River of the Angry Moon: Seasons on the Bella Coola - Softcover

Hume, Mark; Thommasen, Harvey

4.14

14 ratings by Goodreads

9781550547481: River of the Angry Moon: Seasons on the Bella Coola

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1550547488 ISBN 13: 9781550547481

Publisher: Greystone Books, 2000

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Winner of the Roderick-Haig Brown Prize.

The Bella Coola River, now closed to steelhead fishing because the stocks are endangered, is a magnificent sight. Flowing through the stunning richness of British Columbia's temperate rain forest, the Bella Coola River is one of the world�s celebrated fishing streams. In this poetic and powerful book, Mark Hume describes a year in the life of the river as he fly-fishes for the fairylike whitefish, the legendary bull trout, the spirited cutthroat or the elusive steelhead. Along the way he describes the incredible beauty and fecundity of the valley ecosystem through the seasons, examines what has happened to that increasingly endangered ecosystem and its inhabitants in recent times, and encounters other anglers, old-timers who have fished the river for decades, and an abundance of wildlife.

In January, Hume portrays the deep winter, when wood frogs, beetles and butterfly larvae may become frozen alive, when the snow on the mountains is stacked in steeples and when it is often too cold to fish. In June, when the river is discoloured by glacial silt and the rapids between pools deepen, he observes a clot of men fishing, their spinning rods propped on the river bank while they drink coffee, and wages a dramatic battle with a chinook salmon. And in October, he witnesses the miracle of salmon spawning, draws an intriguing parallel between commercial hunting and commercial fishing, meets a buck with tattered velvet hanging from one horn, and catches and releases a spectacular steelhead. Also available in hardcover.

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About the Author:

Mark Hume is an award-winning environmental journalist and author of four books, including the acclaimed River of the Angry Moon. He was formerly a national correspondent and columnist with the Globe and Mail, BC bureau chief for the National Post, and a senior correspondent with the Vancouver Sun. Based in Vancouver, he has fly fished in British Columbia for fifty years.

Henry Thommasen has lived and fly-fished on the Bella Coola for years and provided information about the natural history fo teh region for this book. He is the author of Grizzles and White Guys and Bella Coola Man.

From Library Journal:

In this ode to the Bella Coola River in Canada's British Columbia, Hume (senior correspondent, Vancouver Sun) and Thommassen (a physician who lives on the Bella Coola) attempt to describe the river's historical and contemporary environment, including the flora and fauna, ecology, geology, and the use of the river by the Nuxalk Nation and sport fishermen. While the authors's love of the Bella Coola and of fishing is clear in this eloquent homage, readers unfamiliar with the river will need more than poetry to feel empathy. If read as a prose poem, this book works well, but as a record of the river the book suffers from a lack of solid grounding in any particular subject. As it stands, it is an acceptable, though lightweight, book for the avid fisherman but holds little value for anyone else. Not recommended.AJulia Stump, Voorheesville P.L., NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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