When I took up fly-fishing 45 years ago, my dad gave me his copy of "The Compleat Angler." When I found that it was not a fly-fishing book, I never read much of it. Well, I just read it, and taken in its historical perspective, it is a remarkable book. Walton knew a lot about a lot of different kinds of fish and how to fish for them, mainly with various baits. I have seen him "slammed" because he supposedly ignored fly-fishing, but there are spots where he discusses ff for various kinds of fish. The Charles Cotton addition, which addresses fly-fishing pretty thoroughly, is pretty amazing for its time. Cotton speaks of flies that work from January through December; he was not merely a summer angler.
Anyhow, if you're looking for some historical fishing -- and fly-fishing -- reading, you probably ought to read Walton's book. I am surprised just how advanced he -- and Cotton -- were in the 1600s. "The Compleat Angler" would be well worth the time you might invest in reading it.

I have heard this more than once, i hope to read it some day.

Someone mentioned the book in a thread recently so I kept an eye out for it. Found it on a discount table for $9. It's the Charlie Cotton version. Haven't read it yet.

is this different than the Lee Wulff book? Lee Wulff, the Compleat

Quote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izaak_Walton

Yes, completely different book from the Wulff book. "The Compleat Angler" is from the 1600s and was written by Izaak Walton. Though preceded by other fishing writing, "TCA" is generally regarded as the first fishing book.
(Yes, I know about Dame Juliana's writing, but it was part of a larger book that dealt with many things.)

This movie is almost 48 min long. It does not have the excitement of fly fishing in Alaska or on famous streams out west, but it is entertaining and relaxing.

Here's the official description:

"The Complete Angler is a film by James Prosek (artist/writer), Fritz Mitchell (producer/editor) and Peter Franchella (cinematographer). It documents Prosek's travels as he walks in the footsteps of the 17th century English writer, Izaak Walton—"research" for his senior thesis at Yale. The film focuses on Walton's book, The Compleat Angler, a book that many have heard of but few have actually read."

Thanks for sharing RC, I enjoyed that film.