Best On The Outdoors Just A Library Away

Books on wetlands, trout and steelhead fishing, nature writing and the Olympic National Park are among the outdoor books published recently. Here are some of the best:

Wetlands: The Web of Life, by Paul Rezendes and Paulette Roy, published by Sierra Club Books, $40 cloth, $25 paper. By now, every educated American knows that the nation’s wetlands are targeted for extinction by developers who seduce politicians with millions of dollars. Authors of this timely book, illustrated with scores of outstanding color photos, make clear the importance of wetlands to the “web of life.” This book is “must” reading for those who will lead the fight to preserve as much as possible of the dwindling wetlands.

The Gift of Trout, edited by Ted Leeson, published by Lyons & Burford, $25. Such gifted writers as David Quammen, Paul Schullery, John Gierach, Datus C. Proper, Roderick L. Haig-Brown, Nick Lyons and Robert Berls explore, Leeson says, “the ways in which trout are connected - at times directly, at other times subtly, at still others quite personally - to other parts of our experience.” You’ll find yourself reading some passages in the essays over and over so that you’ll be able to paraphrase them in conversations with fellow fly fishers.

John Goddard’s Trout Fishing Techniques, by John Goddard, published by Lyons & Burford, $35. Lefty Kreh, a widely known fly fisher, says Goddard, creator of the Goddard Caddis and many other patterns, is “one of the best all-around fly fishermen who has ever lived.”

Read his book and you’ll be a better fly fisher. He says more in less space about trout, their habits and fly fishing techniques than 99 percent of other writers. You’ll also see how he ties many of the world’s most productive fly patterns. The book is illustrated with numerous drawings and color pictures of insects and fly patterns.

Fly Fishing for Summer Steelhead, by John Shewey and Forrest Maxwell, published by Frank Amato Publications, $15.95. If you are thinking of fly fishing for steelhead on Inland Northwest streams and don’t know anything about techniques and fly patterns, buy this 48-page book by a couple of veteran steelheaders. In addition to techniques, the authors include several productive patterns. The book is illustrated with numerous black and white drawings and color pictures of fly fishing water and patterns.

Montana Fly Fishing Guide, by John Holt, published by Greycliff Publishing Co., $29.95. This is the second volume and is about lakes and streams east of the Continental Divide. Included are such drainages as the Beaverhead, Big Hole, Blackfoot Reservation, Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone, Gallatin, Madison, Missouri and Yellowstone. It’s an excellent reference guide by a prolific and knowledgeable writer.

Permit on a Fly, Jack Samson, published by Stackpole Books, $29.95. The permit, a deep-bodied saltwater fish, is by all accounts one of the most difficult game fish to catch on a fly. So why would Stackpole Books publish a book devoted entirely to a fish that few of the world’s fly fishers have caught. Maybe the editors aren’t so naive as you might think. To thousands of fly fishers, the permit is their Holy Grail. Many will buy the book, hoping to increase their chances of hooking a permit.

Trout Maverick, by Leonard M. Wright Jr., published by Lyons & Burford, $25. Most of the stories in Wright’s latest book have been published in his previous books and in magazines. Nevertheless, they’re worth reading, because Wright, despite his reputation as somewhat of a maverick and a man who has a large ego, has some significant things to say about fly fishing.

Secrets of the Nest, by Joan Dunning, published by Houghlin Mifflin, $15.95. If you’re a bird watcher or someone who is more than passingly interested in birds, this book is for you. Dunning makes clear in this 198-page soft-cover book why birds build nests the way they do and what kind of parents they make. It’s an absorbing book.

American Nature Writing, 1996, Articles selected by John A. Murray, published by Sierra Club Books, $15. The articles in the 1996 edition of American Nature Writing cover such topics as fly fishing in the wilderness and efforts to save pilot whales and the habitat of grizzly bears in the Yaak Valley.

Olympic National Park, by Tim McNulty, published by Houghton Mifflin, $16.95. The author, a natural history writer who lives in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains, created a vivid, carefully researched portrait of the 1,400-square-mile park in this 270-page book. Included are numerous color and black and white photos, and detailed visitors’ information.

Great White Sturgeon Angling, by Bud Conner, published by Frank Amato Publications, $14.95. The popularity of sturgeon fishing has increased dramatically the last few years. Anglers are now fishing for the prehistoric-appearing fish from Priest Rapids to Bonneville dams and in Hells Canyon of the Snake River.

Trout Flyfishing, published by Stoeger Publishing Co., $21.95. Although the authors featured in this 192-page soft-cover book are Europeans, what they say about trout, fly patterns and techniques are applicable all over the world. The book contains outstanding black and white and color drawings of fish, bugs, fly patterns and streams. It’s a good learning book for novices and intermediate-level fly fishers.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Fenton Roskelley by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 3814.

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