FISHERMAN'S SPRING. By Roderick Haig-Brown.

1951 1st US edition. 8vo (140 x 208mm). Pp222. B/w illustrations by Louis Darling. Green cloth, spine titled in black with black river and tree motifs to spine and upper board.

A "fisherman's spring must start, I think, with the opening of [the] trout season," writes Roderick Haig-Brown, and so begins this lively, informed book that ranges from the intricate mechanics of fly fishing to a broad statement of the author's philosophy of life. "...As much a book about the practical aspects of fly fishing, with learned advice from a master about everything from fly selection to wading techniques, as it is about the deep rewards an angler can find through his sport." Chapters include: The art of fishing; Spring defined; Figures and definitions; Fry imitations; Early cutthroat lakes; The maculate purist; The unexpected fish; Recognising birds; Putting fish back; Local knowledge; The fish by the cedar stump; Fly types; The forecast; The new rod; Fly lines; A boy and a fish pole; Northward geese; Stonefly imitations; The secret life; Boats and fast water; On wading; Fishing and the common man; When is a rainbow; Leave the guns at home; On casting; Charles Cotton; Fishermen and forestry; Family sortie; Essential simplicity; Don't you ever get tired?; Garden party day; Fishing and milkmaids; The depth of the wood. This is the third book in Haig-Brown's 'Seasons' series - Fisherman's Fall, Fisherman's Winter, Fisherman's Spring, and Fisherman's Summer.