Dances With Trout

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Summary: Enchanting and informative
Review: 'Fly fishing is solitary, contemplative, misanthropic, scientific in some hands, poetic in others, and laced with conflicting aesthetic considerations. It's not even clear if catching fish is actually the point' is what the author shares and what I 100% agree with!

Loving Scotland and fly fishing (as well as New Zealand) I love his Chapter 8 titled Scotland and where he writes on page 89 of how the river was held in private hands and 'rented' out which was a subtle reminder to me of how fortunate I am to be able to drive a mere six miles to the Mokelumne here in the Sierras of California and with my California fishing license and my rod and a few flies, fish to my hearts content for native trout no less.

The book is well written and part diary, part educational how to and in an odd way but a positive way, a lesson in the mysteries of fly fishing and the people who are drawn and hooked for life.

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Summary: Dances With Trout
Review: A great blend of humor, serious information, nostalgia, and unique insight into flyfishing as a way of life. Great reading when you can't be on the stream.

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Summary: Winter time fishing blues? Read Gierach
Review: Eyes getting tired from tying those #18 cahills? Too Cold to fish? Sit back and go fishing with Geirach. Great Book, great stories!

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Summary: Great Stories but a bit too lengthy
Review: Gierach certainly wrote a commendable book with 'Dances with Trout'. The stories contained are simple and understandable; outdoorsmen can certainly relate to Gierach's feelings and thoughts about his fishing and hunting experiences. The only criticism that I have is that the stories are somewhat lengthy. Not to say that Gierach bores the reader, but unless you've got a good hour and half to sit down and read or are simpy a speed reader, you'll be exasperated 3/4 of the way through one of Gierach recollections.

Rating:
Summary: Great Stories but a bit too lengthy
Review: Gierach certainly wrote a commendable book with 'Dances with Trout'. The stories contained are simple and understandable; outdoorsmen can certainly relate to Gierach's feelings and thoughts about his fishing and hunting experiences. The only criticism that I have is that the stories are somewhat lengthy. Not to say that Gierach bores the reader, but unless you've got a good hour and half to sit down and read or are simpy a speed reader, you'll be exasperated 3/4 of the way through one of Gierach recollections.

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Summary: Dances has a great beat!
Review: Gierach has a way of lulling the reader into a world of strange illusion. I keep forgetting I'm reading and start thinking I'm eaves-dropping at a campfire. The rhythm of a writer is important and can fan the flame of imagination or dowse it like cold beer on your last match. Dances fans, man...it fans! The stories within the covers are told like stories should be told...easy with lot's of real words. There's too many writers,today,who write like evil spawn of New Age English classes! John bucks 'em all and writes like a story teller...taunting us with worlds filled exotic adventures...like killing porcupines with rocks. Good stuff!

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Summary: An excellent book of short stories for the outdoorsman.
Review: Gierach's book is an excellent book of short stories for the fisherman/outdoorsman. He is able to quickly whisk you away on whatever trip he's detailing and make your remember your best (or worst) fishing experiences. You're also likely to meet counterparts to outdoor buddies you've fished with in the past. His stories make perfect 5-15 minute reads and are guaranteed to lift your spirits. Gierach deals with hunting as well as fishing. I've purchased this and other Gierach books as gifts several times.

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Summary: Don't flyfish? Don't fish at all? It doesn't matter!
Review: I'm an avid bass angler who has never done much flyfishing, but after reading a good Gierach,(they're all great,) I'm ready to head out to that little creek in Montana, or that bass pond in Texas, or even Scotland with a fly rod and join him. This was the first book of his I read and now I'm on my fourth. I love how relaxed and fun his writing is, and I, personally, can relate to a lot of his views and feelings about things. Even for the non-angler, John Gierach is alot of fun, even if you have no idea what the heck a #14 Royal Wulff is. If you're looking for some great reading, go with Gierach.

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Summary: Fishing isn't real life - it's much more important than that
Review: The second best thing to being on the water... Gierach comes close to defining the indefinable; why grown men and women would rather stand waist-deep in cold water waving a piece of split cane around than just about anything else. Few angling writers can make the sport readable for non-enthusiasts, but Gierach can and does. The chapter on Scotland is a particular gem, but they're all good. Buy this book, read it, then buy all the others. Especially Trout Bum.

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Summary: ANother gem from the best fishing writer today
Review: You don't have to be a fly fisherman to enjoy Gierach, though it does help. When he waxes ecstatic over bamboo rods, or explains how the Green Drake mayfly (Ephemerella grandis) is differentiated from its cousins, E. doddsi and E. flavilinea, perhaps only a fisherman can understand exactly why this is so important.

But reading Gierach isn't something you do to learn about the technique or the science of fishing, or how to select a rod, or how to cast. He's more about the philosophy of fishing, about why we are willing to stand in the middle of a cold stream wearing silly clothes and waving a stick over our heads. He's the ultimate Trout Bum, to quote an earlier book, a man for whom there really is no other life, and who has made a modest living for years just celebrating this life. And of course he does this in a wonderfully witty way; no jokes, just a lot of observations that will still make you smile the umpteenth time you read them.

"Dances with Trout" is not just about trout fishing, or about fishing, for that matter. The "Scotland" chapter doesn't have much to say about how to fish for salmon; "Fool Hen" is about grouse hunting, and "In the Woods" is about still hunting for deer.

What ties all these stories together is Gierach's feeling of comradery with his hunting and fishing pals, and even more so, a real connection with the outdoors. In a time when for many, "outdoor sports" means something like racing through the woods in a snowmobile, tearing up the peace and quiet of a lake in a jetski or "four wheeling", Gierach writes about the simple pleasures of being outdoors and absorbing the world around you.