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).
Tales of Fishing Virgin Seas
Tales of Fishing Virgin Seas
Zane Grey, America's master storyteller of the old West, was a passionate angler. He fished as many as 300 days of the year! This collection, first published in 1925, describes his fishing adventures in exotic locales throughout the Pacific region. Illustrated with more than 100 photographs from the author's private collection. These stories capture the drama and excitement that Grey experienced in being the first person to fish many waters—from the Galapagos Islands to Cabo San Lucas—and in being the first to catch and document many new species of fish. No lover of Zane Grey storytelling will want to miss these real life adventures. The Los Angeles Times listed Tales of Fishing Virgin Seas as one of the best nonfiction books of 2000!