Nervous water: sometimes it's nothing more than a fleeting crease or wrinkle on the surface of a lake or stream, or a small patch of salt water that looks as if it's shivering. But wise anglers know that such subtle surface movements are nearly always signs of fish stirring down below. The sport of fly fishing is like that. It has a reputation as a tranquil, contemplative sport, but something is nearly always going on down below: constant currents of new thought and theory, a relentless drive to develop new technologies, an ongoing muted chorus of debate. Esteemed fly fisher and author, Steve Raymond has contemplated many of these issues and presented them in articles and essays published in many magazines. Now, for the first time, many of these works have been collected in a single book - thirty-four variations on the theme of fly fishing. Together they form a selective, opinionated chronicle of the trends, developments, and changes in fly fishing from the 1960s to the present, along with a look back at some pioneers of the sport - and the fish that make it all possible.
Most of these pieces have been updated, expanded, or otherwise revised or edited for publication in this book; several appear here for the first time. Some tackle important topics (such as the very definition of fly fishing itself), and others take a light look at the more trivial angling concerns (such as how, or even whether, to dress for fishing). A thoughtful, engaging contemplation of this complex sport, "NervousWater" belongs on the shelf of anyone who loves fly fishing.