You have been exiled to a deserted island for a month. You can only bring 2 books with you, and they must be about fishing, what would your choices be???

1) "Advanced steelhead flyfishing" by Deke Meyer.

2) "Steelhead Drift Fishing" by Bill Herzog.

for the following reasons:

a) They're about steelhead.
b) They're long reads(especially Meyer's)
c) They're good reads.
d) Lots of good quality color pictures.
e) They're good to re-read.

Footnote: If the wife isn't co-stranded then item #1 or #2 could quite easily be replaced with Playboy!

Moby **** and the book I just finished The Perfect Storm.

Since I was a fishing nut way before I could ever drive and nobody else in my familty really fished, I read and read and read.
Its hard to pick to books.
But if I must I would have to say The Year of the Angler and Steelhead Water.
The Year of the Angler because Steve Raymond is an amazing author, the most underrated author in fishing and Steelhead Water because it applies to my home waters and it hooked me on flyfishing for steelhead. There are some chapters of Steelhead Water Ive read over and over and over again. It truly is a great read.
Steelhead Flyfishing is awesome too, the amount of information that is in that book is incredible so is Deke Meyer's and Steelhead Drift Fishing. Anybody who wants to fish for steelhead, Steelhead Driftfishing by Herzog is a MUST.
--
Ryan

Great choices!! Swami, I also picked Moby**** as one of my choices 1930 Random House edition, with illustrations by Rockwell Kent. My other choice would be CRUNCH and DES: Classic stories of saltwater fishing by Philip Wylie. Both long, and very rereadable hardbacks. Sorry Eric W., you can't bring your wife, and magazines don't count, check out Summer's Salmon by A. Rusty Rat.

Dan O, I would choose The Old Man in the Sea by Hemingway, and Fishermans Summer by Roderick Haig Brown

How to catch fish on desert islands By Gilligan and the skipper, and 1000 coconut recipes by Maryanne.

lol--corky!

Really, I'd take Sparse Grey Hackle's "Fishless Days, Angling Nights" and an anthology entitled "The Armchair Angler" (ed by Terry Brykczynski) over all my other books, even over Herzog and Combs...angling is, after all, one of life's paths, and not just a mechanical "sport"...

The Fishekisser has changed my mind! Subing for The Old Man in the Sea is the Arm Chair Angler how did I let that "Gem" slip my mind at my age I should be used to things slipping my mind. The dust jacket has a big marlin jumping and spinning around which is pleasing to look at. There are at least articles and storys by no less tha 50 different authors the likes of Norman Maclean, Ernest Hemingway, Zane Grey, Robert Traver and Ray Bergman on steelhead and the ones that got away.

If you like the Perfect Storm, try the Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw. She was the captain of the Hannah Boden, sister ship to the ship that went down. She's a fisher...and a good storyteller. Also brings conclusion to some things in Junger's book.

Hey, you Moby **** readers! Have you noticed that all of the recent editions omit the author's footnotes? Those footnotes added very much to the fascination of the book for me. My favorite was the Scribner's edition (of 1946, I think) with illustrations by N.C. Wyeth.

1. David James Duncann's "The river why"
2.Advanced Steelie fishing..d.meyer with Herzogs drift fishing for steelhead glued between the cover. ( great pictures...)

1. David James Duncann's "The river why"
2.Advanced Steelie fishing..d.meyer with Herzogs drift fishing for steelhead glued between the cover. ( great pictures...)

I forgot......does this island have steelhead streams?

"The River Why" and "The Old Man and the Sea"

Moby ****? A-a-w, come on now.

Corky- You really busted me up. I'm still laughing !!!!I like to read a chapter of Steelhead fly fishing by Trey Coombs when I need a fishing fix and can't get out. And Deke Meyers book is also great.

It's great to see that so many others appreciate good books!! Sorry Corky,1000 recipies by Maryanne, is NOT a fishing book! Guess you"re stuck with Gilligian's book. Bet it"s not a threehour read-a three hour read. Steelhead Addict,yes the island has steelhead streams, self-sustaining hatchery stock, [skamania strain], single barbless hooks, no bait, 1 a day limit, for personal consumption. Current Drifter, if you like those books, check out Fish the Strong Waters by N.C. McDonald, and The Forty Fathom Bank by Les Galloway. B-Run Steely, like your choices!, check out anything written by Ted Leeson, or Bob Arnold. gotta go, check in later,read on brothers and sisters, unplug that tv!!!

How about some steely stories form Ted Trueblood. Now that's going back a long time.

Currentdrifter I'm going to pick that one up. There is so many good books out. So little time to read them, thanks all for the info.

Native Son, guess I should have given more thought to all the great anthologies out there. Here's a few I really enjoy: The One That Got Away by Greenberg and Waugh: Fireside Book of Fishing by Raymond L. Camp: Treasury of Fishing Stories, by Charles Goodspeed: Uncommon Waters by Holly Morris.

Preston Singletary, You know a book is a timeless classic, when all you have to do is use 1 word of the title, and everybody knows what book you are talking about.In retrospect, I might have done what Native Son did, and opt for a good anthology. You should be a good person to ask this question, have any idea who Sparse Grey Hackle really is?? I was told he is someone famous. Had any good reads lately???

I was just surprised that when I typed in Moby D-i-c-k, it came out Moby ****. Is this some kind of electronic censorship program which has decided that D-i-c-k is a dirty word? If my name was Richard, I think I'd be insulted. Sparse Grey Hackle was the nom-de-plume of Alfred W. Miller. I know I've got some biographical info around here someplace but I can't find it just now. He was editor of The Angler's Club Bulletin (New York) for nearly fifty years and campaigned against pollution and degradation of rivers and streams in the Catskills. He's probably best remembered for his collection of stories, Fishless Days, Angling Nights. That's about all I can find offhand. The only book I've read lately that I'd recommend highly would have to be Tom McGuane's The Longest Silence.
Tight lines and good reading.

I don't remember the author's name, but I've read "Mountain in the Clouds" several times, and for you Olympic Peninsula-lovers, it is a must read! It really details past salmon runs and interviews many oldtimers recollections on specific rivers.

Can't think of a second book, other that the Fishin Regs to figure out all of these openings/closings in Area 10!!!

NOFISH,
The author of Mountain in the Clouds is Bruce Brown. He had much the same things to say about the state of our fisheries as Jim Lichatowich has in Salmon Without Rivers, but he said it almost twenty years ago. Are we ever going to wake up?

More votes for "The River Why?" And "The Old Man and the Sea." Also, there's a Washington clinical psychologist whose writing mentor was Patrick McManus, with two books that are a riot: "Pavlov's Trout" and "Darwin's Bass." Publisher is Keokee. Psychology has never been so interesting... and humorous!

I'm surprised no one has come up with Norman McLean's "A River Runs Through It." If you liked the movie -- and a I did, though hardly because of Brad Pitt -- you'll definitely appreciate the book. It's actually a short story, but would work well as a followup for Mary Anne's Coconut Recipes.

Gentlemen, In my youth Ted Trueblood was an active writer and his articles on summer run steelhead fishing with a fly were inspirationl and charecter forming.He would describe hitchhiking on trains going up Coloumbia river tribs and hunting Chukars and fly fishing for summer runs, he would travel light sleep under the stars and make fire with flint and steel (not a lighter).
Now then do any of you know if there is a collection of his work that is still in print.

Forgot to mention the name of the author of Pavlov's Trout/Darwin's Bass. He's Paul Quinnett, Ph.D, of Cheney. If you ever ponder the question of WHY we fish, he's got some very amusing (and professional) answers. I'd also recommend anything by Nick Lyons, another guy "I wish I could write like!"
There is surely no shortage of fishing books out there. I believe the only one left to be written is "Flyfishing for Dogfish!"
And how refreshing to have so many literate members of this board, while the preferred reading on other boards seems to be Fishing & Hunting News!

NATIVE SON: There is a free website called, BookFinder.com I looked up Mr. Trueblood and there were at least 6 books of his listed. Check it out. If you can't find it, give a yell on this post, and I will list them for you...