Lead The Way Five New Guidebooks Help Fishermen Find The Region’s Secret Spots
Along with this winter’s floods on Western rivers came an unprecedented deluge of fishing guidebooks for Idaho, Montana and Washington.
Five ambitious new guides, are working their way into bookstores and fishing shops this spring.
The three fly-fishing guidebooks are the most detailed and offer the best maps.
The two general guidebooks, “Fishing Idaho,” and “Washington Fishing,” cover a broader spectrum of fishing opportunities.
Here’s a closer look.
“Fly Fishing the Yellowstone River,” by Rod Walinchus and Tom Travis (Pruett, 800-247-8224, $25).
At 678 miles, the Yellowstone is the longest free-flowing river remaining in the lower 48 states. Although good fly fishing is found on less than a third of the river - including 110 miles in Yellowstone National Park - that’s enough for a lifetime of fishing adventure.
Walinchus and Travis, who live within walking distance of the river’s premier angling near Livingston, Mont., go far beyond describing the access points and general possibilities of the Yellowstone. The book takes an in-depth look at the river in segments from its headwaters to Billings. The authors tell where to fish while presenting illustrated instruction on techniques applicable to each section.
The maps are good, but not as detailed as a float fisher would prefer. The information is practical and comprehensive. Advice on fly patterns is locally proven. This will be a tough book to top.
“Washington Fishing,” by Terry Rudnick (Foghorn Press, 800-364-4676, $20).
Some people want just the facts, not some author’s poetic ramblings about the feel of the river wrapping around his legs and the subtle rise of finicky trout.
This books comes as close as any to trimming each entry down to the meat. Rudnick is pretty honest, for a fisherman. About the Little Spokane River, he wrote, “Try your hand with a fly rod and you’ll have a good time, even if you don’t catch many fish.”
In a way, the book has been a lifelong project for Rudnick, a Washington native who’s been fishing the state’s waters for more than three decades.
“Over half of the book, I could sit down a write from personal experience and notes,” he said. “I give people the kind of details I sought out when I went to a lake for the first time - how to get there, what facilities, who to contact, what kind of fish, how to catch them.”
The book covers more than 1,000 places, including about 800 lakes and reservoirs, 200 streams, plus 30 saltwater areas.
“It’s the first time anyone has tried to put all this in one book,” Rudnick said. “Now I know why.”
Even if the book didn’t make any money, Rudnick said there would be a big payoff for doing the work. “This state has hundreds of places that even serious fishermen like me haven’t heard of,” he said.
This book covers so much water, the index alone is 30 pages.
Like any guidebook writer, Rudnick struggled with decisions on where to be specific and where to be vague, primarily because fisheries and regulations are constantly changing.
For instance, his entry on Bear Lake in Spokane County already is out of date, since the lake will be limited to juveniles and disabled anglers beginning this season.
An angler can find many details missing in “Washington Fishing,” especially when nit-picking the write-ups on familiar waters. The item on Sprague Lake mentions only one resort (there are two) and doesn’t mention all the access points. The book also notes Sprague as the best bluegill fishery in the state. Unfortunately, bluegills have declined dramatically in the past two years.
But the book is a phenomenal undertaking. A great gift to Washington anglers.
“Fly Fisher’s Guide to Idaho”, by Ken Retallic and Rocky Barker (Wilderness Adventures Press, 800-925-3339, $27). Written by two newspaper men from Idaho Falls, this book has details, depth and flair.
If the book has a flaw, it’s in overstating the fishing in some waters. The skeptical reader might think the authors have some real estate deals on the side. The “fine fly-fishing” on Priest Lake is much rarer than you’d expect by reading this guide.
“We wanted to write more than a guide with raw data, but one that you can curl up with on cold winter nights and dream about Idaho,” Barker said.
Since they already had fished their homewaters extensively, the authors made commitments to explore unfamiliar waters in the state last year, notably North Idaho.
“I don’t think I’d surprise North Idahoans with anything I found in my research up there,” Barker said. “But the North Fork of the Clearwater was better than I expected.”
That was before this winter’s landslides, of course.
Barker said he encountered a few people who “were less than excited” about a guidebook that might offer details about their favorite fishing waters. The product
The book, which has excellent detailed maps for wade and float anglers alike, is designed to help a fisherman decide where to go, how to set up the trip, how to get there, and how to catch fish upon arrival.
“No matter where you are in the fishing journey, we tried to provide the answers you’re looking for,” Barker said.
“Generally, I was really knocked out about the wide variety Idaho has,” Barker said. Montana and Colorado might get more press back east, but Idaho has tremendous fishing.”
His top picks for anglers in this region looking for a change: Silver Creek near Sun Valley and the Henrys Fork of the Snake.
But be ready for a few lapses that make one think the authors are employed by some Idaho tourism promotion agency.
Kelly Creek, for instance, is described as the “International Mecca for wild westslope cutthroat trout.” Perhaps this means that cutthroat from all over the world come there to worship, or that bus loads of Japanese tourists motor there to wash their feet.
But when you go to write about a place with a true international reputation, such as Silver Creek or the Henry’s Fork, one gets into the game of escalating superlatives. Perhaps the Henry’s Fork, then, would have to be “the Intergalactic Mecca of muscle-bound trout?”
“Fishing Idaho,” by Joe Evancho (Cutthroat Press, 208-343-8396, $25).
This clearly is the most eye-catching of the new guides, featuring a stunning cover photo of Warm Springs Creek by former Spokane resident Andy Anderson.
But beyond the cover, the book is unremarkable.
“The book itself doesn’t necessary break new ground other than that I’ve compiled all the information for the first time,” Evancho said.
For that, it’s worth having, even if it doesn’t have the detail of the other books listed here.
“Montana Fly Fishing Guide, West Edition,” by John Holt, (Greycliff, 406-443-1888, $30).
This large-format book is perhaps the best of the guidebooks produced so far by this ever-on-the-go Montana writer. The companion volume covering eastern Montana is due to be published this spring.
This book doesn’t contain the detail or the trip-planning information found in “Fly fisher’s Guide to Idaho,” but it’s very strong on the fundamental info fly-fishers need.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 5 Color photos
MEMO: In the review of “Fly Fisher’s Guide to Idaho” one sentence is incomplete. The complete text, which did not run in the paper is as follows: The product doubtless will be a popular seller at fly shops.