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Roderick Haig-Brown - A Descriptive Bibliography.
As a life-long fan of Haig-Brown's writing, I had long thought I knew most of the books he'd written. But it was only when Robert Cave's book, A Descriptive Bibliograhpy, landed on my desk that I realized how little of the great naturalist's work I was aware of. He wrote more than 30 books during his career, including some works of fiction, and although he would eventually achieve world fame for his books on fishing, his other works often sold more. The 2nd American edition of Starbuck Valley Winter, for example, sold 80,000 copies between 1949 and 1956 - becoming the biggest selling single edition of any book he ever wrote. Compare that to A River Never Sleeps, which sold a modest 23,000 in its first two edtions, between 1946 and 1982. Mr. Cave, an amateur bibliographer who is as passionate as he is precise, discovered Haig-Brown about 18 years ago, attracted, like most of us, by his stories about fishing for salmon and steelhead. "I fell in love with them," he says of the fishing books, which are set in the Pacific Northwest, and evoke such a deep sense of place. But he didn't stop there, and soon was seeking out the author's many other titles. "Gradually I became aware that the fishing books made up only a small portion of his literary output and set out to find and read as many of his novels, juveniles and histories as I could find," says Mr. Cave, in explaining how the bibliography began. Over several years he built a collection and gradually began to document the various editions and impressions. Corresponding with Haig-Brown's daughter, Valerie Haig-Brown, he compiled an exhaustive catalogue. The result, Roderick Haig-Brown - A Descriptive Bibliography, is one of the greatest tributes ever paid to the author, for it sets out in exhaustive detail, descriptions of his full range of work. This is not a book for casual readers, but for librarians, serious collectors, and anyone who wants to have a detailed record of Haig-Brown's impressive literary history. "Roderick Haig-Brown always wrote beautiful, clear, seamless prose, devoid of technical language. I often wonder what he would think of a book about his books that's bursting at its seams with analytical details and minutiae: quasi-facsimile transcriptions, extensive content descriptions, typography and pagination references, running-titles, brindin descriptions, and the color of dust jackets," Mr. Cave writes. One can't imagine Haig-Brown being anything but deeply touched by this book, which was inspired by one reader's passion for his life's work. (The book can be ordered through Don Conner Fine Books at:
Salmon Nation - People And Fish At The Edge. Edited by Edward C. Wolf and Seth Zuckerman, with essays by Elizabeth Woody, Jim Lichatowich, Richard Manning, Freeman House and Seth Zuckerman. Published by Ecotrust. Price not listed.
In Salmon Nation, writers trace the relationship between salmon and people, starting in a period when the rivers seemed overwhelmed with runs of spawning fish, and following it through to today, where extinction seems to to be stalking watersheds on a northward trajectory. Despite that, this is not a book of doom, but rather it seeks to put the big picture into context, by telling us how we got where we are - and how we might go from here to a future in which watersheds are once again restored, and salmon runs brought back to life. "There was a time when salmon were central to everyone who lived in salmon territory," write the editors. "For a few recent decades, however, the business of salmon became the concern of just a narrow slice of the population - only those who caught or hatched or processed them - and was taken for granted by those of us who simply ate them. Now, with the listing of salmon as threatened or endangered species in much of the Northwest including metropolitan Seattle and Portland, salmon are playing a larger role in our lives. "We offer this book as a guide to becoming better informed citizens of Salmon Nation." The essays are detailed and thoughtful, but perhaps the book's greatest value comes in the superb portfolio of maps by Dorie Brownel, which are so good they should be produced as posters. The spread of dams, hatcheries and fish farms are graphically illustrated, as is the decline of salmon, wathershed by watershed. The maps alone make a powerful statement about the urgency of the situation; together with the essays, the book presents a compelling argument for saving the salmon that bind our natural world together. (Ecotrust can be found on the web at www.ecotrust.org or can be reached in the U.S. by mail at: 1200 N.W. Naito Parkway, Suite 470/Portland, Oregon 97209. The address for Ecotrust Canada is: Suite 202/1226 Hamilton Street/Vancouver, B.C./V6B 2S8)
Hatch Guide For Western Streams. By Jim Schollmeyer. Frank Amato Publications, Inc. $19.95.
Being prepared is the key to keeping your sanity, and catching more fish. Jim Schollmeyer is not only an expert fisherman, but he's also a talented photographer. Both those skills come together to make this one of the most valuable hatch guides you can have for fishing western streams. Don't be fooled by its small format. This book is packed with good information and sharp pictures which make it relatively easy to identify the larva, pupa and adults for key insects. On facing pages he has pictures of the flies that imitate each species, so when the helpful angler across the stream calls out, "Pale Evening Duns - use a Poly Wing Spinner!" you'll be able to figure out what the hell he means. In addition to the sharp images, Mr. Schollmeyer's writing provides details on insect behaviour, and gives tips on how to fish imitations. His entry on Yellow Quill nymphs is typically short and to the point: "You will find these two-tailed nymphs clinging to rocks picked from the bottom of riffles and runs with fast to moderate water flows. Until they reach maturity, few of these flat, strong-gripping nymphs are available to trout. The only time to fish a nymph patter is when you find good numbers of mature nymphs with dark wing pads on rocks picked from the stream." In a few sentences he's not only explained where to find the nymphys, but where and when to fish them. Rarely do you find such a concise guide. This book is loaded. It's got so much good information that it rates as one of the few books that should come off the shelf, and go into your fishing bag when you leave for the stream. If you think there's no room in your vest, get rid of something less valuable...a spare reel, whiskey flask, your lunch. . .this is one hatch guide you don't want to be without. (Frank Amato Publications/PO Box 82112/Portland, Oregon 97282/USA)
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Books come and go in our lives, but there are special books that you get deeply attached to. In the early 1970's, I bought a copy of Fisherman's Winter, and somehow it has stuck with me through the decades, surviving my nomadic college years and countless career moves across the continent. It has gone in and out of packing boxes, together with a growing number of other titles that I love, and now holds down a place on the shelf with three other Haig-Brown titles, To Know A River, Fisherman's Summer and Fisherman's Spring. Checking the small collection now I'm reminded to start rumaging in used book stores to complete the four seasons with an old copy of Fisherman's Fall.
Ecotrust is a cutting edge, nonprofit organization that since it was founded, in Oregon in 1991, has recognized what a vital role salmon play in the Pacific ecosystem. Using innovative approaches, Ecotrust has performed a key role in saving some of the last great, unlogged watersheds in British Columbia. In saving the trees, Ecotrust has also been saving the salmon. And in saving the salmon, they have been saving bears, birds, insects - and, as recent research has shown, the fertilizing base which has enriched the soils which have produced some of the biggest trees in the world.
Being on a stream when a major hatch starts is a great, exciting event - but it can be a crushing experience if you don't know what the insects are and don't have anything in your fly box that imitates them.
