Book Steps

Monroe man's fly fishing hobby yields book

The time-honored sportsmen's practice of fly fishing remains a popular pastime, with more than 10 million active anglers in North America.

Monroe resident David Cannon is among those millions of enthusiasts, and his devotion to his sport is well documented, as he's written articles and taken photographs for a host of outdoor publications.

Earlier this year, 27-year-old Cannon used what he's learned as a fly fisherman, writer and photographer to complete his first book, "Fly Fishing Georgia: A No Nonsense Guide to Top Waters."

"The book has been out for about six weeks, and it's already sold more than 1,000 copies," says Cannon, a native of Texas who moved to Georgia at a young age. "It's actually sold more than some of the guidebooks that were written in classic fly-fishing states did in their first six weeks. ... It feels a little weird to do things like book signings, but it's also very cool. I looked at the galleys of this thing for so long that finally seeing it in print is a cool feeling."

Growing up in Cherokee County, Cannon says the days of his youth were spent playing basketball and fishing. After high school, he enrolled at Young Harris College and then transferred to North Georgia College in Dahlonega to complete his studies for a business degree.

"When I was up in the mountains, I fell in love with trout fishing and, eventually, fly fishing," he says.

After he graduated from North Georgia in 2004 and had an internship in Gov. Sonny Perdue's office, he went to work for Madison-based Georgia Outdoor News as a sales representative, although it didn't take him long for his byline to begin turning up in the monthly publication.

"I was hired primarily for sales, but I noticed nobody did anything about the trout fishing and fly fishing content," Cannon says. "I'd come into work every Monday with photos and fish tales, and they finally asked me if I'd like to try my hand at writing.

"While I was in college, I thought about being a (newspaper) writer, but the starting salaries were not terribly attractive. But I knew it was stupid of me to ignore areas where I had some talent."

After two years at Georgia Outdoor News, Cannon signed on with the Augusta-based Morris Sporting Group, which publishes (among other magazines) Gray's Sporting Journal, American Angler and Fly Tyer and is part of Morris Communications, which also owns the Athens Banner-Herald.

"I had a split role there, too, with ad sales and writing for American Angler," he says. "I was commuting from Madison to Augusta every day, which was fine until gas got to $4.25 a gallon. But by that point, I had nearly a quarter of the way finished with the book."

While at a fly fishing trade show in Colorado, Cannon met the publishers of the No Nonsense Fly Fishing Co., which has released a series of "No Nonsense" books on fly fishing in 25 states.

"I'd seen guidebooks before a

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