Description
Book SynopsisChristmas 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 joy—and pain—of exploration, fatherhood and the comforts of home waters from a vantage point well off the beaten path. Headwaters traces the evolution of a lifelong angler’s 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.
Trade Review“What is fly fishing? Everything.” Anglers will find Tomine’s book a spirited defense of that thesis. --
Kirkus ReviewsTomine delivers a work that informs and moves in equal measure. This is sure to reel in readers. --
Publishers WeeklyFisherman 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, it’s “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 Arctic—where the abundance of trout was rivaled only by the region’s mosquitos. Later chapters witness his evolution from acolyte to conservationist; in one section, he memorably recalls screening the conservationist documentary
Artifishal to 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 him—“It starts with the fish itself. The sleek, chrome beauty... carrying all the strength and fecundity of the sea to inland waters”—Tomine 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 isn’t just a writer, he’s a researcher, reporter, biographer, historian, humorist, essayist, and columnist. But mostly, he’s just a great storyteller—one that understands a story needn’t 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, Tomine’s 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: “It’s just
that when the river’s right, the river’s 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 I’ve encountered
in a long while. I’m the only angler in the group. Still, my friends harbor
eclectic interests and love good stories in all forms. Next time it’s my turn to
choose, this book gets the nod.—Scott Dailey, American Fly Fishing
Table of ContentsForeword Introduction Stories Confessions of a Steelhead Bum Trout Fishing at the End of the Earth Silver Lining Way Down South to the Old West Luck Hunting Giants The Worst Guide in the World The Search for Atlantic Steelhead Commitment The Little Things State of the Steelhead Crash A Recipe for Caddis Carbonara Why Can’t Fly Fishermen Be Watermen? Hidden Gold in the Deep Blue Sea The High Cost of Kola Chrome Trouble in Paradise Wrath Gluttony Operation Ditch Pickle Frankenfish: Coming Soon to a Market Near You? A Crack in the Dam Removal What about Bob? Running Out of North Big in Japan The Weather Will Decide The Myth of Hatcheries A River Reborn Giants Live Forever What Is Fly Fishing? There Is No Plan B A Small Offering The Grand Salami Steelhead, Love, and Other Mysteries Salmon Dreams
