Fly fishing's soul recently took a big hit with the passing of John Gierach. The writing, and lifestyle, of John Gierach inspired countless anglers to pursue their passion for fly fishing--even if that meant losing a job, a wife, or living in a van down the river. Gierach's list of books include but are not limited to Trout Bum; All Fishermen are Liars; Death, Taxes, and Leaky Waders; Sex, Death, and Fly Fishing; No Shortage of Good Days; Even Brook Trout Get the Blues; The View from Rat Lake; Still Life with Brook Trout; and Fool’s Paradise.

‍Gierach was a Midwesterner turned into a Westerner by the time he was in adulthood. He would openly admit he started writing about fly fishing because he needed money and used the money earned to pay rent so he could fish more. His passing was first reported by his longtime friend and angling companion, AK Best. Gierach was 78 at the time of his death.

"They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream," wrote Gierach, "but that's not quite it. What happens is that you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they're just not such a big deal anymore."

To see a list of Gierch's books, scroll down or, visit his publisher, Simon and Schuster.

• Signs of Life (1977)
• Fly-fishing the High Country (1984)
• Trout Bum (1986)
• The View from Rat Lake (1988)
• Fly-fishing Small Streams (1989)
• Sex, Death, and Fly-Fishing (1990)
• Where the Trout Are All as Long as Your Leg (1991)
• Even Brook Trout Get the Blues (1992)
• Dances with Trout (1994)
• Another Lousy Day in Paradise (1996)
• Fishing Bamboo (1997)
• Standing in a River Waving a Stick (1999)
• Good Flies: Favorite Trout Patterns and How They Got That Way (2000)
• Death, Taxes, And Leaky Waders: A John Gierach Fly Fishing Treasury (2000)
• At the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman (2003)
• The Fly Fishing Anthology (2004, contributor with Mallory Burton, Ernest Hemingway, and others)
• Still Life with Brook Trout (2005)
• Fool's Paradise (2008)
• No Shortage of Good Days (2011)
• All Fishermen are Liars (2014)
• A Fly Rod of Your Own (2017)
• Dumb Luck and the Kindness of Strangers (2020)
• All the Time in the World (2023)

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