SFF Book Sale: It is time, again, to sell off some of the club’s Library collection. With recent donations and purchases, our collection has simply outgrown our storage capacity. Choosing which books to purge from our collection has always been a bitter pill for me. When doing so, I always feel like I’m saying goodbye to old friends. This is especially true when those old friends are the likes of Dan Bailey, Ray Bergman, Joe Brooks, Grits Gresham, Lefty Kreh…well, you get the picture. Books by guys who had monthly flyfishing columns in the “Big Three” of outdoor publications when I was a kid and would run to the drug store to get my copies the day they came out. Or, authors whose writings describe places I also visited and fished when I was young. But time does march on and, if there is any sugar for me to be sweetened by this salt, it is the fact that the library cabinet should be a hell of a lot lighter when I (or one of the members who frequently, graciously, pushes it for me!) have to push it out and then back during meetings.
Anyway, nostalgia aside, we will be offering a very large portion of the collection for sale. Old classics: A Treasury of Angling by Larry Koller, The Complete Book of Bass Fishing by Grits Gresham, Fly Fishing and The Complete Guide to Fishing Across North America , both by Joe Brooks, two volumes of Fly Fishing for Trout, Salmon, and Panfish by Ray Steele, Quill Gordon by John McDonald and, and Trout by Ray Bergman, will all be on the table. Each of these is over 50 years old, and I don’t need to describe those authors to any of you who appreciate classic fly fishing writing! Others, not quite so old but classics still, such as The Essential Fly Tyer by J. Edson Leonard, Fishless Days and Angling Nights (Sparse Grey Hackle), Matching the Hatch by Ernest Schweibert, The Seasonable Angler by Nick Lyons, and Selective Trout (Richards and Swisher) will also be offered.
Several autographed volumes will be offered: FloatTubes, Fly Rods, and Other Essays by Marv Taylor, Fly Fishing for Trout and Steelhead by Colonel Joe Grey, and Mist on the River (Remembrances of Dan Bailey) by Charles F. Waterman (with forward by Lee Wulff). Bass Anglers will be able to bid on Flies and Bass for Panfish (Steward and Allen), L.L. Bean’s Fly Fishing for Bass Handbook, and Tying Bugs and Flies for Bass by A.D. Livingston.
Those who appreciate biographical adventures and odysseys will want to check I Know A Good Place by Clive Gammon, Pools of Memory by Charlie Kroll, and Many Rivers to Cross by M.R. Montgomery.
Any of you who are collectors of Fly Fishing Equipment will want to consider Fly Tackle – A Guide to the Tools of the Trade by Harmon Henken. Those of you who enjoy the contemplative side of fly fishing will want to bid on Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis by Howell Raines, FlyFishing: A Life in Midstream by Turhan Tirana, and Fishing Moments of Truth, a collection of such moments as described by fly anglers and writers like Arnold Gingrich, Roderick HaigBrown, Nick Lyons, Charles Ritz, Ernest Schweibert, and Charles Waterman.
History buffs will want to bid over A History of Angling by Charles Waterman. Sadly, Lefty Kreh passed on recently and we will be selling Fishing the Flats, Fly Fishing in Salt Water, Fly Fishing for Trout , and Salt Water Fly Patterns, all by Lefty
Many manuals will be offered, some now collectors’ items. Fly Patterns of the Pacific Northwest by Steve Probasco, Fly Patterns of the Yellowstone (Matthews and Juracek ), FlyTier’s Color Guide (Caucci and Nastasi), The Hook Book by Dave Stewart, Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymphs by Polly Rosborough (famous Oregon Tyer who invented the Flymph) along with two volumes by Jack Dennis, Western Trout Fly Tying Manual and Tying Flies with Jack Dennis and Friends are some of these.
Meanwhile, anyone who appreciates classic Atlantic Salmon Flies will want to purchase Salmon Flies (Their Character, Style, and Dressing) by Poul Jorgensen. Proceeds from the sale will, of course, be used to upgrade our collection of both books and videos. Bring your checkbooks to take advantage of a fine opportunity to upgrade your private fly fishing reading collection. And, be prepared to bid against me for some of these fine works!