I was checking out the Local Edward McKay's Used Bookstore (yes they have 4 locations, Winston, Greensboro, Fayetteville, and Raleigh and , and came across a very nice First Edition of A.K.'s book, Fly Fishing with A.K., "A fishing book by a guy who really knows how to catch fish." - John Gierach. I think that it may have been received as a gift and was never read, it's very nicely bound and the paper is a heavy coated stock. Maybe one day you'll be reading a copy of my book, Fly Fishing with Woolly Bugger!
It's a basic "how to" fly fishing primer, but what piqued my interest is that the photos were taken by his friend John Gierach. These two old farts are "Trout Bums" of the first order. A.K always turns up in Gierach's stories, usually around a pot of stream-side coffee or having tied up the perfect variation of some obscure hatch that saves the day.
I started reading it and was amused by the dry humor and the stubbornness of the old guys not adopt digital photography. Both John and A.K. still use film cameras. Part of it may be frugality and the lack of computer skills, whatever the reason, the do a fine job using traditional slide film.
I'm reading this book, not so much to learn how to fly fish, but rather to learn how A.K. fly fishes.
Fly Fishing With A. K
Stackpole Books (August 10, 2005)
Chapter 11 page 119 in Fool's Paradise "Cheap Dates" contains the the story of taking the photos and sifting through the slides as the opener for the story to be told.
The photos were shot on a Pentax K1000 (according to Gierach). Just happened to read it again yesterday.
A description of how AK fishes is also included in that chapter.
in my version I'll have to replace "coffee" with "Scotch" 8) :o ;D