Award-winning outdoor writer Jim Casada, a native of the Great Smokies who has written or edited more than 40 books, has just published what he describes as “my book of a lifetime.”
Casada said, "I consider it the most important thing I've ever done in as a writer."
The work, Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: An Insider’s Guide to a Pursuit of Passion, appears as the nation’s most popular park celebrates its 75th anniversary. Its 448 pages feature separate chapters covering every major stream in the Park, and feeder creeks are covered as well. The book also incorporates a great deal of natural and human history into these chapters, looks at tactics and techniques, visits “Seasons of the Smokies,” discusses equipment, and addresses safety issues of concern to the angler.
Other features include dozens of graphs which show changes in stream elevation in comparison with length. These graphs (there is one for all the Park’s major creeks and rivers) also show waypoints of note along streams such as backcountry campsites, trail crossings, and feeder creeks. There are scores of photos, including many of historical significance as well as modern color ones; graphs showing monthly variations in temperature and precipitation; information on guides and outfitters; a removable folding map of trails and backcountry campsites; and an extensive annotated bibliography.
“My intention,” says Casada, “was to provide fisherman, whether newcomers to these storied streams or veterans who have fished them for years, with a truly comprehensive guide to the hundreds of miles of trout-holding water found within Park boundaries in North Carolina and Tennessee. The Park provides the finest fishing for wild trout east of the Rockies, and it has provided me an incredible measure of pleasure over all but the earliest years of my life.”
The work has drawn extensive pre-publication praise. Nationally renowned fly-fishing author Nick Lyons, who wrote a Foreword to the book, says: “This is a book anyone who knows or plans to visit the Smokies will cherish, but also a book that anyone who takes pleasure in fine writing about the outdoor world and especially fly fishing will admire greatly. I do.”
Sam Venable, a long-time student of the Smokies and columnist for the Knoxville News-Sentinel, comments that “a detailed how-to book like this can only come from someone who has ‘been there, done that’ and knows how to put those experiences on paper. If your passion is trout of the Southern highlands, this book will prove as indispensable as a favorite rod and wading boots.”
Guides and outfitters have also been enthusiastic about the work. Bryson City, N. C.’s Steve Claxton says that “along with significant information for the inquisitive angler, Jim Casada offers an abundance of historical material on Park streams. The book is full of details on streams, the heritage of the highlands, and insight on the legendary figures who waded these beloved streams.”
Byron Begley, the owner of Little River Outfitters in Townsend, TN, says: “I am fascinated by this book and will be from now on. This is the complete book about fly fishing in the Smokies. It is obvious that Jim Casada knows more about Park streams, the area’s history and heritage, and our sport than anyone I know. It is a masterpiece.”
The book is available both as a softbound paperback and a hardback with a dust jacket. These sell for $24.95 and $37.50 respectively, with postage and handling being $5.
Signed and inscribed copies of the book are available from High Country Press, 1250 Yorkdale Drive, Rock Hill, SC 29730; through www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com; or by calling 803-329-4354.