"Trout" Ray Bergman

[dryflyguy]

After picking this up several years, I finally got around to reading it the last few weeks.

It was first published in 1938. And I was kinda thinking that the info would be very outdated.
But other than some of the gear he used - like silk line and gut - turns out that fishing was pretty much the same then.
He faced many of the same issues and challenges that we do today.

He was pretty much a dry fly man - although he wouldn't hesitate to switch over to other methods when needed
And it does contain a lengthy chapter on dry fly tactics.

His most important requirement to be able to catch fish on drys - is the ability to cast if so that lands softly, and with the proper slack to float without drag.
Presentation - still the most important factor back then as it is now.
He pretty much achieved that with a slack line, or what he also called lazy casts. Something I've always used from the get go too

He also liked dunking a dry in a liquid floating mixture, which is what I've always preferred too
Although I wouldn't use his home made formula - gasoline and parafin!

As for fly size, I found it kinda amusing that he referred to #16 and #18 flies as midges.
Although smaller hooks might not have even been available back then.

His home stream was the Au Sable River in NY, on which he had a cabin.
And wrote a lot about fishing it.
But he did travel extensively, and fished for almost any kind of trout and salmonoid around

All in all, I found it to still be a really nice read, all these years later.
A definite classic for sure

 

[Bamboozle]

It's a great book that influenced me a lot.

One of my favorite parts of the book is where he wrote about the day he hid in the bushes and observed other angler's methods to fishing a particular stretch.

Great stuff that I think about often when fishing...

...and of course the color fly plates are legendary as are the late Don Bastian's realizations.

 

[redietz]

It's a great book that influenced me a lot.

Same here. It's pretty much where I learned the trout fishing game.

Read it - as opposed to just looking at the color plates -- can be a real eye opener.

 

[falcon]

I have a copy and it is a interesting book especially when he writes about the Ausable. Oddly I found the fly prints the least interesting.

It is getting close to the fly tying and reading season at least for me. I will read through it again.

 

[PennKev]

He also liked dunking a dry in a liquid floating mixture, which is what I've always preferred too
Although I wouldn't use his home made formula - gasoline and parafin!

I wouldn't use it either.

Mucillin dissolved in naphtha is a superior floatant.

 

[falcon]

White gas and paraffin was standard in bygone days. I even recall bottles of it sold in shops.

 

[PennKev]

White gas and paraffin was standard in bygone days. I even recall bottles of it sold in shops.

This is essentially what commercially available "Flyagra" floatant is. I've been told it is the mucillin mixture but wouldn't be surprised if it was just paraffin. Either way, the stuff works very well.

 

[dryflyguy]

I wouldn't use it either.

Mucillin dissolved in naphtha is a superior floatant.

I use lighter fluid and RED mucilin paste.
This was the recommended mixture from George Harveys book.
For some reason he specified using the red, instead of the green, which has silicone in it.

When I couldn't find mucillin, I've also used Payette paste, with good results too

 

[rrt]

Bergman's book, IMO, is the best book of its kind. I think I will re-read it this winter, too.

 

[dryflyguy]

Bergman's book, IMO, is the best book of its kind. I think I will re-read it this winter, too.

When I first joined TU - around the mid '80's - they were offering a promo with a new membership.
You could buy Ernie Schweiberts massive two volume book called "Trout", very cheaply. Or maybe even free with membership.
So I got it.

It was trumped up as being the ultimate reference on FFing for trout
However, I found it be pretty overwhelming. Maybe because I was still new at this sport.
And though I did read some chapters of it that appealed to me, I've still never read the whole thing.

Bergmans book is written more in layman's terms IMO.
And I found it to be more enjoyable.

 

[Bamboozle]

I had the pleasure of chatting with Ernie a few times as a wide eyed kid and he was intense as it got.

I have all of his books which he inscribed for me but when I want to read something to relax without a dictionary handy it's Bergman or Charlie Fox...

 

[dc410]

I’m actually currently rereading my copy of Ray Bergman’s TROUT, second edition. I really enjoy his style of writing and it definitely takes you way back to “the day”. There’s also something about that musty smell of an old book when you crack it open that kind of puts you in your own little world. Good stuff!

 

[dryflyguy]

Mine is the 2nd edition - 1946 - too.
I found it walking around an antique store in the finger lakes with my wife.
And it does have that "old" smell.

I paid $12 for it.
The 1st edition - 1938 - is priced much more than that on eBay

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I own two copies, one a 1947 first edition and the second a 1970 second edition. Very good reading. Amazing how so much of the information still applies to today's fly fishing.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

One of the earliest books in my FF collection. TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA was first. I did not even fly-fish at the time.

 

[rrt]

I just re-read it, and it still gets a 5 out of 5. I still think it is the best book of its kind, even though some of the information from 1952 and back is dated. However, he discusses "new" things that he already knew about: strike indicators for nymphing among others. His approach to the stream in a studious manner enabled him to solve many problems that he discussed. In 1952 he already knew of Marinaro's thorax-style of duns, and he conversed with Charles K. Fox as well.

I have to admit that I skimmed the spinning information, having no interest in that, though I gathered enough from it that Bergman did not think as much of spinning as he did fly-fishing. To him, it was another useful fishing method, and he does not slight its use. Remember, spinning was new at the time.

(I had to skip the chapters on steelhead and grayling: Lou Wentz's book finally arrived today, and I want to get to it quickly.)

I did not remember Bergman's lamenting the crowded fishing conditions that had already developed by 1952. I wonder what he would think if he saw the LJR or Penns Creek today during a major hatch.

Anyhow, this is a marvelous book. If you like to read, like to trout fish, and can find it on the Internet, it really is a book that you will want to read -- and re-read.

(I am pretty sure the Classic Fly-fisherman site has a copy for sale.)

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

I just re-read it, and it still gets a 5 out of 5. I still think it is the best book of its kind, even though some of the information from 1952 and back is dated. However, he discusses "new" things that he already knew about: strike indicators for nymphing among others. His approach to the stream in a studious manner enabled him to solve many problems that he discussed. In 1952 he already knew of Marinaro's thorax-style of duns, and he conversed with Charles K. Fox as well.

I have to admit that I skimmed the spinning information, having no interest in that, though I gathered enough from it that Bergman did not think as much of spinning as he did fly-fishing. To him, it was another useful fishing method, and he does not slight its use. Remember, spinning was new at the time.

(I had to skip the chapters on steelhead and grayling: Lou Wentz's book finally arrived today, and I want to get to it quickly.)

I did not remember Bergman's lamenting the crowded fishing conditions that had already developed by 1952. I wonder what he would think if he saw the LJR or Penns Creek today during a major hatch.

Anyhow, this is a marvelous book. If you like to read, like to trout fish, and can find it on the Internet, it really is a book that you will want to read -- and re-read.

(I am pretty sure the Classic Fly-fisherman site has a copy for sale.)

I have a bunch in my library that I want to re-read. That would be one of them.

 

[skybay]

The landmark book in my fly fish library

 

[zenherper]

I purchased an old used copy when I first started fly fishing. It was the first fly fishing book I purchased and read. While I haven’t read it recently, I can confidently say it has had a huge influence on my sentiment for, and perspective of fly fishing.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I read it many years ago. Just saw this thread and purchased a copy.