Author: Tom Fort
Publisher: William
Collins
Date: 2020
Rating ****
At the outset Tom Fort states that this is the book he has
always wanted to write and this is evident by the excellent research he has
undertaken which is the basis of each chapter. He explores many of the
locations he refers to on his trusty bicycle and talks to people who were there
or refers to books written by people who were there. It clearly is a labour of
love.
Its opening chapter begins several centuries ago when salmon
rose in popularity as a food source and details how this grew until the stocks
were decimated by over-fishing through to the present day. He tells of the
advent of salmon farming and the damage it is doing to the wild stocks; an
ecological disaster to which politicians turn a blind eye.
Similarly when eels became a popular food they were also
over-exploited. Even now juvenile glass eels are caught by the ton and shipped
overseas.
As the centuries pass, so do the chapters of the book bringing
it closer to the current day when people fly fish. Many rivers have been
cleaned up but it is still a battle to protect river life from pollution and
abstraction. Tom Fort has faith that given a chance, nature and rivers can
return to how nature intended, but so much now is beyond the scope of the
angler, who can only do his best to manage the rivers in the best interests of
the fish.
He finishes his journey in a tackle shop where anglers down
the generations always have something or someone to blame as to why the fishing
isn’t any good. From pike to Eastern Europeans, cormorants, and the latest
villains, otters. He re-visits his
angling logs to discover that the idyllic days of the past always seem better
than they actually were.
This book is well researched, well written and definitely
worth buying but what a shame the publisher used inferior materials unworthy of
the book. The illustrations do not come out well on the paper appearing to be
colour photographs printed in monochrome onto paper which absorbs the ink greatly
reducing the clarity. A plate of vintage flies does not come out well in black
and white as they all look the same.
Despite this, I have no hesitation in recommending this book
for its content Tom’s writing has that magical ability to transport us to the
venues that he writes about. The perfect gift for these times when were are on
lockdown and unable to cast a line.