View From Rat Lake (John Gierach's Fly-fishing Library)
Brilliant, witty, perceptive essays about fly-fishing, the natural world, and life in general by the acknowledged master of fishing writers.<BR><BR>“In the world of fishing there are magic phrases that are guaranteed to summon the demon. Among them are: ‘remote trout lake,’ ‘fish up to 13 pounds,’ ‘the place the guides fish on their days off,’†writes John Gierach in this wonderful collection of thirteen essays inspired by a fishing trip to Rat Lake, a remote body of water in Montana. Once again John Gierach does what he does best—explain the peculiarities of the fishing life in a way that will amuse novices and seasoned fly fishers alike. <I>The View from Rat Lake</I> deftly examines man in nature and nature in man, the pleasures of fishing the high country, and the high and low comedy that occasionally overcomes even the best-planned fishing trip. <BR><BR>Some typically sage observations from <I>The View from Rat Lake</I>: <BR><BR>“One of the things we truly fish for [is] an occasion for self-congratulation.â€<BR><BR>“In every catch-and-release fisherman’s past there is an old black frying pan.â€<BR><BR>“We . . . believe that a 12-inch trout caught on a dry fly is four inches longer than a 12-inch trout caught on a nymph or streamer.â€