Spring Creeks

Rating:
Summary: A must read--carefully--for trout anglers
Review: Except for the last 1/4th, whichis more directly instructional, Lawson writes in a casual conversational style that must be read carefully to pick up many little bits of information and insight. He credits others for all his know-how, but I watched him fish a difficult stretch in front of his shop. He and Will Godfrey were the only ones who caught anything that afternoon. He knows western spring creeks as few others do. One minor criticism--he mentions midwestern spring creeks only in passing. (He also ignores his own advice concerning red shirts.)

Rating:
Summary: A Missed Opportunity
Review: Within the corpus of technical American fly-fishing literature an innovative and influential text on the finer aspects of flat-water trout angling eludes us. For years I anxiously awaited "Spring Creeks" and had automatically incucted Lawson into the "KLM club" (i.e. the best American fly-fishing authors to date: Kreh, LaFontaine, and Marinaro). Unfortunately, this book is a missed opportunity and certianly does not deserve a "must read" distinction.
Why have I elected to write such a harsh criticism of Lawson's "Spring Creeks?" Foremost, Lawson has been working on this project for a long time (10 or more years I belive), which provides ample opportunity for critical and innovative research. Additionally, he has the best labratory imaginable--Harriman State Park on the Henry's Fork. These two factors, I argue, should have resulted in something new and profound (e.g. fly design theory pertaining to flat-water trout, technical "how to" features that expand upon current tactics, unique insect and trout behavior, and more) but "Spring Creeks" is largely anecdotal and undisciplined; more importantly, it does not expand upon the previous contributions provided by other authors. A beautiful book it is, a fine addition to any angling library--sure, but a text that consumes one's free time--no.

Rating:
Summary: A Missed Opportunity
Review: Within the corpus of technical American fly-fishing literature an innovative and influential text on the finer aspects of flat-water trout angling eludes us. For years I anxiously awaited "Spring Creeks" and had automatically incucted Lawson into the "KLM club" (i.e. the best American fly-fishing authors to date: Kreh, LaFontaine, and Marinaro). Unfortunately, this book is a missed opportunity and certianly does not deserve a "must read" distinction.
Why have I elected to write such a harsh criticism of Lawson's "Spring Creeks?" Foremost, Lawson has been working on this project for a long time (10 or more years I belive), which provides ample opportunity for critical and innovative research. Additionally, he has the best labratory imaginable--Harriman State Park on the Henry's Fork. These two factors, I argue, should have resulted in something new and profound (e.g. fly design theory pertaining to flat-water trout, technical "how to" features that expand upon current tactics, unique insect and trout behavior, and more) but "Spring Creeks" is largely anecdotal and undisciplined; more importantly, it does not expand upon the previous contributions provided by other authors. A beautiful book it is, a fine addition to any angling library--sure, but a text that consumes one's free time--no.