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The 40th anniversary edition of the enduring outdoors classic from the acknowledged master of fishing writers, John Gierach, including new, previously unpublished material and a foreword from Liam Neeson.
John Gierach didn't just write about fly-fishing--he helped transform the sport from a niche pursuit to a way of life. As he once said: "Fly-fishing for trout is a sport that depends not so much on catching the fish as on their mere presence and the fact that you do, now and again, catch some." This is exactly the kind of simultaneously wise and deadpan observation that has earned him a devoted following for over four decades.
With his inimitable blend of wit and insight, Gierach brings the rivers and landscapes of the Rocky Mountains to life, and takes us on fly-fishing adventures that turn out to be by turns challenging, exhilarating, philosophical, comical, and unexpectedly revelatory, proving that Trout Bum is about more than fishing--it's about life. 5.5x8.4 inches, 224 pgs. Hardcover.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Much is actually known about trout and much more is suspected. The serious fly-fisherman's knowledge of these fish draws heavily on science, especially the easygoing, slightly bemused, English-style naturalism of the last century, but it periodically leaves the bare facts behind to take long voyages into anthropomorphism and sheer poetry. Trout are said to be angry, curious, shy, belligerent, or whatever; or it's suggested that when one takes your Adams with a different rise form than he's using on the Blue-winged Olives, he "thought" it was a caddis fly. Cold science tells us that a trout's pea-sized brain is not capable of anything like reason or emotion. That's probably true enough, but in the defense of creative thinking, I have a comment and a question: actions speak louder than words and, if they're so dumb, how come they can be so hard to catch?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Gierach was the award-winning author of more than twenty books about fly-fishing. He was beloved as "the voice of the common angler" (The Wall Street Journal) and inducted into the Fly-Fishing Hall of Fame in 2015. He lived in Lyons, Colorado, with his wife Susan de Castro McCann until his passing in 2024.
John Gierach didn't just write about fly-fishing--he helped transform the sport from a niche pursuit to a way of life. As he once said: "Fly-fishing for trout is a sport that depends not so much on catching the fish as on their mere presence and the fact that you do, now and again, catch some." This is exactly the kind of simultaneously wise and deadpan observation that has earned him a devoted following for over four decades.
With his inimitable blend of wit and insight, Gierach brings the rivers and landscapes of the Rocky Mountains to life, and takes us on fly-fishing adventures that turn out to be by turns challenging, exhilarating, philosophical, comical, and unexpectedly revelatory, proving that Trout Bum is about more than fishing--it's about life. 5.5x8.4 inches, 224 pgs. Hardcover.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Much is actually known about trout and much more is suspected. The serious fly-fisherman's knowledge of these fish draws heavily on science, especially the easygoing, slightly bemused, English-style naturalism of the last century, but it periodically leaves the bare facts behind to take long voyages into anthropomorphism and sheer poetry. Trout are said to be angry, curious, shy, belligerent, or whatever; or it's suggested that when one takes your Adams with a different rise form than he's using on the Blue-winged Olives, he "thought" it was a caddis fly. Cold science tells us that a trout's pea-sized brain is not capable of anything like reason or emotion. That's probably true enough, but in the defense of creative thinking, I have a comment and a question: actions speak louder than words and, if they're so dumb, how come they can be so hard to catch?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Gierach was the award-winning author of more than twenty books about fly-fishing. He was beloved as "the voice of the common angler" (The Wall Street Journal) and inducted into the Fly-Fishing Hall of Fame in 2015. He lived in Lyons, Colorado, with his wife Susan de Castro McCann until his passing in 2024.
