LITERATURE GIVES NEW ANGLE TO ANGLING; A SMALL SAMPLING OF GOOD AND BAD IN OUTDOORS WRITING.

Byline: Brett Pauly Daily News Outdoors Editor

There is much more in the field of outdoors writing than guidebooks. Literature of nature is often overlooked by anglers and hunters wishing to improve their luck and technique. Here are two examples of vastly varying quality:

``There is no taking trout in dry breeches.''

This pearl of wisdom comes from no less a literary giant than Miguel de Cervantes, the Spanish writer who penned ``Don Quixote'' in 1605.

Spring that on the average angler who dunks night crawlers and crawdads in search of the bass of a lifetime. ``Don who?'' may be the response.

While fishermen may not be known as the most well-read group of individuals, the converse seems to be true: Many writers seem to be anglers, as evidenced in ``The Quotable Fisherman'' (Lyons Press; $20).

The jottings of such pen-toting luminaries as Mark Twain, Izaak Walton, Ernest Hemingway, George Eliot, Sergei Aksakov, John Buchan and Norman Maclean grace the book's 200 pages; their very presence lends credence to the art of sport-fishing, which is often overlooked, misunderstood and maligned by people who just don't get it.

Some of the selected comments should help the uninitiated to better fathom the passion of man vs. fish:

``The outdoor life pleased these old men because they believed any properly obsessed fly fisherman carried rivers and trout inside him.''

- Harry Middleton

``The Earth is Enough,'' 1989

``I chose my cast, a march brown and a dun,

And ran down to the river, chasing hope.''

- Wilfred S. Blunt

``A New Pilgrimage,'' 1889

``The wildness and adventure that are in fishing still recommend it to me.''

- Henry David Thoreau

``Walden,'' 1854

``Nothing is more trying to the patience of fishermen than the remark so often made to them by the profane: `I had not patience enough for fishing' ''

- Arthur Ransome

``Rod and Line,'' 1929

Complemented by line drawings from Alan James Robinson and introduced by prolific angling author Nick Lyons, who compiled the entries, ``The Quotable Fisherman'' offers much for the angler and layman alike to nibble on.

When a professional fisherman is in his boat, he never stops fishing - even when he has to relieve himself . . . while the female editor of a bass-angling magazine on board is snapping photos of the catch.

That fine bit of detail may fascinate some, but, for many, it offers much more information than they wanted to know. It's also at the core of the trouble with ``Bass Master Shaw Grigsby: Notes on Fishing and Life'' (National Geographic Books; $19.95).

While writing in the first person can be a valuable element of outdoor writing, offering an air of first-hand knowledge for the subject, it is a tool that can be quickly overused - sometimes to ad nauseam - if not kept in check. Soon readers are counting how often ``I'' appears rather than considering the advice offered, no matter how sage.

Such is the case with the 192 pages by Shaw E. Grigsby Jr. of Gainesville, Fla., who ranks fifth on the all-time money list among competitive bass anglers. His valuable tips and storytelling soon dissolve into a vane diary that only a mother could love.

No doubt Grigsby knows his stuff. His commentary on how nature often dictates a bite in the passage ``Rhythms,'' for example, is right on. When all is still, when the cows are laying down, the birds aren't chirping and the bugs aren't biting, neither are the fish.

The torture of getting snagged by his own hook is recalled concisely enough, and Grigsby's recommendations for those who follow suit are sincere and helpful.

But anglers who try their hand at writing tend to feature themselves too frequently, thus minimizing their expertise. Proving that the best stories usually come from writers-cum-anglers.