Running Waters: Where Angler, Fish, and Fly Are Destined to Meet

Here is a new collection of essays on fishing from the author of What the Trout Said.

In this lyrical collection of essays, Datus Proper takes you to "where you and the fish and the fly meet, in that window between stream and sky." Running Waters is where four themes come together: the people, the waters, the flies, and the fish that pull anglers up the mountains and into the streams.

With his distinctive voice, Proper introduces you to the "People of the Stream," colorful characters such as Betty Cave, who remembers when the trout were bigger in the streams running through the Appalachian land once owned by her family, and Curt Collins, the Bighorn fishing guide who prepares riverside meals as impressive as the fishing. In "Running Water" Proper explores the best fishing streams in the world, from the limestone creeks of Pennsylvania to the Mondego River in Portugal. His musings on flies and hatches, from caddisflies to mayflies, make up the third section, "The Way of a Fly with a Trout." Finally, in "Wild Fish," Proper takes a peek into the waters, examining the fish that draw him to their banks, from the humble brown trout to the aptly named, showy rainbows.

Tuck this book into your rucksack next time you plan to spend a lazy streamside day. Running Waters is filled with thoughtful observations upon the sport of fishing: the memorable fish, noteworthy waters, and, especially, the unforgettable people who participate in it.

Datus Proper is the author of the classic book on fishing What the Trout Said. He has fished all over the world. His articles appear frequently in Field & Stream, Trout, and other important outdoor journals. Now retired from the Foreign Service, he lives near a spring creek in Montana.