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).
The Orvis Guide to Finding Trout
The Orvis Guide to Finding Trout
In full color, The Orvis Guide to Finding Trout is a brand-new book from Tom Rosenbauer and the Orvis Company. Most beginners (and many experts) are mystified when faced with a new river or changing conditions on their home river. And if they can’t predict where trout might be, they lose confidence and fish poorly. This book is about how to find trout in all types of water, at all seasons. But it’s also about what methods and flies may work best in each water type.
Tom Rosenbauer has been a fly fisher for five decades and was tying flies commercially at age fourteen. Tom is the host of many popular YouTube videos on how to catch trout, and his podcast has been downloaded over 20 million times. He is the author of numerous books as well as countless articles for Fly Fisherman, Audubon,, Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and other periodicals. He has worked for the Orvis Company in various capacities since 1976. He lives in Pawlet, Vermont.