The Seasons of a Fisherman

by Haig-Brown, Roderick L.

• ISBN13: 9781585740932
• ISBN10: 1585740934
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Lyons Pr

Summary

Roderick L. Haig-Brown is one of the world's most beloved fly-fishing writers: His classic books bring together exquisite prose, the full romance and beauty of fishing, and much solid angling advice. Here, for the first time in one volume, are his popular seasons books: Fisherman's Spring, Fisherman's Summer, Fisherman's Fall, and Fisherman's Winter. They chronicle a fisherman's year, from the brightening days of spring through a loving portrait of the author's home rivers in British Columbia during the summer, and on into the excitement of fall fishing and a winter away from his Campbell River to fish the great rivers of Argentina and Chile.

As Verlyn Klinkenborg has said, "I think it forms some sort of watershed experience in every angler's reading when he comes upon Roderick Haig-Brown for the first time". And so it does. "The Seasons of a Fisherman" is an excellent place to start.

Author Biography

Roderick L. Haig-Brown was born in England but lived all his adult life on Vancouver Island, along the banks of the Campbell River. Haig-Brown died in 1976

Table of Contents

General Introduction to Roderick Haig-Brown's Seasons Series	xi
FISHERMAN'S SPRING
Introduction to Fisherman's Spring	3	(4)
The Art of Fishing	7	(2)
Spring Defined	9	(3)
Figures and Definitions	12	(3)
Fry Imitations	15	(5)
Early Cutthroat Lakes	20	(4)
The Maculate Purist	24	(2)
The Unexpected Fish	26	(5)
Recognizing Birds	31	(3)
Putting Fish Back	34	(4)
Local Knowledge	38	(3)
The Fish by the Cedar Stump	41	(3)
Fly Types	44	(6)
The Forecast	50	(4)
The New Rod	54	(3)
Fly Lines	57	(3)
A Boy and Fish Pole	60	(5)
Northwards Geese	65	(2)
Stonefly Imitations	67	(4)
The Secret Life	71	(2)
Boats and Fast Water	73	(4)
On Wading	77	(5)
Fishing and the Common Man	82	(2)
When Is a Rainbow...	84	(5)
Leave the Guns at Home	89	(3)
On Casting	92	(3)
Charles Cotton	95	(2)
Fishermen and Forestry	97	(2)
Family Sortie	99	(4)
Essential Simplicity	103	(2)
Don't You Ever Get Tired?	105	(2)
Garden Party Day	107	(4)
Fishing and Milkmaids	111	(2)
The Depth of the Wood	113	(6)
FISHERMAN'S SUMMER
Introduction to Fisherman's Summer	119	(128)
The Scene
Summer Defined	122	(2)
Fisherman's Summer	124	(3)
How It Once Was
The Explorers	127	(6)
The Indian and Me	133	(7)
The Home River
Defined	140	(4)
The Beginnings of Change	144	(2)
The Search	146	(4)
The Day Everything Happened	150	(4)
Speed and Stamina	154	(5)
The Dry Fly and Very Fast Water	159	(7)
The Canyon Again	166	(5)
Poisson Blue---The Flower of Fishes
Standard-Bearer---Arctic	171	(4)
Standard-Bearer---by the Roadside	175	(5)
Standard-Bearer---Sub-Arctic	180	(6)
Signs of the Times
The Lawbreaker	186	(3)
Fish Derbies	189	(6)
Less Time Between Bites	195	(4)
The Great Destroyers	199	(5)
Access	204	(4)
Salt Water
The Cruise	208	(5)
The Beaches	213	(4)
Stream Survival	217	(4)
Return to the River
Nimpkish River	221	(5)
Tsable River	226	(4)
The Beaverkill	230	(4)
Blackhole	234	(5)
Conclusion
What Is Good?	239	(8)
FISHERMAN'S FALL
Introduction to Fisherman's Fall	247	(148)
The Scene
Fall Defined	250	(4)
Pacific Salmon
Origins	254	(4)
A Word for the Small Streams	258	(7)
New Horizons	265	(6)
Pacific Salmon in Salt Water	271	(5)
Pacific Salmon in Fresh Water	276	(5)
Big Fish and Fresh Water	281	(6)
The Ocean Years	287	(5)
The Energy of Salmon	292	(5)
The Death of the Salmon	297	(5)
Estuary Fishing
The Nature of Estuaries	302	(4)
Patterns and Problems	306	(6)
Solutions and Surmises	312	(5)
Behind the Salmon	317	(4)
Perfect Morning	321	(4)
Steelhead and Low Water
More Steelhead Mysteries	325	(4)
Steelhead and the Dry Fly---Further Notes	329	(3)
An Ideal Stream	332	(7)
More Fast-Water Rises	339	(6)
Aquarium Notes
Acquisition	345	(4)
Observations	349	(6)
Conclusions
Thoughts while Fishing	355	(6)
Thoughts under Water	361	(4)
The Freedom of the River	365	(5)
Return of the Salmon	370	(7)
Underwater Learning	377	(6)
At Winter's Edge	383	(5)
Ethics Again	388	(7)
FISHERMAN'S WINTER
Introduction to Fisherman's Winter	395	(3)
Flight	398	(3)
The Capital	401	(5)
The Lake of Big Rainbows	406	(7)
The Laja River---Anglers on Horseback	413	(7)
Some Incidental Things	420	(6)
The Start of the South	426	(6)
The Tolten	432	(7)
The White Water of Liucura and Trancura	439	(8)
Journey to Enco	447	(5)
Farm, Forest and River	452	(6)
Journey to Los Lagos	458	(4)
Big River	462	(7)
Lago Maihue and the Calcurrupe	469	(6)
Abortive Expedition	475	(6)
Big Fish Story	481	(7)
A Restful Place	488	(5)
The Beach of the Deer	493	(8)
Journey to Argentina	501	(3)
The Manso Chain	504	(5)
Traful, Meliquina and the Sebagos	509	(7)
Rivers of the Pampas	516	(6)
Journey by Lanin	522	(6)
The Last River	528
APPENDIXES
I. Tackle and Other Details	537	(4)
II. The Trout and Salmon of South America	541	(5)
III. Some Birds of Southern Chile and Argentina	546	(3)
IV. Some Trees and Plants of Southern Chile	549