DALLAS — Gary Smith, of Plains, will showcase his fly fishing book collection at the Back Mountain Memorial Library, 96 Huntsville Road, throughout the month of March.
Smith has been collecting books on fly fishing for about 50 years. He bought his first Henry van Dyke authored book for $5 at a secondhand shop and was intrigued by the style of writing as well as by the history the book covered. He says this made him start looking for more books similar to these early works. His collection then grew into other areas of fly fishing like paperweights and bronze statues. He admits that it “got a bit out of hand” as his fly fishing library now exceeds over 1,000 books.
Smith enjoys looking for fly fishing books and collectibles at thrift stores, estate sales and on eBay, where he has found many beautiful paperweights containing unique colorful flies.
