next large chapter is European Hairwings and Tube Flies. Next is North American Hairwings, then the Catalogue Of Dressings, and ending with a Bibliography. Between the two covers is a wealth of information from a distinguished cast of expert tiers.
The European flies come from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland and Scandinavia. The big chapter on North America covers both Atlantic salmon and Steelhead patterns. The chapter on dressings covers salmon hairwings and tubes and steelhead hairwings.
Make no mistake about it. This book is the best treatment I’ve seen on these flies for these game fish, and its historical significance is a matter of great importance. It’s no secret that fly fishing came west across the Atlantic Ocean from the British Isles to North America. Great strides were made during the 19th and 20th centuries as the British methods became common to this country, and were then expanded or improved upon.
Some of the world’s greatest fly fishermen were originally from Great Britain, and we owe them a great deal for instilling within Americans a love of fly fishing. However, in a typical American way, we have produced many wonderful fly tiers and fly fishermen. Many contributors to this wonderful work came from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
This is truly one of the finest books on these specialty flies. And, since steelhead are running in Michigan as this is written, the timing is perfect for state anglers to study the photos and fly pattern recipes in the back of the book. This is a book to fall in love with.
