Fishing
Cumberland Valley, Pennsylvania, where Whistlestop Bookshop is situated, is generously watered and drained by creeks renowned for their fishing. Conodoguinet Creek, which flows about 100 miles to the Susquehanna River and is nearest to Carlisle, is actually better known for the fishing in its two tributaries, Big Spring Creek out of the Newville area (only 5 miles) and Letort Spring Run, which arises south of Carlisle and flows north 9 miles to the Conodoguinet. The Yellow Breeches Creek, which flows along South Mountain for 56 miles to the Susquehanna, is internationally famous for its trout fishing.
Naturally, a trout-fishing and especially a fly-fishing culture has developed, sometimes thought to be mostly local, sometimes acknowledged to be of world interest — the world that loves the quiet and focus and solitary rewards of fly-fishing. Rarely, the local zen masters of fishing wrote books. Charlie Fox was once a customer of Whistlestop, and Joe Humphreys is still in print and in fact the subject of a documentary we carry. Fishing does inspire fine writing, after all — the names of Izaak Walton, Norman MacLean, Thomas McGuane, Patrick McManus, John Gierach suggest the range of approaches in writing about “standing in a river waving a stick,” to use Gierach’s famous descripton.
Dedicated to the memory of a great fisherman and an even better brother, Gordon Wood (1956-2020).
Bass, Pike, Perch and Others: The Classic Reference Guide to Eastern North American Game Fish
Bass, Pike, Perch and Others: The Classic Reference Guide to Eastern North American Game Fish
A North American fishing handbook from one of the great masters of the sport.
First published in 1903, Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others remains a reliable resource for fishing enthusiasts in North America. As part of the American Sportman’s Library, this handbook was set apart as an important text on sporting subjects from an American perspective, provided here by Dr. James A. Henshall, who spent decades studying fish and fishing. Henshall, called both the Apostle of the Black Bass” and the Dean of American Anglers,” is one of the most important conservationists and fish culturists in our nation’s history, best known for originating bass fishing. Here, Henshall provides information on all the game fish families of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, including:
Sunfish
Bass
Perch
Grayling
Drum
Minnow
Catfish
Grouper
Cavalla
Grunt
This guide, complete with the original black-and-white illustrations and personal anecdotes from Henshall, is a must-have classic for any serious angler.