Pulp Fly: Volume Three

Short stories by some of our favorite fly fishers. Pulp Fly's authors have cred on both the water and the page and it shows up in the stories they tell. Volumes one and two accompanied me on countless coast to Colorado business trips. Number three is required reading for those of us who might not get on the water as much as we would like. Think MacLean meets Hunter S. and you have the idea.

Found in the mailbox

A new addition to our Summer reading list. This one is co-authored by The Fly Fishing Rabbi so it goes to the top of the list. Review to follow.

Getting Blitzed

 We got "Blitz"ed at the Flyfishing Show and never even visited the Hotel bar.

 Tosh Brown (Departure Publishing) and OG fly fishing blogger Pete McDonald (FishingJones.com) signed copies of their coffee table worthy book that tells the story of a season spent following the Atlantic striper migration, "The Blitz."   

You know you have missed your five minutes of fame when the author inscribes your copy, "You would have been on page 154." 

I'd have probably flubbed the cast.

101 Uses for my Ex-Wife's Wedding Dress

Wedding dress as wader changing mat?

I wasn't quite sure what to make of it when Kevin Cotter emailed me and asked me if I would have an interest in seeing his new book "101 uses for my ex-wife's wedding dress". Being a fly fisherman / trash fly fan, my mind immediately went to the tying bench and I began picturing all the flies I could make out of a whole gosh darned wedding dress. Veil winged adams, Veil parachute adams, veil body adams, and so on....

However, when the book arrived on my doorstep, I was shocked to find that only one of the 101 uses was related to fly tying and the remainder were far more creative and entertaining than expected. The book, which launched on the 25th of this month, is a comical look at taking lemons and making lemonade when faced with divorce. What is a guy to do when his wife walks out and leaves him with a pristine wedding dress?

"A little while after my ex-wife dumped me and her dress an idea was born. Over dinner with my parents and brother and sister-in-law I explained that I had her dress and that I did not know what I should do with it. A few creative suggestions were made and we agreed it would be fun to come up with a list of all the ways a wedding dress could be used. Not all of the applications on the original list were put into action."

Aside from me applying my own fly fishing bend to everything in the book, Mr. Cotter includes photos of himself doing some pretty amazing and inventive things with his ex wife's wedding dress. Here are but a few that caught our eye:

51. Fly Tying Material
53. Fishing Net
55. Shower Curtain
57. Kennel Liner (litter box)
70. MC Hammer Pants
97. Surrender flag

Check out Kevin's website and blog for more of the 101uses for an ex wife's wedding dress. Spoiler alert: The book has a happy ending and would be excellent therapy for any one happily married, divorced, or otherwise.

PS. Even the Editorial Trophy wife found this book to be great reading material. Not sure what I should read into that though...

Reading Material

Available via Amazon.com for their Kindle e-reader comes what we think might be the perfect in flight browsing material for the fly fishing gear-a-holic.

Volume 1 of a series of compilations of U.S. Patents related to fly rods, reels, flies, materials and methods. Future series will include lures, spinning and casting fishing equipment. A must have for the fisherman, inventor, patent attorney and merchandiser. Includes abstracts, background, drawings, summaries and more.

MSRP $2.98 delivered to your favorite mobile device.

Fishing News: Talented People Edition

The internets are reporting that angling legend Pete McDonald and Uber-talented photog Tosh Brown have completed the yeoman's work on their new book about fly fishing the saltwater off the East coast. Judging by the latest post over at FishingJones.com this is one launch party we want to crash. Check out the photos here.

Found: A Passion for Tarpon: Andy Mill

The postman left something pretty nice on the doorstep of the FlyfishMagazine.com compound this past week, a review copy of Andy Mill's thirty year in the making book, "A Passion for Tarpon." published by Wild River Press, this book is an enormous compendium of man's hunt for big game in warm tropical water. I haven't read it yet (the sheer size will preclude it from going with me on my travels next week) but a thumb through reveals beautiful photography and the promise of some great stories. More later!

From the mailbox: "freshwater fish of the northeast"

Currently in the review queue, because you can never have too many pictures of fish on the coffee table... more later.

New addition to the bookshelf.

But not before it gets a reading. "92 in the shade" by Thomas McGuane. Not sure who Chuck is but he got the book signed back in 1992

Fly Fishing with Darth Vader

Check out the review via the DC Register.

New in the Review Que

Flyfishing for everything but trout.

Reading: Old School Style

As an enlightned angler, does a portion of your reading take place offline using more tradtional media such as books? Do you enjoy the tactile feel of the paper? Do you appreciate a good leather (book) binding? Sometimes, a book without hypertext links or embedded youtube videos can be a very relaxing thing.

When you read real paper books you can scoff at that tool sitting beside you on the beach lamenting the fact that the battery on his laptop just died mid-page.

To this end we provide you with savings from our recommended purveyor of pre-loved books Alibris.

Enter code SEVENTIES at check out for $7 off your order of $70 or more between now and July 20th.

Books: "The Freshman Fly Fisher" by Rick Passek

I was first introduced to Rick Passek via his Vancouver, BC RP3 Fishing Adventures website and the FlyFish Fanatic blog. Rick is an avid angler and fishing guide who has devoted his career to showing others the enjoyment of the sport of fly fishing.

Rick's new book, "The Freshman Fly Fisher - A Beginners Guide for a New Generation," arrived at the FlyFishMagazine.com HQ via international post and immediately found its place in our reading room. Digging into the text of this book it quickly became clear that the book's small size was no indication of the massive amount of excellent information Rick had put into this guide for the novice angler.

The book contains plenty of information to get the new fly angler quickly on the correct path to a sport that they can enjoy for a lifetime. "The Freshman Fly Fisher" has chapters that cover everything from equipment such as rods, reels, and even boats to fishing etiquette and techniques. I found his tips to be a common sense approach to getting started in the sport. If this book had been around when I started fly fishing, I am certain that I could have saved a lot of money and caught many more fish earlier in my career.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then, at least when it comes to teaching about fly fishing, a video is worth a thousand paragraphs. The Freshman Fly Fisher is innovative in that Rick has included links to special instructional videos in the text of the book. Purchasers of the book get access to special sections of the RP3 Fishing Adventures website. At least for us this is a new wrinkle in the world of fly fishing texts.

The Freshman Fly Fisher has a definite focus on anglers who will be fishing the rivers and lakes of British Columbia, Alberta, and the Pacific Northwest. However, the techniques and tips that the book presents would easily carry over to similar waters around the world. I especially enjoyed Rick's excellent primer on the fishing of Chironomids in still water. I was not particularly knowledgeable about these techniques but after reading Rick's descriptions and watching the videos I am excited to try them out.

"The Freshman Fly Fisher - A Beginners Guide for a New Generation" ISBN 978-0-9783292-1-1 is available via the RP3 Fishing Adventures website for $19.95 Canadian. While the book is certainly marketed to the angler new to the long rod, even the most seasoned fly fisher can learn something beneficial from Rick's fly fishing expertise.

Fishing Smarter for Trout: Free Online

New Zealand fishing guide Tony Bishop is offering his book "Fishing Smarter for Trout" to read for free via his website: "Fish with Bish in New Zealand". However, purists be warned:

The book is aimed primarily at new fly fishers, but it does seemed to been read by many better than novice fishers. But be warned if you are a purist, save yourself a heart attack, and count your dry flies instead :)

Be sure to visit his Blog "Bish on Fish" in between chapters.

Book Review: "So Many Fish, So Little Time"

One look at Mark D. Williams' book, "So Many Fish, So Little Time" and you are immediately struck by sheer size of the tome. The book's 860 pages and the promise of taking you to "1001 places all anglers should visit before they go to that great fishing paradise in the sky" left me wondering how one man could possibly fish so much and at the same time feeling sorry for the poor postman who had to lug this gigantic book to my door.

"So Many Fish, So Little Time" is both a fly fishing reference guide as well as the diary of one angler's fishing adventures. The book is broken down into geographical sections that range from different regions of the United States to Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the South Pacific, and as they once said in those late night K-tel album commercials, much, much, more.

Each section of the book includes a few paragraphs on several of the notable streams and rivers of the area and the author does a great job of interspersing stories of his own fishing adventures through out the stream overviews. These anecdotes are what set this book apart from being a mere encyclopedia of fishing spots and make it a very entertaining read.

For instance, in the section on Colorado's Blue River the author refers to the popular fishing venue as one of the most expensive places to fish in the United States. Not because of fees or expensive lodging but rather because of the outlet mall that it flows behind and his significant other's love of shopping.

In another section about North Carolina's blue ribbon Davidson River he refers to it as "a great place to get fairly skunked too." He is absolutely correct and you have to admire a fishing author who isn't afraid to use the word skunked in an article about any river that has been written up as much as the Davidson.

In addition to the entertainment value each section also includes information about stream access, fly suggestions and a list of a few of each area's fly shops and fishing guides. Having all of this information in one location makes this a valuable reference.

Due to its size I do not think that this book intends to be one that many anglers will sit down with on a winter's night and read from cover to cover. However, after receiving the book for this review I have found myself continually referring to it as a planning tool for future trips or when I've found a few quiet moments to read about a spot I have heard of but have yet to fish.

"So Many Fish, So Little Time" by Mark D. Williams is published by Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY and is available via Amazon.com. ISBN 978-0-06-088239-6