"Few angler-authors can match the skill and insight of Steve Raymond. . . . Raymond leads his reader to a refined and refreshed understanding of what the natural world is really all about."--The New York Times Perhaps the most innovative fly-fishing writer of his generation, Steve Raymond reaches a new level in this collection of five short stories and a novella. Here you'll learn the fate of the world's first genetically modified fly fisher, discover the secret behind the amazing success of an isolated little fly shop, and find out what was really going on between the sainted Theodore Gordon and his mysterious young woman fishing companion. You'll witness the suspenseful trial of the world's most famous fly fisher, chuckle at the tale of an angler who outwitted the Internal Revenue Service and his own accountant, and laugh out loud at the "real" story behind the first words ever written about fly fishing. And you'll agree with the words of Arnold Gingrich in his classic work, The Fishing in Print: "Such books, and such authors, are rare, and Raymond is somebody simply not to be missed."

Like a fly box with colorful patterns, these pages hold some of the best and brightest moments of a long-fly-fishing life. Here is the ecstasy (occasional agony) of fishing for trout, salmon, and saltwater gamefish - in waters from Canada to the Caribbean, northern Scotland to the South Pacific. You'll meet some of the most memorable fishing partners ever to share a stream, discover the long-lost legacy of a famous pioneer fly tyer, and feel the warmth of an extraordinary gift from an old fishing friend.There is a funny and poignant tale of two Russian anglers who came to fish in America; a glimpse at the "Blue Heaven" of dry-fly fishing; a look into "the truth" behind fly-fishing magazines and books; and the result of one angler's diligent search for the source of the world's best rod-building bamboo.If you've ever wondered how fly patterns get their names, what the perfect river would be like, or what Dame Juliana Berners might be doing if she were alive today, read this book. And there's much more in this warmly written memoir of the people, places, things, realities, and fantasies encountered by the author in the more than fifty years of fishing the waters he now remembers as his "rivers of the heart." (61/4 X 91/4, 252 pages, illustrations)

"The Year of the Angler" and "The Year of the Trout" have long been underground classics, the kind of books used-book sellers can't keep in stock, the ones its owners won't loan out. Now they're back in print, under one cover.
Arnold Gingrich, the fly-fishing maven and editor of" Esquire," ranked Steve Raymond with the great fishing writers, and Gingrich knew writers and good writing. So great is its reputation, that a copy of "The Year of the Angler" was presented to the White House by the American Booksellers Association.
Raymond fishes Western waters, particularly the Northwest. Here are accounts of adventures on the Hoh, the Duwamish, the North Fork of the Stillaguamish, the Hanford Reach of the Columbia, Pass Lake, and Columbia Basin Pond. Here, too, are affectionate portraits of the great fish of those waters, the sea-run cutthroat, salmon, steelhead, rainbow, and brown trout.
And solid advice on catching them. Raymond tells stories, too, of men like John Huelsdonk, the Iron Man of the Hoh, who killed one hundred cougars.
As much as it is a book about fish and rivers, it is also a book about life, about the passage of time, the seasons, man and his place in the environment, family, pain and pleasure. Truly a classic, The Year of the Angler and the Year of the Trout will find a place on every serious angler's shelf, if only to replace one imprudently loaned to a friend.

The Year of the Angler and The Year of the Trout have long been underground classics, the kind of books used-book sellers can't keep in stock, the ones its owners won't loan out. Now they're back in print, under one cover.
Raymond fishes Western waters, particularly in the Northwest. The pages of this book are filled with accounts of his adventures on various bodies of water in this region, including the Duwamish, the Stillaguamish, the Columbia, and Pass Lake. Here, too, are affectionate portraits of the great fish of those waters, and solid advice on catching them. Raymond also tells stories of men like John Huelsdonk, the "Iron Man" of the Hoh, who killed one hundred cougars.
Arnold Gingrich, the fly-fishing maven and editor of Esquire, ranked Steve Raymond with the great fishing writers, and Gingrich knew writers and good writing. So great is its reputation that a copy of The Year of the Angler was presented to the White House by the American Booksellers Association.
As much as this is a book about fish and rivers, it is also a book about life, about the passage of time, the seasons, man's place in the environment, and family. Truly a classic, The Year of the Angler and the Year of the Trout will find a place on every serious angler's shelf, if only to replace one imprudently loaned to a friend.