Fly Fishing Book Review by Bob Triggs - Little Stone Flyfisher : Guide

The Color of Winter, Steelhead Fly Fishing on the Olympic Peninsula Written by Doug Rose Publisher: Frank Amato Publications 156 pages, soft cover ISBN 157188-303-7 $15.95

When I first came to the Olympic Peninsula I picked up a copy of Doug Rose's first book: "Fly Fishing the Olympic Peninsula", and read it from cover to cover during an autumn of camping and hiking and fishing. Unlike most regional guides, that book was a treasure trove of fly fishing lore, tips, local characters and natural history. At first glance I could not find any indication of where to go or how to go about it, but it was there. I have read that little book each winter since that first autumn of firelight study, each time finding more richness and depth than I did before. Readers familiar with that guide, and Doug Rose's many other essays on fly fishing, and especially wild fisheries conservation, will not be disappointed in this most recent book.

If a single word could say it all "Passion" would have to suffice. Perhaps it is no coincidence that amongst the first and last words of this book are the words "love" and "prayer". Doug's writing on the Wild Steelhead of the Olympic Peninsula, and so many important things, events and people connected to them, is committed and colorful, both humble and strident. Perhaps it will take more than one word.

I must admit that much of my attraction to this book, indeed my enduring and eager anticipation for it's arrival, was partly based on the secret hope that Doug would finally tell it all; where to go and how to do it. Well, he does and he dosn't. He addresses his tight lipped style in his first book by advising the reader "that's just the way it is out here". And just like reading his first book, once you get past your silly ambitions you will realize that you are being shown something much more important. And you will appreciate him for not giving it all away too cheaply.

In twenty-five rich chapters Doug Rose has lassoed the breadth and depth of the Olympic Peninsula in a way that will have me reading this book every winter for years to come. He has a way of being the "fisherman's-fisherman"; never boasting or pretending, always a little humble and self effacing, always seeing the truth at the core of things. He eschews the world of pricey tackle and the cult of personalities in fly fishing. Most of Doug's fishing trips are far from the road, solo hikes into the wilderness.

A modest collection of beautiful photographs of places, people, fish and flies spices the collection. There are "ghosts" in this book; the ghosts of rivers and people and fish of the past. These ghost and their stories will haunt you throughout the read, and afterward too. From the native tribes who lived here for thousands of years before the white race arrived to the bare knuckled loggers who scraped a life from the wilderness with hand saws and axes, stories of rivers teeming with wild fish, and the story of waste and plunder that underlies the current state of fisheries management.

When it comes to entities no less than the federal government, Forests and Fish, Washington's fisheries managers,(and their ethic of Maximum Sustained Harvest), a host of related commercial interests and individuals, including the logging industry; Doug Rose fires no shot over the bow but resoundingly slaps them for their legacy of destruction to habitat and wildlife, especially Wild Steelhead. This alone will have you standing and cheering. With a list of references to published scientific works by qualified parties in a spread of disciplines, it could take you another year just to chase down all those citations and read them. This is a well researched, thoughtful and scholorly work.

And it is also a labor of love. Not just for the fish but for the entire Olympic Peninsula and every living thing on it. Doug shares one fishing trip in "Winter Solstice", on a hike to the rageing surf at the mouth of the Ozette one stormy winter night. I had hoped for a big-fish ending. What I got was a sensitive and brilliant portrayal of the history, both natural and human, of the entire area. Most of the chapters read that way. Elsewhere we visit with some of the old, and new, masters of the fly fishing arts on the Peninsula, most noteably Syd Glasso. Doug pays attention to flies too, with a few color plates and some wisdom gained through his 20 plus years of experience on the rivers. Along the way Doug shares the knowledge of a handful of regional fishing guides and resident fly fishermen. For readers new to the Peninsula's rivers this will be rewarding. For more experienced Peninsula anglers, affirming.

If you come to this book for places to go and things to do you might be a little disappointed. Doug makes you work for it. But just like his first book, it is all there for the willing reader. And for those who do the work of rising to this book's level, you will be enchanted and enriched. And perhaps even motivated to make a difference on behalf of the Wild Steelhead of the Olympic Peninsula.

 

Article	037
Created	6-4-2004
Modified	9-19-2005
Author	Bob Triggs
Rating