New Books Cover A Lot Of Ground
Most veteran American anglers, particularly those who fish for steelhead and salmon, know that hydroelectric dams, unrestricted mining and excessive logging have decimated fish populations of many once-productive Northwest streams.
What they may not realize is that dams, miners and loggers have ended or drastically cut steelhead and salmon runs in British Columbia. Van Gorman Egan of Campbell River, B.C., tells the sad story of what the powerful industries have done to some Canadian rivers in Rivers on My Mind, Riverside Publications, $21 (U.S.)
Van Egan, an erudite writer who is gaining some recognition in the United States, caught and released one of the last steelhead to run up the legendary Campbell River.
Of the river’s steelhead, he says: “This noble creature, fashioned over the millennia by the magnificence of a wild West Coast river and the great sea journeys of countless generations, gone - utterly - in the space of a minute or less on the geologic clock.”
But Van Egan’s book is more than the story of anadromous fish problems. He is a thoughtful fly fisher who tells absorbing stories of fishing at lakes and streams in the Canadian province.
The book is one of several outdoors books published recently.
Morris & Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes, by Skip Morris and Brian Chan, published by Frank Amato Publications, paperback, $24.95. Two of the Northwest’s best-known and respected fly fishers collaborated on this 94-page 8x11-inch book that is illustrated with numerous color pictures and black and white drawings.
The book is a helpful condensation of knowledge about Northwest lakes, insects, trout feeding habits, techniques for catching trout, fly fishing equipment, flotation devices and fly patterns.
Four outstanding L.L. Bean handbooks, guide books sponsored by the mail-order firm and published by The Lyons Press, are available to outdoors-oriented readers.
The Outdoor Knots Handbook, $14.95, by Peter Owen, features knots for campers, boaters, climbers and anglers. The illustrations are so large that it is easy to see instantly how to tie the knots.
Basic outdoor photography is featured in Outdoor Photography Handbook, $18.95, by Jim and Kate Rowinski. Numerous color pictures illustrate various techniques described by the authors.
Family Camping Handbook, by Keith McCafferty, $18.95, is an excellent, authoritative guide on everything from planning trips to cooking in the outdoors.
In Fly Fishing Handbook, $18.95, Dave Whitlock, one of the nation’s best-known and respected fly fishers, provides beginning fly fishers with plenty of knowledge on tackle, insects, techniques and fly patterns to become efficient anglers.
On the Grill, by A.D. Livingston, published by The Lyons Press, $14.95, paperback. The second part of the title is “A complete Guide to Hot-Smoking and Barbecuing Meat, Fish and Game.” It might not be a “complete” guide, in the sense that no book can be said to be complete, but the author does provide information on just about anything you might want to know about how to select a grill, how to build a fire, how long to cook and much more.
The Stoeger Publishing Company’s year 2000 annuals are on the shelves of book dealers and, as usual, they’re filled with excellent detailed, usable information on guns, bows, cartridges and accessories.
As might be expected, most of the articles in the Shooter’s Bible, $23.95, are about guns and accessories in the 20th century. The rest of the 576-page book is filled with information on hundreds of handguns, shotguns, rifles, sights, scopes, ammunition, ballistics and reloading.
Want to buy or sell a used gun? You’ll want to know how much you may have to pay or how much should ask. Chances are, you can get answers in Gun Trader’s Guide, $23.95.
FN Browning-Armorer to the World, by Gene Gangarosa Jr., $21.95. This comprehensive book is more than the Browning story. It tells the story of how John M. Browning’s imagination helped Fabrique Nationale grow from a small arms manufacturer into a giant of the firearms industry.