A Fly-fishing Life

Book excerpt: "I love to fish. When I cannot fish, I think about fishing. I tie flies and read books about fishing. I correspond with fishermen all over the country. Most of my close friends are fishing partners. I cannot imagine not fishing. I would not be me if I did not fish". So writes William Tapply in the Introduction to this fascinating book. Tapply learned to love fishing on the muddy banks of nearby ponds and creeks, where bluegills and horned pout ate the worms that he dangled beneath a bobber, and later he became, inevitably, addicted to fly fishing. In the half century of his fly-fishing life, he has traveled to storied waters and fished passionately for large and exotic species -- though he has never lost his love for the simplicity of just fishin' his home waters. "A Fly-Fishing Life" is mostly autobiographical and anecdotal; it's about people and places, fish and insects, success and failure, growing up and growing old.