Description:
Fishermen are often reluctant to share their secrets, and Datus Proper reserves a few for himself, including the location of some fabled trout streams. He's generous with his opinions about almost everything else connected with angling, however, and Running Waters provides a lively sampling of them. "Angling is a game you can't lose," Proper remarks, "if that's any consolation." The rules of the game, however, can be a challenge to master, especially if, like Proper, you're relying on the guidance of seasoned friends. One, whom he quotes approvingly, sneers at the modern habit of "overwhelming trout with modern technology" such as graphite rods and champions the use of mayfly spinners; another swears by 18-foot-long hickory rods; still another opines that fast little brook trout offer the best sport. Proper himself takes a more measured view, volunteering that any place with speckled skin below and mountains and sky above is the best trout stream in the world. Even so, given half the chance, he'll lose himself in the arcana of dry-fly tying and the merits of peacock herl, and you can learn plenty of oddments about such matters by following his elegant discussions. Fly fishing, Proper observes, is an intellectual as well as an emotional passion, which helps explain both the abundance of conflicting views and of books about the sport. Proper's is among the better to appear in recent years, and anyone who shares his fondness for cold streams and wily fish will take pleasure in its pages. --Gregory McNamee
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