Modern Fresh and Salt Water Fly Fishing (English and Russian Edition)

As an enthusiastic twenty year old trying to learn all he could about what was for him a completely new mode of angling, I recall, with some nostalgia, having read Charles Waterman's "Modern Fresh and Saltwater Fly Fishing", my introduction to the sport. The book was remarkably honest, with the right handed Waterman admitting that he can appreciate the challenges of learning how to double haul by trying to accomplish this through casting with his left arm and hauling with his right arm. Similar such revelations about the author's "human side", with respect to fly fishing, make this book great for the beginner, who may wrongly have the sense that fly fishing is an activity for only those possessing super-human coordination. Such not-take-myself-too-seriously revelations are very encouraging to the novice. The sections on fly lines, rods, and leaders are simple and just what a beginner needs. Albeit, Waterman's book, written in 1972, makes no mention of graphite rods and many other technological advances that are now commonplace among today's fly tackle market. But the reader will learn of these upon visiting the fly shop. Covering most apsects of fresh and saltwater fly fishing in a general, straightforward way, the book is still a useful introduction to the sport of fly fishing while also being a throw-back to what constituted modern fly fishing at the end of the fiberglas era. No doubt the nostalgia bug should bite quite hard for many of us who read and reread this book with a view towards the post bamboo and pre-graphite times of our fly fishing heritage.

I have had two copies of this book, and have let both of them get away from me. Unlike most "how to" fly fishing authors, Charles Waterman focuses with a wide angle lens which takes in all of sport fishing, not just fishing for trout. Like Ray Bergman's Trout, this book is useful for the beginner as a primer, and for the journeyman as a reference. I hope that Modern Fresh and Saltwater Flyfishing is back in print soon.