INSIDE woe eS _ SPORTS. S MENU c12 7 - -SKEENA- ANGLER | - ROB BROWN Invaluable read HERE ARE MILLIONS of fishermen in North America and, despite declining numbers of fish in so many fisheries, the sport con- linues to grow. Happily, fly fishing is probably the sector cx- poriencing the most rapid growth. I say happily because sporismen who embrace the long rod have generally served an ap- prenticeship in other gear types. The dividend of that is a deeper appreciation for quarry and environment than might have been gained clinging to bait casting and its im- poverished ethic. Given the burgeoning interest in fly fishing, it is not surprising scores of books devoted to the pursuit find thelr way on to book shelves every "year, There are gems among them, but the majority are the how-to-fish variety: tedious, overly tech- nical, repetitive and bereft of insight or originality. After wading through dozens of books promising the key to angling nirvana, I’ve retumed to the shore with the conclusion any book with ‘Better’, ‘“How”,”.‘“Tactics’’ or “ Bigger’ in its title is best Icft on the shelf. Valuable books are the product of observa- tion, deep thought, emotion and craftsmanship. That is why the 11 books by Roderick Haig- Brown are invaluable to anglers, beginner and expert alike. Tn works like A River Never Sleeps or the sea- _.Sonal quartet Fisherman’s Spring/Summer/Fall and Winter, the reader is swept along by fine- - writing born of ‘intelligent reflection and many- hours on the river. His books are about much more than fishing, but when the reader wades the river with him a lot of learning takes place. From descriptions in his books, I’ ve dressed an few of his fly pattems and’ a couple have be- come prominent weapons in my arsenal; not surprising since they are the brainchild ofa man who understood a lot about west coast rivers and how to fish them. Valuable books are the product of ob- servation, deep thought, emotion and craftsmanship. There would be more Haig-Brown dressings ‘in my wallet but his descriptions-were jot ac- companied by drawings or photos and the con- figurations of the patterns are not always clear. - Now, Art Lingren has filled that gap with a superb book simply titled Fly Patterns of Roderick Haig-Brown. | Lingren, a fine angler, superb fly-tyer and stu- dent/historian of angling in B.C., has spent 10 years researching his subject. He studied Haig-Brown’s text, interviewed family members and anglers who knew and a fished-with him and, where possible, studied the original patterns. The result is a highly instructive work which _ can Stand on its own or serve as a concise intro- duction to Haig-Brown’s own works. Between the frontispiece -- the author’s sketch of the Halg-Brown house, Above Tide — and his photo of sun atop sea on the seventy-first and final page, there are many delights and insights. -