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Loading... Fishing and Thinkingby Arthur Aston Luce
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High praise, indeed, but if ever the printed page deserved such acclaim, A. A. Luce's quintessential book on fly fishing does. This angling classic belongs in the tackle box or bookshelf of every thinking fly fisherman. An avid angler in the streams, rivers, tarns, & lakes of Ireland, Luce believed fly fishing offered unique opportunities for reflection. This engrossing study of the most intellectual of outdoor pursuits is his gift to like-minded souls everywhere. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)799The arts Recreational and performing arts Fishing, hunting, target shootingLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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Here is a book that made me re-consider the why of fly-fishing. When I first read it I had an overwhelming feeling that the book had been written for me.
Firstly and oddly, Dr Luce's sequence of topics mapped out very closely my own history in fly-fishing: the mountain tarn (evoking my own beginnings on a mountain tarn in Galloway); the Gillie (the influence of a great gillie in my early quest for knowledge); the Western Lakes (the hours I have spent on Corrib); Dapping and Trolling ( my initial arrogance to these methods) ; Spate rivers and finally the Ethics of fly-fishing (a subject over which I have pondered much in recent years).
Secondly, after reading each chapter, I came away with the impression that all of the questions that I had asked myself countless times, Dr Luce had already asked. Why does the north wind put the fish down? Should one like trolling? Is dapping a "lower form" of fishing? Why and when does a trout come short? And so on! Finding answers to these gave me the encouragement that I was on the "right road" at a time when fly-fishing was shrouded in mystery and secretiveness.
Lastly and most importantly, as the preface to the book emphasises, the book is about Fishing and Thinking, and the Thinking ranges from angling problems to the wider concerns of Living. "Fish and find out"! is Dr Luce's mantra, not only with regards to angling but as an attitude to life, reflecting his interest in empiricism.
It is the final chapter of the book - the Ethics of Fly-fishing - that brings out Dr Luce's best qualities: an honesty and commitment to ask difficult questions. "We need not be sentimental about animal suffering, but we dare not be callous or cruel....Angling need not be cruel". This is not the place to enter this debate, but Dr Luce will be remembered for his courage not to duck the issues. (