Parting With Fishing “Stuff”

[joaniebo]

As my health issues worsen, I’ve had to whittle down lots of my fishing stuff, including books. It’s been somewhat difficult to part with some items but not too difficult with others.

Surprisingly, giving away rods and reels, nets, etc. hasn’t been too difficult but for some reason, books are a difficult matter.

But, for the time being, I’m holding on to the Christopher Knowles’ Orange Otter book, the Smith & Settle books of Brook & River Trouting and North Country Flies, the Roger Fogg and Leslie Magee books and, of course, Robert L. Smith’s book. For some reason, I’m just having a very hard time parting with these books but not others, including all of my Sylvester Nemes’ books.

What is it with the sentimental value of books? Maybe because it’s old school, not digital, not the latest “hip” thing!

Who knows? But what I do know, it’s not easy!

BobM

[Oenophileangler]

I learned to fish when I was about 8. My uncle taught me to use spin gear, with worms usually, but also Daredevils and Mepps spinners, to catch stocked rainbows in the Sierras (especially Yosemite, when they still stocked fish in the Merced). Life happened and I didn't fish until after my first daughter was born a couple of decades later. I got into backpacking and I thought I would learn "subsistence" hiking and eat caught fish while in the wilderness to reduce the burden of packing in food.

This is a long way of getting to books. I wanted to know about using newer technologies of fishing than the kind of equipment I learned on. I bought a book called Ultralight Spin Fishing, my first ever fishing book. I read this cover to cover but wanted to read more. My local Barnes & Noble had a lot of fishing books back then, but very few on "conventional" fishing. Just fly fishing books. Why was that? Anyway, I bought a John Merwin overview book on Trout Fishing, not knowing that it was about fly fishing. I got it without seriously looking at the contents, and I was disappointed that it wasn't really what I wanted. I read it anyway and I was hooked! I had to read whatever fly fishing books I could get my hands on. Back then, mail-order-books wasn't really a thing yet, let alone electronic books.

Fast forward. My wife complains about the wall of fishing and outdoor books I have, and I have promised her I wouldn't buy any more new books. Now, I go to Abebooks and purchase there, sometimes for more $ than I care to admit.

I have now resorted to purchasing electronic books so that I keep peace at home. I have donated a bunch of my books to our library. Nobody would purchase some of these titles. I still have that spin fishing book and the Merwin book. Won't get rid of them. Pretty sure I saw the Merwin book in the B&N $1.00 pile one day. But that's ok. It's still special to me.

Dale

[DarrellP]

I get a little grief about my books. Oh well. I don't drink except socially and and don't chase women...

[JohnMD1022]

I am faced with the same problem.

About a thousand
Fly fishing books, about 200 on guns hunting and bird dogs, and a like number on food.

Some I can give to Mike Watriss at GreAt Feathers for his sale shelf.and some can be sold.

I am planning to offer some to members of this and a couple of other forums if they will pay the postage.

[Fishnkilts]

Outside of a dog, books are man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

[Mike62]

You can never have too many books. Thankfully, my wife is completely supportive of my book buying habits. She only gets a little irritable when I start looking around at fly rods or vintage rifles. I haven't reached the point where I'm ready to purge the flotsam and jetsam of my fishing/hunting addictions, but I have decided that I'm ready to finally back a 30yd. construction dumpster up to the barn door. Small steps...

[Mike62]

Outside of a dog, books are man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

...which reminds me of something my grandmother used to say when a thunderstorm was coming. She'd step out onto the porch, look up at the sky and say, "Yup, blacker'n than the inside of a cow".