Headwaters: The Adventures, Obsession and Evolution of a Fly Fisherman

(Hardback)

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Christmas Island. The Russian Arctic. Argentine Patagonia. Japan. Cuba. British Columbia.

Dylan Tomine takes us to the far reaches of the planet in search of fish and adventure, with keen insight, a strong stomach and plenty of laughs along the way. Closer to home, he wades deeper into his beloved steelhead rivers of the Pacific Northwest and the politics of saving them. Tomine celebrates the joyand painof exploration, fatherhood and the comforts of home waters from a vantage point well off the beaten path. Headwaters traces the evolution of a lifelong anglers priorities from fishing to the survival of the fish themselves. It is a book of remarkable obsession, environmental awareness shaped by experience, and hope for the future.

Reviews

What is fly fishing Everything. Anglers will find Tomines book a spirited defense of that thesis. -- Kirkus Reviews
Tomine delivers a work that informs and moves in equal measure. This is sure to reel in readers. --Publishers Weekly
Fisherman Tomine (Closer to the Ground) combines incandescent personal reflections and environmental advocacy in this moving paean to fly fishing. Fishing was never a sport... for me, Tomine writes at the outset, rather, its who I am. What follows is a vivid portrait of a man in pursuit of a lifelong obsession. As he relates, his steelhead jones had its hooks in him early, during his childhood fishing for trout in Oregon in the 1970s and, later, as a teen too busy trying to catch my first steelhead to notice girls. Arriving at adulthood, he recounts such adventures as catching a 90-pound giant trevally bonefish, and embarking on an expedition to the Russian Arcticwhere the abundance of trout was rivaled only by the regions mosquitos. Later chapters witness his evolution from acolyte to conservationist; in one section, he memorably recalls screening the conservationist documentaryArtifishalto a sold-out crowd in Japan, where the culture [is] built around the eating of fish. Mixing good-natured humor with a reverence of the world around himIt starts with the fish itself. The sleek, chrome beauty... carrying all the strength and fecundity of the sea to inland watersTomine delivers a work that informs and moves in equal measure. This is sure to reel in readers.(Apr.) -- Publishers Weekly
. . . a sparkling, elegiac book. -- The Wall Street Journal
Dylan Tomine isnt just a writer, hes a researcher, reporter, biographer, historian, humorist, essayist, and columnist. But mostly, hes just a great storytellerone that understands a story neednt be twelve thousand words to be compelling. -- The Drake

With quick delivery, injections of humor and such
locales as Northwest steelhead country, Patagonia,
Russia and Japan, Tomines explorations will keep you
in your chair when the river is too swollen to fish. But
after a day or two of dropping water levels, the author
will be the first to tell you to go cast a line: Its just
that when the rivers right, the rivers right. -- Anglers' Journal

I belong to an informal book club on Skype with three college buddies

scattered from New England to the Pacific Northwest. Over the years, we have

discussed many elevating reads. But this is one of the best Ive encountered

in a long while. Im the only angler in the group. Still, my friends harbor

eclectic interests and love good stories in all forms. Next time its my turn to

choose, this book gets the nod.Scott Dailey, American Fly Fishing

Author Bio

Dylan Tomine, formerly a fly fishing guide, is now a writer, conservation advocate, blueberry farmer and father, not necessarily in that order. His work has appeared in the Flyfish Journal, the Drake, Golfweek, the New York Times and numerous other publications. Thomas Francis McGuane III is an American author. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors.