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Order On the Fly Northern Rockies
Book Review
By Terry W. Sheely
On the Fly Guide to the Northern Rockies
By Chuck Robbins
Wilderness Adventures Press, 2004
438 pages, $26.95 paperback
Chuck Robbins has flagged the way for every frustrated fisher who endures the economic reality of 8-to-5 drivel by drifting off to distraction on fish-bum rambles through Rocky Mountain wet spots, throwing flies at "someday" trout.
The Montana-based writer has assembled what he calls "A traveler's guide to the greatest fly fishing destinations in Idaho, Montana and northern Wyoming." There are about 50 such greatest destinations by Robbins' count, some famous, some not.
What sets this guidebook apart is Robbins' flair for telling a good, down-home fish story, and the amazing detail of his fishing log. Those two factors make this book both entertainingly readable and exhaustingly comprehensive. He feathers in personal fishing adventures between serious wraps of where, when, how and with what pattern. For example, of the Bitterroot River, Robbins writes:
Gingerly wading as close as I dare to the near edge of a roaring current tongue, I pitch a pair of heavily weighted stonefly nymphs...to a wide seam on the far edge of the torrent. Like a pair of anvils tossed in a quiet slough, the pair splash water, then sink to the bottom.
Tic, tic, tic, tic, they bounce along; suddenly the big, hot-pink bobber shoots upstream. I lift the rod and give the line a hard jerk and immediately feel a heavy throbbing.
Moments later Katie the wirehair is giving the fat 16-inch cutthroat the once over while I proudly pose for the camera. Pretty day, pretty river, fat wild trout, no competition, no million dollar palaces or Hummers in sight--hell, this is as good as it gets, at least to my way of thinking.
You gotta trust a fly-fishing writer honest enough to call a hot-pink bobber a bobber, rather than pretentiously glaze it into a "strike indicator."
This book covers 26 rivers, along with 14 lakes and lake complexes, and includes 40 highly detailed maps. Most of the waters covered are in western Montana, a few are in Idaho and several are in Wyoming (the book also features an excellent compendium of lakes and streams in Yellowstone National Park).
Robbins' consistent format establishes for each entry a been-there, done-that credibility coupled with a this-is-what-happened-when-we-fished-there story. Each anecdote is followed by a summary of nearby attractions and activities, a fishing tip, and then the meat-and-potato guidebook requisites: best fly, how to tie it, when to use it; water description, location, primary game fish; gear you'll need; local fly and tackle shops, guides and accommodation contacts.
While On the Fly Guide to the Northern Rockies is dominated by trout--it is the Rockies after all--Robbins also dabbles with steelhead, bluegills, and bass.
This book is not a complete fishing guide listing every puddle, creek, and torrent. It is, however, an above-average guidebook to 50 above-average fishing waters--waters that the author has fished and understands. That he spices the guidebook must-haves with enjoyable personal fish stories strengthens the entertainment factor.
I suspect that any angler considering two weeks or a month of dropping flies in the Northern Rockies could put together a remarkably memorable agenda by following the tracks laid down by Robbins.