The Literary Fly Fisher

My wife, daughter, and I just returned from visiting my wife’s family in Magyarország or Hungary.  As indicated in my previous post, I had the opportunity to do some fly fishing.  Levente Kovács-Sinkó graciously put me into both asp and trout.

I enjoyed visiting with Levente, not only because he is a flyfisher, but also because he is a fan of classic flyfishing tackle and literature.  For people like Levente and me, knowing more about how something was practiced and understood in the past, multiplies our appreciation of it in the present.  This is not to say that, in this case, collecting old reels and fishing books necessarily makes us better fly fishers; it does make the sport all the more enjoyable to us, however.

Traveling to new fly fishing destinations is something that provides me, personally, with a greater enjoyment of fly fishing as well.  I love to hear about the fishing history and traditions in the places I visit, to pick up a few locally tied flies, and of course to catch some indigenous fish.  Mind you, I love my home waters with a burning passion, and I’d be happy to fish nothing else my entire life.  Yet, I’m glad I often get the chance to visit waters and communities of fly fishers that are new to me.  I have found both in Hungary, which I have visited numerous times now.  Happily, my next trip takes me back to my home waters in Montana – waters that I have been away from for too long.

Pictured below is a 1912 Hungarian book on fishing, reprinted by Levente, Kálmán Nagy, and Miklós Zsombori in 2002.  It was authored by Árpád Zsarnovitzky, and its title is Sportfishing, or Fishing with a Hook.  Also pictured are some beautiful wet flies, all tied without a vice, by Levente; an Association of Hungarian Fly Fishers pin; an old bottle of delicious Tokaji dessert wine from Hungary, which my wife and I have long been saving for a special occasion; and a Hardy Flyweight reel, perfectly suited to trout fishing in Hungary.

This entry was posted on June 10, 2011 at 4:33 PM and is filed under Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing Literature, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.