Zen And The Art Of Fly Fishing

This is and is not a how to book. What I mean is that it's not the book you want to pick up to improve your roll cast (at least not directly) but it may improve your outlook on life. It may not help you find fish but it may help you find yourself and that is what I truly believe fly fishing is all about.

The art of fly fishing is inherently a spiritual practice. This book explains the how and why. Zen is not philosophy, nor is it mystical. It is simply direct action in the present moment. Learn how this incredible adventure can transform your life and society as well. Fly Rod and Reel magazine calls Henry a "haiku master.'' His work has appeared in Popular Photography, Petersen's Photographic, and National Geographic Traveler. Any and all profit from the sale of this book will go directly to the cause, the fight to save a free flowing Futaleufu.

A Collection of Fishing Stories from Across the Globe, by a Master Storyteller. To the uninitiated, it might be somewhat surprising to discover that fly fishermen tend to be rather contemplative sorts. During those dark nights and long seasons when fishing is not a promising endeavor, we settle down to the next best thing, reading our vast libraries of ancient fishing lore, interspersed with the odd philosophical tome. And when we do, we usually don’t want to read proverbial stories about “landing the big one,” or lengthy how-to expositions on how to catch the aforementioned big one. Rather, we tend to prefer stories that place our beloved piscatorial pastime within the larger context of life and nature. Stories that, as Hamza describes, “…sparks a light. A light that is both familiar and comforting.” Such is The Zen of Home Water, the latest angling book by Jerry Hamza. Hamza is a John Volker for the new millennium. His book is interspersed with stories about monster brook trout, beautiful North woods streams and lakes, quirky backwoods guides, and legendary fly hatches. Through it all, he shows us one of the most profound truths of life, that “It takes the acquisition of wisdom to understand that a happy life is actually a mosaic of small and insignificant events…we string together moments in life—like pearls becoming a beautiful necklace.” The iridescent pearls that Hamza strings together are many and include the importance of “freestyling”, that uncontrollable escape impulse that implores us to drop whatever we are doing and head to the stream, any stream, with fly rod in hand. Another recurring theme is the need to unplug from the modern, electronic world. He instructs us how to trespass (with bartered permission) and fish those waters that look so inviting yet so out of reach to the (usually) law abiding. His recipe for squirrel stew is not jealously guarded but freely shared. And his stories of catching giant brook trout in the Maine North Woods allow the reader, who usually can’t participate in such acts of angling greatness, to at least know that they are occurring to someone, somewhere. Hamza is a member of that peculiar subset of anglers, the bamboo rod aficionado. While acknowledging the cold, hard fact that bamboo rods are nothing more than conglomerations of “expensive blades of grass,” he also realizes that these handmade treasures passed down to us from previous generations will hopefully outlive us (and our car doors) and that we are merely their caretakers for a time. Although the dreaded “g” word (i.e., graphite) does make a brief appearance, Hamza is definitely one of those anglers who would rather hold an aged, organic creation of the bamboo rod maker’s art than the latest admittedly efficient chemical concoction straight from the laboratory. This puts him squarely in the tradition of John Gierach, although Hamza’s writing is better and his stories more entertaining. Hamza’s own home waters are dual--Maine’s Grand Lake Stream area and the southern shore of the Lake Ontario region. There are echoes of Thoreau’s Maine Woods in his stories of remote lakes and plentiful trout. And while he takes us all around the country when relating his angling exploits (Kerouac’s On the Road is a particular favorite of his), it is evident that the concept of “home water” carries a lot of weight with him. His beloved “Zen Lake”, with its less than perfect history and many small fish, could be the home water of any of us.

Trout Bum is a fresh, contemporary look at fly fishing, and the way of life that grows out ofa passion for it. The people, the places, and the accoutrements that surround the sport make a fishing trip more than a set of tactics and techniques. John Gierach, a serious fisherman with a wry sense of humor, show us just how much more with his fishing stories and a unique look at the fly-fishing lifestyle. Trout Bum is really about why people fish as much as it is about how they fish, and it is ultimately about enduring values and about living in a harmony with our environment. Few books have had the impact on an entire generation that Trout Bum has had on the fly-fishing world. The wit, warmth, and the easy familiarity that John Gierach brings to us in Trout Bum is as fresh and engaging now was when it was first published twenty-five years ago. There's no telling how many anglers have quit their jobs and headed west after reading the first edition of this classic collection of fly-fishing essays.

Jeremy Paxman has created the perfect literary catch for fellow angling enthusiasts in this rich and varied anthology. Ten thoroughly entertaining themed chapters include 'Ones That Got Away', 'Ones That Didn’t Get Away' and 'Fish That Bit Back'. Each is introduced by Paxman’s own sharp, humorous observations and features both contemporary and historical writing about fishing in prose and verse, covering everything from tench tickling to piranha attacks. Some pieces are well known favourites, others are obscure, every one is a delight. 'A superb compilation because it roams from carp to cod, trout to tarpon and does not regurgitate the same old clippings. Paxman has clearly read widely and wisely in putting this together ... probably the definitive anthology of angling writing.' Keith Elliott, Independent on Sunday.

Uncommon good sense on water food trout flies and behavior equipment ethics and manners

Marcelo Gleiser has had a passion for science and fishing since he was a boy growing up on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Now a world-famous theoretical physicist with hundreds of scientific articles and several books of popular science to his credit, he felt it was time to connect with nature in less theoretical ways. After seeing a fly-fishing class on the Dartmouth College green, he decided to learn to fly-fish, a hobby, he says, that teaches humility. In The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected, Gleiser travels the world to scientific conferences, fishing wherever he goes. At each stop, he ponders how in the myriad ways physics informs the act of fishing; how, in its turn, fishing serves as a lens into nature's inner workings; and how science engages with questions of meaning and spirituality, inspiring a sense of mystery and awe of the not yet known. Personal and engaging, The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected is a scientist's tribute to nature, an affirmation of humanity's deep connection with and debt to Earth, and an exploration of the meaning of existence, from atom to trout to cosmos.