Book description
A lifetime's fishing experiences written by one of the UK's leading fly fishermen.
Brian Clarke is one of Britain's best-known fly-fishermen - and one of
the world's most widely-read angling authors. His monthly column for
'The Times' has become an institution. His widely-ranging, penetrating
and often provocative articles for that newspaper and for 'The Sunday
Times' have been required reading for serious fishermen for over 30 years.
This collection of 71 articles and essays distils the author's lifetime
experience. The ground he covers is immense: fish and how they behave,
tackle and how to choose and use it, flyfishing tactics and strategies,
angling history and literature, issues and personalities, environmental
threats and the future. The whole book carries the authority of Brian's
pioneering work in the sport - and of his groundbreaking studies of
trout behaviour, especially. It is informative, thought-provoking,
entertaining and beautifully written. 'On Fishing' will help anyone who
fishes for anything to understand more, to think more and to catch more.
It will draw even non-anglers down into the world under water - and to
the fascinations that fishermen find there. 'Clarke's non-judgmental
approach is a delight. Fishing needs more of this'
Financial Times Magazine
'(Clarke) is a consummate wordsmith, crafting words with succinct,
lucid sentences to set the scene for action or discussion … essential
reading for anyone who's interested in our vital aquatic environment.'
BBC Country File
'… this collection of articles and essays on piscatorial pleasures
shows why it is more than just anglers who are drawn to the
contemplative flow of his near-perfect pastoral prose.'
Scottish Field
More praise for Brian Clarke:
The Stream (2000) - an environmental novel:
'Devastatingly effective … ought to be required reading.'
The Times
'Magically wrought … a parable for our times.'
The Sunday Times
'The most significant book of its kind I have read since Rachel
Carson's Silent Spring.'
David Arnold Forster, Chief Executive, English Nature
Trout etcetera (1996):
'Instant classic, I'd say … Marvellously well-written. Enviably written.'
Ted Hughes Brian Clarke has written and travelled widely for 'The
Sunday Times' and, since 1991, as Fishing Correspondent of 'The Times'.
He has caught salmon in the Russian arctic, sea trout in Tierra del
Fuego, rainbow trout in Alaska, marlin from the Indian Ocean, tiger fish
from southern Africa and bonefish from the central Pacific. He has
written extensively on other wildlife, the remote wilderness and the
environment. In 2003 he became President of the Wild Trout Trust.
