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Old April 5th, 2004, 11:44 PM
Wolfgang
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Default What's your favorite fly fishing book?


"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
If you saw my post last week, looking for comments on beginner's fly

fishing
outfits, you know I'm about to take a class. I offered my 14 yr old son

the
opportunity to join me. He said he wants to learn, but not from a class.
"You taught me how to fish - how about you teach me to use a fly rod?"
Sometimes, arguing with a 14 yr old is like ****ing into the wind. He

will,
however, take a book to the bathroom for his daily "one hour on the

throne".
Anyone got a favorite book which explains tippets, knots, casting ideas,
etc?


I know that what I'm about to say doesn't answer your question, but others
have already done that and it gives me the heebie jeebies to see a thread go
this long without morphing, so........

The information you are after juxtaposed against a literal interpretation of
the question in the thread subject line suggests an interesting line of
rumination. Aside from providing information which, admittedly, is what you
are after (and in which they obviously succeed in varying degrees....hence
your question), "how to" books don't do much of anything very well. The
hallmarks of good instruction are clarity, completeness, factual accuracy,
and not much more....or at least that seems to be the consensus among the
writers and publishers of "how to" works. Most of them, judged by any other
standard (and there are plenty of other applicable standards for writing and
reading), are abysmal. In other words, and generally speaking, apart from
the more or less tedious to downright painful extraction of information,
there is no good reason on God's green Earth for anyone to read any of them.
That said, optimism (if not reason) dictates that there must be exceptions.
So, MY question is; are there any "how to" fly fishing books (good, bad, or
indifferent) that are good books? What I've seen here in reviews of the
"Curtis Creek Manifesto" (which I have never seen) suggests this might be a
candidate.....yes?, no? maybe so?

Wolfgang