Upland Stream: Notes on the Fishing Passion

In an introspective chronicle spanning waters from Yellowstone to Scotland, the author contemplates the art of fly-fishing and his search for the perfect stream

If writers on the subject are reliable witnesses, then fly-fishing is the most cerebral of sports; in these splendid essays, Wetherell ( Vermont Water ) supports that view convincingly. He explores tiny streams in New Hampshire, indulges in a wild fantasy about fishing his way around Vermont without ever leaving the water, and makes his first trip to the famous Montana rivers at the height of the Yellowstone fires (1988). Wetherell describes his home grounds as a place "where it is possible to stand in all four seasons simultaneously and be uncomfortable in each." Recounting experiences with an inflatable raft, bass fishing on a large river, salmon fishing in Scotland and Nova Scotia, he finally addresses the ultimate question: "Why fish?" Wetherell's reflections on the foibles of fly-fishers, his delight in the sport and his love of nature will appeal to non-anglers as well as to fisherfolk.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wetherell is part of a tradition of articulate modern fly-fishing writers that includes John Gierach ( Sex, Death and Fly Fishing , LJ 5/15/90), William Humphrey, and Nick Lyons ( Confessions of a Fly Fishing Addict , LJ 5/15/89). In these 18 essays, a worthy sequel to his Vermont River (Winchester, dist. by New Century Pubs., 1984), novelist Wetherell ( Chekhov's Sister , LJ 2/15/90) offers his personal experiences and reflections on the sport. Granted, a line like "The fly rod is an epistemological tool . . . " might sound a bit cumbersome, but it is not meant to be overbearing. Rather, it reveals a writer with sufficient respect for his audience to use all the descriptive tools available to him in making connections between his passion and the wider world of human experience. For collections of fly-fishing literature.
-David J. Panciera, Westerly P.L., R.I.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.