Fishing Yellowstone Waters [Paperback]

Charles E. Brooks (Author), Dan Callaghan (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1984

Full of fishing tips and natural history.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The prospect of fishing Yellowstone National Park can be daunting. Bigger than the state of Rhode Island, with more fishing possibilities than several lifetimes could provide, Yellowstone is a trout Mecca that can also frustrate an unprepared angler. A little inside dope goes a long way. It's no coincidence, then, that Charlie Brooks is a hero to many a local Yellowstone angler. With many years of fishing the area under his wading belt, this legendary angler may know more about the fabled waters in and around the park than anyone. His guide introduces readers to Yellowstone's major drainages, passing along tips gleaned from a lifetime of scouting trout. But more than a list of honey-holes, his advice is the product of experience and observation. Take the Lamar River, for instance: "For reasons not yet explained, the cutthroat migrate or rove about, upstream and down. This will cause puzzlement among anglers; the riffle or run that produced well this week may appear as barren as a snowbank the next week. The answer, for the angler, is to move up or down and try to locate where the fish are holding at this time." Any visitor to Yellowstone will benefit generously from this wise roadmap.

From the Back Cover

The Madison, the Gallatin, the Firehole, Henry's Fork of the Snake, the Gibbon, Slough Creek, the Yellowstone - these and a score of other rivers (more than 2,000 miles of them) within a hundred-mile radius make West Yellowstone, Montana, the "trout mecca" of the world. Charlie Brooks, a long-time resident of the area, has pooled his incisive knowledge of fishing and rivers with superb photographer Dan Callaghan to produce the first major fisherman's guide to the region.In Fishing Yellowstone Waters you will learn the fabled pools on these famous rivers, the insect hatches, the best flies to use (and when), the most effective methods of fishing each river and the most fruitful times. There are some especially helpful appendixes that list the most popular flies, based on a poll of local tackle dealers made by the authors.Too many people travel long distances to this area but lack the specific knowledge needed to make their trip as productive as it might be. This book can help. But it is also for all fishermen who dream of someday fishing these marvelous, productive waters. (8 1/4 X 11, 160 pages, b&w photos, map, charts)

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (October 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558210172
• ISBN-13: 978-1558210172
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Wyoming

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tiny bit dated, but still the best guide to Yellowstone, October 23, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fishing Yellowstone Waters (Paperback)

This book is a classic, and still full of great information. It's amazing, but 10 years after the book was published, and the information is still accurate and useful. I spent the past week in the Park, and based on Brook's great descriptions, fished specific sections of the Firehole and Madison -- with spectacular results at each. Also based on the book's recommendations, I made the 13 mile hike to and from the Lewis Channel -- again a fantastic day. I've read more recent guides to the park by Matthews and Charlton and although they cover more waters, this book covers the big name waters in much more depth. Required reference for anyone visiting Yellowstone for the fishing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical artifact, no longer a good guidebook., May 11, 2007

By 

Walter J. Wiese (Bellingham, WA or Gardiner, MT, depending on season) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fishing Yellowstone Waters (Paperback)

My headline says it all. A great deal has changed in Yellowstone since this book was written, and even then Charlie Brooks was locally known with wry amusement for being very set in his ways, so the book was slanted towards his own preferred methods even in the 1980s. Now it's simply outdated.

BUT Charlie Brooks belongs in the pantheon of Yellowstone-area anglers, and variations on some of his flies are still the best stonefly nymphs in the region (they are produced by Gardner local Matt Minch). As such, this book is worth owning simply as a historical document.