# Favorite book by John Gierach



## marble eye master (Apr 16, 2018)

Have not picked up any of his books, everyone says they are good. What is your favorite and why


----------



## Honyuk96 (Nov 21, 2014)

They are all excellent, his humor is awesome. I like Sex, Death and Fly Fishing. The View From Rat Lake is another favorite. It's all good


----------



## MIoutdoorsjunkie (Oct 11, 2006)

John is a great writer. My Favorite is "Death, taxes and leaky waders". Just for the humor alone. I think one of the first chapters or short stories is "Camp Coffee".. One of my favorites!


----------



## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

I haven't read any of Gierach's stuff. I was just thinking about him the other day though and am also curious as to what others would recommend.

A forum member recently sent me a copy of Wanderings of a Trout Bum by Jon de Bleaux. I've been sipping it for a few weeks now getting ready for the new trout season.


----------



## MIoutdoorsjunkie (Oct 11, 2006)

PunyTrout said:


> I haven't read any of Gierach's stuff. I was just thinking about him the other day though and am also curious as to what others would recommend.
> 
> A forum member recently sent me a copy of Wanderings of a Trout Bum by Jon de Bleaux. I've been sipping it for a few weeks now getting ready for the new trout season.


Anyone that has ever fly-fished for trout is missing out by not reading some of Gierach's stuff. Super witty guy with knack for story telling. Highly recommended.


----------



## MIoutdoorsjunkie (Oct 11, 2006)

"What are you up to?", Ed asked wryly, watching A.K. pour his coffee beneath a bush near the edge of the stream.

"He's gone to take a crap", A.K. nodded towards the trail leading downstream, "The only reason I ever drank this stuff is cause he's so damned earnest about the ritual. But today's is just too putrid to stomach."

Ed shuffles over to A.K. and begins to pour his out too.

"Not all of it!", A.K. said with alarm, "just most of it. You gotta leave some in your cup or he'll just pour you another."

Ed returned to his seat scowling down at the black slurry in his cup.

"I regret the day I taught him to make the stuff", A.K. muttered looking into the battered tin cup.

"For years I was the one who made the coffee", he sighed, "My pot was perfect and I didn't buy the cheap grounds. I'm not one of those mocha-latte-half-caff lightweights but I doubt that cheap stuff he buys is really coffee."

"And you're supposed to put two handfuls of coffee in. Sometimes his coffee is weak but mostly it's too strong. I think his hands are misshapen. Or maybe he can't count."

Ed nodded. Countless memories of lousy, gut-burning coffee rose to the surface.

"The damn coffee was my ritual." A.K. sulked.

Light footsteps on the forest floor drew their attention. John returned to the clearing and flipped the crushed roll of toilet paper on top of his rucksack.

"Another cup boys?"


----------



## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

I ended up stopping by a local used book store and they had two of his books. I picked up both of them. I'll get to reading them in a little while.

Thanks.


----------



## flyrodder46 (Dec 31, 2011)

PT, you will never regret picking them up. I have three of his books, and reread them every couple of years, each time I read them I find another tidbit that I had forgotten about.


----------



## BigPine (Feb 18, 2018)

John Gierach is great. I’d suggest Trout Bum, his first. Also, he’s got a book on bamboo rods that is a good read. 


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


----------



## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

I scored "Even Brook Trout get the blues"

Have yet to read it though


----------



## mfs686 (Mar 15, 2007)

I'm reading "All Fishermen are Liars" right now. About half way through it and no mention of any lies. Unless of course every story is and he made them all up.


----------



## subocto (Feb 21, 2003)

John Gierach is great! My father just got me his latest book, "A Flyrod of Your Own" for my birthday earlier this month and im almost finished with it. It is a great book full of little stories about fishing and his life in the fishing business. Trout Bum was the first one I read and is still his best work IMO.


----------



## lodge lounger (Sep 16, 2005)

Hey thanks for this post Marble Eye! I thought I had all Gierach's stuff but a cruise through Amazon showed me four I'm missing. Obviously I consider him a pretty fair author and will fill out the collection forthwith.


----------



## DrMeyer (Jun 14, 2017)

I like pretty much all of them, burt I find myself paging through "Good Flies, and how they got that way." A good treatise on what makes a successful, and useful pattern. 

If you want to dive deep - "A.K.'s Flybox" by AK Best - lots of good info, and some good stories to go along with it.


----------



## anon09082020 (Oct 27, 2011)

http://www.themeateater.com/podcasts/ep-092-john-gierach/

good podcast with him and rinella. worth a listen.


----------



## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

thefishyscent said:


> http://www.themeateater.com/podcasts/ep-092-john-gierach/
> 
> good podcast with him and rinella. worth a listen.


A very enjoyable podcast. Thank you for sharing the link.


----------



## Jackster1 (Aug 17, 2001)

You owe it to yourselves as Michiganders to read Trout Madness and Trout Magic by Robert Traver. There are a lot of similarities between his writing and Gierach's including bamboo rods, lots of bush whacking, and bourbon out of a tin cup instead of coffee.
Traver's books cam out decades before Gierach's but both are treasures for sure.
Note the covers on the two Gierach books below.

















I picked up the book on the right when it first came out. John wasn't all that happy about having a spinning rod on the cover.


----------

