>>306500Your request is very open ended and I'm unsure of any single text that would encompass all there is to know about fishing. Plus, depending on the type/area of fishing, other knowledge (sailing, meteorology, etc) may come into play depending on how in-depth you wish to get into the matter. And even the best tend to specialize in a given field or form of fishing (bass fishing, fly fishing, bait vs lures, etc).
This might be a decent start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Angling_writersI don't believe I've ever read a book on fishing but for historical perspective I'm considering Juliana Berners' "Treatyse of fysshynge wyth an Angle" as my first. It certainly won't teach your or I anything modern on the subject but if you're dead-set on consuming fishing literature it probably should be on your list of books.
Also, for knots, pic related. I used to have a few of these in my wallets/tackle boxes and they're pretty neat. These days as long as you've got a smart-phone and a means of charging it (portable solar panels are getting cheaper) you can have a knot-tying app with even more knots to choose from at your disposal whenever you need it.
