Standing in a River Waving a StickBrilliant, witty, perceptive essays about fly-fishing, the natural world, and life in general by the acknowledged master of fishing writers. With his inimitable combination of wit and wisdom, John Gierach once again celebrates the fly-fishing life in Standing in a River Waving a Stick and notes its benefits as a sport, philosophical pursuit, even therapy: “The solution to any problem—work, love, money, whatever—is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be.” After all, fly-fishing does teach important life lessons, says Gierach—about solitude, patience, perspective, humor, and the sublime coffee break. Recounting both memorable fishing spots and memorable fish, Gierach discusses what makes a good fly pattern, the ethics of writing about undiscovered trout waters, the dread of getting skunked, and the camaraderie of fellow fishermen who can end almost any conversation with “Well, it’s sort of like fishing, isn’t it?” Reflecting on a lifetime of lessons learned at the end of a fly rod, Gierach concludes, “The one inscription you don’t want carved on your tombstone is ‘The Poor Son of a Bitch Didn’t Fish Enough.’” Fortunately for Gierach fans, this is not likely to happen. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 78
Page 13
... catching fish on a fly rod . The other stuff - the humor , graciousness , inner peace or what- ever - is important and may even turn out to be the whole point , but I'm not sure you can learn. ATELY I've been thinking about what makes a ...
... catching fish on a fly rod . The other stuff - the humor , graciousness , inner peace or what- ever - is important and may even turn out to be the whole point , but I'm not sure you can learn. ATELY I've been thinking about what makes a ...
Page 14
... catch some fish now and then . The best way to pick up the nuts and bolts of some- thing like fly - fishing has always been face to face with someone who already knows - whether it's a teacher , a friend or a kindly stranger - and there ...
... catch some fish now and then . The best way to pick up the nuts and bolts of some- thing like fly - fishing has always been face to face with someone who already knows - whether it's a teacher , a friend or a kindly stranger - and there ...
Page 15
John Gierach. catch fish by doing something completely different . Maybe even bigger ones , or more of them . Not long ago one of those prime - time TV news shows followed the performance of two stock portfolios , one picked by a ...
John Gierach. catch fish by doing something completely different . Maybe even bigger ones , or more of them . Not long ago one of those prime - time TV news shows followed the performance of two stock portfolios , one picked by a ...
Page 16
... fish . And things change over time , too . I'll probably never be a truly great fly caster , but I'm better than I used to be , I do work at it and there have been a few fish I've caught only because I managed to make a great throw ...
... fish . And things change over time , too . I'll probably never be a truly great fly caster , but I'm better than I used to be , I do work at it and there have been a few fish I've caught only because I managed to make a great throw ...
Page 18
... catch fish , it's not quite what you thought it was . But the hidden truth behind that is , it took them years on the water to arrive at it . It's not just fishing , either . Ask any- one you know who's very good at anything if there's ...
... catch fish , it's not quite what you thought it was . But the hidden truth behind that is , it took them years on the water to arrive at it . It's not just fishing , either . Ask any- one you know who's very good at anything if there's ...
Contents
| 13 | |
Grizzly Central | 43 |
Belief | 67 |
Patterns | 83 |
Getting Skunked | 105 |
Second Nature | 125 |
McCook | 145 |
The Right Thing | 169 |
Where to Fish | 181 |
Stage Two | 189 |
Big Thompson | 197 |
The Lake | 205 |
States of Mind | 215 |
Jordan River | 225 |
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Common terms and phrases
actually anyway asked bamboo fly rods bank bass better bigger Blue-Winged Olives bluegill boat brook trout brown bugs caddis caddis flies called camp cast catch fish caught coffee Colorado cutthroats dark Dave drive dry fly feel fisher fishermen flies fly box fly patterns fly tiers fly tying fly-fisherman fly-fishing go fishing grizzly guess half happen hard hatch hell hiked hook hunting inches JOHN GIERACH kind knew lake least look mayflies midges Mike Mike Clark Montana never nymph okay once Pale Morning Dun panfish pond pool pretty probably rain rainbow road season seemed small-stream someone sport spot spring creek Steve stories talk tell there's thing thought Tom McGuane trip trout bum trout rising trout stream turned usually waded water boatman weather week Woolly Buggers