daverichey June 7th, 2008

TITLE: A Celebration Of Salmon Rivers
AUTHOR: R. Randolph Ashton
PUBLISHER: Stackpole Books
DISTIRBUTOR: Stackpole Books

CONTACT:

Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-6921

WEBSITE: Stackpole Books
COST: $59.95+ postage; Hardcover, dust jacket and color photos.

Before we go any further into this book review, it’s necessary to clarify a salient point. If you must ask the price of anything associated with fishing for Atlantic salmon, you can’t afford it.

Atlantic salmon fishing is not cheap, and some of the rivers featured in this book would cost thousands of dollars to fish for one weekend. I began fishing for these game fish in 1966 in New Brunswick, and then fished several streams in Quebec. All were pricey but nothing like it is today.

But if we forget about the price, and concentrate on the lore of Atlantic salmon fishing, we find ourselves taking a great reward by just being on some of these storied streams. I’ve fished Maine’s Penobscot River, and jumping across the border, I fished for two weeks on the Miramachi, St. John, Renous, and on to Quebec’s Eagle, George, Grand Cascapedia, Koksoak, Moise and Restigouche rivers.

Many of these rivers were extremely difficult to reach in the 1960s and 1970s, and trying to fish them now is most expensive. All of these rivers, and many more, are storied streams. People who fish such places place great value on owning great reels and rods. Fly boxes are filled to overflowing with beautifully tied exquisite single and double-hook flies. The materials that go into these flies are expensive and the flies are time consuming to tie.

This is a book of rivers. Suffice it to say that only a mere handful of Maine streams have Atlantic salmon. Eastern Canada may have several dozen, but not all are mentioned in this book. In fact, some of the priciest salmon rivers like the Alta, Laerdal and Namsen rivers in Norway command huge fees to fish, and people are happy to pay for this privilege.

Atlantic salmon fishing is a happening. It is something very special to those who participate in the fishing. This is more mental than physical, and it is far from being a crowd sport. High costs keep each fishing area (a beat) free of others. For many anglers, seeing a fish turn for a fly before abandoning the chase is cause for celebration. Some rivers seems to attract mostly grilse (young salmon up to eight to 10 pounds) while other rivers are known for their big fish.

The author offers a plea for readers to endorse the North Atlantic Salmon Fund. Many threats keep pecking away at Atlantic salmon populations, and netting the high seas and the estuaries of the mighty rivers are only two of many. Some of the monies made from the sale of this book will go to raise funds to protect the fish wherever Atlantic salmon are found.

The color photos are breathtaking, and areas where these salmon are found is invariably beautiful. The fish themselves are a thing on beauty and wonder, and it’s what keeps pulling anglers back, year after year, just for the hope and faint promise of a big salmon. This book is more about the magic of salmon rivers and the fish than how to catch them, which in most cases, is invariably difficult.

This too is part of the allure of this grand game fish.

Tags: ashton, davericheyoutdoors, richey, rivers, salmon

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daverichey April 21st, 2008

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.

Tags: , anadromous, bookreview, chrismann, daverichey, hairwing, salmon, stackpole, steelhead, tubeflies

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